Robert Motherwell Paintings and Collages
Robert Motherwell Paintings and Collages a catalogue raisonné, 1941–1991 volume three collages and paintings on paper and paperboard jack flam, katy rogers, and tim clifford
yale university press, new haven and london
This project was initially organized by Joachim Pissarro. Publication of the catalogue raisonné has been supported by The Dedalus Foundation, Inc. Copyright © 2012 by The Dedalus Foundation, Inc., and Yale University. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Essays by Jack Flam copyright © Jack Flam. Essays by Katy Rogers copyright © Katy Rogers. Works by Robert Motherwell copyright © The Dedalus Foundation, Inc., licensed by VAGA, New York. Designed by Katy Homans Set in Plantin and Scala sans type by Tina Henderson Printed in Verona, Italy, by Trifolio 3 volumes ISBN 978-0-300-14915-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Flam, Jack D. Robert Motherwell paintings and collages : a catalogue raisonné, 1941–1991 / Jack Flam, Katy Rogers, and Tim Clifford. v. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Contents: 1. Essays and references — ISBN 978-0-300-14915-9 (3 hardcover volumes in slipcase : alk. paper) 1. Motherwell, Robert—Catalogues raisonnés. I. Rogers, Katy. II. Clifford, Tim, 1969– III. Motherwell, Robert. IV. Title. N6537.M67A4 2012 759.13—dc22 2010029185 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The paper in this book meets the requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Frontispiece: Robert Motherwell working on In Green with Lemon Yellow Stripes (c571), May 1976, Greenwich, Connecticut. On the floor in the foreground is London Collage (c550), in progress Slipcase: Details of Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 70 (p220)
volume one
Contents
vi
preface | Jack Flam
x
acknowledgments
1
introduction Robert Motherwell at Work | Jack Flam
25
chapter 1 Paintings, 1941–1944: Finding a Voice | Jack Flam
39
chapter 2 Collages, 1943–1949: A New Medium | Katy Rogers
53
chapter 3 Paintings, 1944–1948: All That Is Serious and Ambitious | Jack Flam
63
chapter 4 Paintings, 1948–1958: Elegies to the Spanish Republic | Jack Flam
85
chapter 5 Collages, 1950–1957: The Tearingness of Collaging | Katy Rogers
93
chapter 6 Paintings, 1958–1967: Two Figures | Jack Flam
111
chapter 7 Collages, 1958–1970: Intersections | Katy Rogers
123
chapter 8 Paintings, 1967–1974: Opens and Signs | Jack Flam
145
chapter 9 Collages, 1971–1991: Variation and Seriality | Katy Rogers
157
chapter 10 Paintings, 1975–1991: Inventions and Reinventions | Jack Flam
179
chronology | Tim Clifford
260
the making of a motherwell catalogue raisonné | Jack Flam
269
usage guide to the catalogue entries
279
early works
284
list of exhibitions
331
bibliography, writings by the artist, and filmography
384
index of titles and alternative titles
399
index of owners
404
index of the chapters, chronology, and catalogue raisonné entry comments
423
concordance of catalogue raisonné and studio inventory numbers
430
photo and text credits
433
about the authors
Volume Two vii
key to the catalogue entries
1
Paintings on Canvas and Panel
Volume Three vii
key to the catalogue entries
1
Collages
403
Paintings on Paper and Paperboard
Key to the Catalogue Entries
What Is Included A painting is a work executed (either wholly or in part) in the medium
This concise key to the catalogue raisonné entries has been condensed
of paint—such as oil, acrylic, alkyd enamel, casein, or tempera—on a
from the “Usage Guide to the Catalogue Entries” in volume 1, to
support of canvas, canvas board, wood, Masonite, Upson board, Bone
which the reader should refer for a more detailed treatment of the
Board, or any other composite board panel (other than paperboard). A collage is a work in any medium, on any support, that has a pasted-on (or, more rarely, taped-on) element or elements.
issues that are addressed here.
