Pond 2 1975

Warren Rohrer, born in 1927 into a Mennonite farming community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, made *Pond 2* with a muted palette and subtle grid structure. Rohrer’s abstract paintings emerged in a period marked by significant shifts in American art and culture. Leaving behind the figurative tradition of his upbringing, Rohrer engaged with the formalist concerns of color field painting, yet his work remains deeply rooted in the textures and rhythms of the rural landscape he knew intimately. The soft, blue-gray washes evoke a sense of stillness, akin to the reflective surface of a pond. Rohrer’s paintings can be understood as a kind of translation—transforming lived experience into abstract form. Consider how his personal history as a gay man who navigated a conservative religious environment might have shaped his artistic vision. What feelings might this painting evoke in you? Rohrer's work shapes the emotional and personal dimensions of the natural world into a powerful artistic expression.