Page 318 - The Legacy of Abraham Rothstein - text

Studies: animal

flattened shellacked trophy fish, and was meant to hang on the
wall (indeed, a photograph of AR’s apartment on Orange
Street shows it in that position). The smallest (no. 50) swims
through space, mounted on a finishing nail above a small
triangular base cut from a thin board. No. 157 appears to be a
set of graded size; each fish has a hole in the bottom for
mounting on a stand, possibly the same stand—but no bases
remain to indicate the original configuration.

The juxtaposition of species presented in no. 12 leaves the
viewer with another mystery. Two wild creatures are both
sketchily rendered in the round, but in totally incorrect relative
size (and from quite different ligneous materials—the stiff-
legged bear from a laminated block); this disparity, plus the
mounting of the fish on top of the bear (joined by a finishing
nail keeping them about one inch apart), give a dream-like or
mythological feeling to the assemblage. The work probably
illustrates a shtetl fable involving a fish flying over or catching a
ride on a bear. This narrative function obviates the need for
detail or verisimilitude in carving, and suggests the object was
intended for a juvenile audience or recipient, accompanied by
AR’s own version of the folk tale.

61 Bird *
Wood
3” x 7.75”

This streamlined bird in a slightly crouching stance is either
staring intently at something (a worm, perhaps) or getting ready
to fly away on the instant. It is perfectly horizontal, with wings
and tail flat against its body; despite the simplicity of form and
orientation, it may be the most lifelike of AR’s animal
representations.

20 Lion
Stone
5.5” x 9”

314