A painting on paper is a painting executed in the medium of paint (as described above) on a support of paper or paperboard (board composed of pulp without added wood particles, such as rag board, illustration board, cardboard, Tycore, or mat board), or on Mylar or any similar kind of flexible plastic sheet. Drawings are not included in this catalogue raisonné, but will be published in a subsequent catalogue dedicated to Motherwell’s drawings. For the purposes of this publication, drawings are works on paper without a collage element that are executed exclusively in dry mediums (such as graphite, charcoal, or crayon), in fluid mediums other than paint (such as ink, watercolor, or gouache, which is an opaque form of watercolor), or in both the dry and fluid mediums listed above. Every effort has been made to make accurate distinctions between paintings on paper and drawings, which are sometimes quite difficult to ascertain.
The Structure of the Entries for the Individual Works In each entry, information about the work is given in the following order: Catalogue Raisonné Number Title Alternative Title(s) Date Materials (Mediums and Supports) Dimensions Inscriptions Artist’s Studio Number Present Owner Provenance Exhibitions References Comments
Catalogue Raisonné Number Each catalogue raisonné number includes a prefix letter (P, C, or W) that designates its medium category. Works within each category are numbered separately and preceded by the letter that designates the category to which they belong: p1–p1209 for paintings on canvas or panel; c1–c889 for collages; and w1–w722 for paintings on paper or vii
paperboard. Within each category sequence, the numbering reflects
appears on a studio inventory card, a studio list, or a gallery shipping
the general chronological order of the works.
list). Errors regarding titles in published sources are noted only in the references to those sources, not in the Alternative Title line.
Title We prefer titles that are inscribed on the work, that were used in pub-
Translations of Motherwell’s English-language titles in foreign exhibitions or publications are not given as Alternative Titles.
lic exhibitions or publications of the work, or that reflect Motherwell’s stated preference as the title of the work. But these three kinds of infor-
Date
mation sometimes conflict: inscribed titles sometimes refer to earlier
Motherwell frequently reworked his paintings and collages, sometimes
versions that have been radically altered; titles used in public exhibi-
years or even decades after they had been begun. As a result, the dates
tions were sometimes later changed; and many works that remained in
that he inscribed on his works frequently indicate when they were
the artist’s studio were never given formal titles. The latter were often
started rather than when they were finished. Often works remained in
given “studio titles”—descriptive titles that were normally entered on
his studio continuously between the times when they were revised; but
the 5 x 8–inch inventory cards known as “studio cards.” Sometimes
almost as frequently, they were sent out on consignment or to exhibi-
pictures went out into the world with such titles, but more frequently
tions, or published, or both, before they were reworked. In order to
they were given formal titles when Motherwell consigned them to a
convey these different conditions in a succinct manner, dates or ranges
gallery or exhibited them. Many of the works in his studio at the time
of dates are expressed in different ways in this publication, depending
of his death had been given only studio titles.
on the specific circumstances under which the works were revised.
In the catalogue entries, we have used codes to differentiate
If a picture was done within a single year, it is dated simply
between studio titles given to works during Motherwell’s lifetime and
to that year, such as 1961, or, if the exact date is uncertain, ca. 1961.
titles given posthumously by the Dedalus Foundation: lifetime stu-
When a picture was worked on over the course of more
dio titles are enclosed within square brackets [ ] and posthumous
than one year and did not leave the studio during that time, its
studio titles within braces { }. These codes, it should be noted, are
date range is given with the starting and finishing dates separated by a
used only in the entries for this catalogue raisonné. When such works
dash (as in 1961–64).
are referred to elsewhere in this publication, the brackets and braces are not used. Works that are part of a series, whether done at the same time or over a period of several years, are given normative titles without a comma before the number of the work within the series. We use “No.”
If a picture was started in one year, then left the studio on consignment or for an exhibition before it was reworked at another time, its starting and finishing dates are separated by a forward slash (as in 1961/1964). If Motherwell worked on a picture continuously over a
to designate “Number,” even if the title inscribed on the back of the
period of time, sent it out, then had it returned to him and
work uses a number sign to designate the number of the work within
revised it, the dates are separated by both dashes and forward slashes
the series. The use of Arabic numbers and Roman numerals generally
(as in 1961–64/1973).
follows Motherwell’s own (often inconsistent) use of those two numbering systems. Not all works in all series were given numbers, and the numbering of series often has gaps, repetitions, or both.
