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The Artist Project

The Artist Project: Dorothea Rockburne

Artist Dorothea Rockburne reflects on an ancient Near Eastern head of a ruler in this episode of The Artist Project.
3 min. watch
From March 2015 to June 2016, we invited 120 artists—local, national, and global—to choose individual works of art or galleries that sparked their imaginations. In this online series, artists reflect on what art is, what inspires them from across 5,000 years of art, and in so doing, they reveal the power of a museum and The Met.

"Art does not exist in singular units. It is a part of its culture."

Artist Dorothea Rockburne reflects on an ancient Near Eastern head of a ruler in this episode of The Artist Project—an online series in which artists respond to works of art in The Met collection.

About the Artist
Dorothea Rockburne, born in 1932, is a Canadian abstract painter who draws inspiration primarily from her deep interest in nature as visualized through mathematics and astronomy.

An abstract watercolor painting on vellum by artist Dorothea Rockburne

Dorothea Rockburne (Canadian, born Montreal, 1934)

Study for Seraphim: Love, 1982

Watercolor on vellum; 36 × 37 in. (91.4 × 94 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Louis and Bessie Adler Foundation, Inc. Gift (Seymour M. Klein, President), 1983 (1983.19) © Dorothea Rockburne 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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Art Mentioned

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Head of a ruler, Copper alloy
Head of a ruler
ca. 2300–2000 BCE