By the late 1970s, Otto Rogers had exhibited internationally and established his artistic reputation as an influential abstract painter. He took part in the Emma Lake Artists’ Workshop in Saskatchewan as a guest leader, along with Anthony Caro, Terry Fenton and Douglas Bentham. Rogers’ pictorial language expanded on the legacy of early modernist masters such as Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee. “Orange Edge” demonstrates Rogers’ personal dialogue with his artistic forebears. The black line and dot forms recall the spontaneous, doodle-like motifs of Joan Miro. The patchwork arrangement of rectangular shapes in the lower part of the composition are reminiscent of Klee. Rogers uses earth, tertiary tones to connect this work to the natural environment. The expanses of orange which bracket the composition suffuse the painting with warm light. Delicate, transparent washes peak through along the right edge, adding surface contrast and demonstrating the artist’s innate sensitivity to his materials. With deceptive simplicity, Rogers’ work expresses a profound sense of the poetic.