This process of revision after exhibition or consignment was sometimes repeated, so the date of a work can be expressed in terms as complex as 1975–77/1982/1985/1988. The placement of such a work within the chronological sequence of works in its medium category would depend on the main characteristics of its present form. A work
Alternative Title(s)
with a history of revision as complex as this one could be placed among
A number of works have had more than one valid title over time.
works from a number of different years, ranging from 1975 to 1988,
These other titles are listed under Alternative Title(s). They include
depending on the nature of the revisions that were made. Pictures that
titles that were at one time used publicly in exhibitions or publica-
were worked on at more than one time are placed according to when
tions, and titles that are inscribed on the versos of works but that have
they took on their most salient characteristics. As a result, some pic-
been superseded by other titles.
tures are placed chronologically by when they were started, while oth-
Alternative titles are listed in chronological order, beginning
ers are placed according to when they were finished, and still others
with the earliest. Some alternative titles were public titles (the work
are placed according to the date of a determinant intermediate state.
was publicly exhibited under that title, or the title appears on an exhibition checklist), while others were not (for example, a title that viii
key to th e cata l o g ue en t ri es
In establishing the dates of works, we have made extensive use of photographs taken of works at various stages in their development.
Whenever possible, the photographers’ archival numbers are given in
and therefore part of the work, or plays a role in the visual effect
the Comments.
of the work (such as being visible under translucent areas), as in
The dates we give here sometimes vary from those given in past
The Voyage (p87). If the mounting onto panel was not done under the
publications. Our dates are based on extensive and detailed research
supervision of the artist—for example, Gesture Series No. 1 (w373)—or
and supersede the dates that have been previously assigned to the
if the panel is not directly visible or does not play a role in the appear-
works in question. Issues related to the revision and redating of works
ance of the work, the work is considered a painting on paper; for
are often discussed in the Comments.
example, The Figure 4 on an Elegy (w104). Works in dry, graphic materials (such as charcoal) on supports
Materials (Mediums and Supports)
with painted grounds, such as canvas, canvas board, Masonite, or
For paintings on canvas or panel (P) and paintings on paper (W),
toned Upson board, are grouped with paintings on canvas or panel.
the order of the description of materials is as follows: paint medium, other solid materials (such as sand), graphic materials (if any),
Dimensions
and support.
Height precedes width. Dimensions are given in inches (using frac-
For collages (C), the order of the description of materials is as follows: paint, other solid materials such as sand (if any), pasted materials, graphic materials, and support. The main paint mediums for both paintings on canvas or
tions to the nearest eighth), followed by centimeters in parentheses (using decimals rounded off to the nearest tenth). We distinguish between dimensions that have been taken directly from the work by us or by others and dimensions that have been
panel and paintings on paper are designated as follows: oil, acrylic,
approximated by calculating the relative sizes of works in photographs.
casein, and tempera; occasionally, sand or dry pigments were mixed
If the dimensions of a work are not known and cannot be
into the paint. (Water-based paints have been variously described as
approximated, they are described as “Dimensions unknown.”
tempera and casein. Although we have tried to be as precise as possible, in some cases we have received conflicting information about
Inscriptions
whether a work was executed in tempera or casein, and it has not been
The Inscriptions field contains signatures, dates, and other inscrip-
possible to verify exactly which was used.)
tions that appear on either the front (recto) or the back (verso) of a
The main pasted materials in collages are paper and card-
work. Only inscriptions in Motherwell’s own hand are included;
board; sometimes other materials were used, such as wood veneer and
verso inscriptions made by others and information on labels are
animal skin. (While we attempt to identify the sources of paper and
not included.
cardboard elements, such as the brands of cigarettes and other products in the Comments, we do not identify types or brands of paper in the line for mediums and supports.) Motherwell also used a number of dry graphic materials in his
If the recto of a work has no inscriptions, this is noted as “Recto not signed, not dated.” If a painting on canvas or panel has no verso inscriptions, or the verso has not been seen, this is noted as “Verso not signed, not dated,”
paintings and collages, mainly charcoal, graphite, chalk, ink, crayon,
or “Verso not seen.” If a collage or painting on paper has no verso
Conté crayon, and China marker.
inscriptions, or the verso has not been seen, the verso inscription line
The main supports for paintings on canvas or panel are as
is omitted. This is because many fewer collages and paintings on
follows: canvas, canvas board (both commercial and studio-made),
paper contain verso inscriptions, and because those inscriptions that
Masonite, wood, Upson board, Bone Board, or any other composite
may exist are usually covered by mounting or have been removed
board panel other than paperboard.
by framing.
The main supports for paintings on paper are as follows:
For each work, the recto and verso inscriptions are listed sepa-
paper, various kinds of paperboard (such as rag board, illustration
rately, with the word “Recto” or “Verso” followed by a colon. The
board, cardboard, Tycore, or mat board), or Mylar and other kinds of
inscription itself follows the colon. In the inscription, all signatures,
flexible plastic sheets.
dates, titles, and so forth are given exactly as Motherwell wrote them.
The main supports for collages are canvas, canvas board, Upson board, paper, and paperboard. Works executed on paper but mounted onto panel or board under the artist’s supervision have been grouped with paintings on canvas or panel if the panel or board has been painted on, is visible
A line break in a signature or inscription is designated by a backward slash set off by a single empty space between it and whatever precedes or follows it. Additional descriptive information about the inscriptions on a work is given in square brackets or parentheses to the left of the colon. ke y t o t h e cat alog ue e nt rie s
ix
As a rule, information in square brackets to the left of the colon is itali-
For example:
cized and indicates actions taken, such as crossing out, painting over,
Verso: Robert Motherwell \ «The Sentinel» \ NYC \ October \ 1942
or circling; information in parentheses to the left of the colon is not ital-
When Motherwell uses a forward slash within an inscription,
icized and describes the orientation or direction of the inscription, or
we keep it as a forward slash, but in order to avoid confusion
clarifies a source of information.
with the backward slashes that we use to designate line breaks, an
Square brackets to the right of the colon enclose the portion of the inscription that is described by the bracketed action to the
empty space is not left between the forward slash and what follows it. On the verso, if the signature or title has been crossed out or
left of the colon.
blacked out, this is noted. If some of the words in a verso inscription have
For example:
been circled or set within a triangle, this is also noted. (A circled number
Verso [crossed out]: [Motherwell]
inscribed in Motherwell’s hand on the verso of a work done during the
Recto Inscriptions The positions of recto inscriptions are described as follows: upper left, upper center, upper right, lower left, lower center, lower right. If an inscription on the recto is scratched into the paint film with a sharp instrument or drawing tool, it is described as “incised.” If an inscription on the recto is both incised and painted or written, it is described as “incised and inscribed.” On the recto, if all or part of the signature or date (or both) is painted over, that part is described as “painted over” in italic type set within square brackets, with the part of the signature or date that is painted over also set in square brackets (but not italicized). For example: Recto, upper left, incised [painted over]: [RM 67] Recto, lower left [partially painted over]: R Motherwell [62]
years 1945–55, when he was represented by the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, designates the Kootz Gallery inventory number of the work, except in p19 and p79, where the significance of the circled numbers is unknown.) The orientation of an upside-down verso inscription (rotated 180 degrees) is given in terms of the present orientation of the picture. If a verso inscription is upside down, this is noted in parentheses. If the verso has not been seen but auction catalogues, gallery records, studio cards, or other sources provide information about the verso, “Verso not seen” is followed by the putative inscription information, noted as “per” the provider of the information, quoted directly from the source, and placed within square brackets. If a work has been relined and we have not been able to see the verso, we note “Verso covered by relining, no longer visible.” If a work that has been relined had a documented verso inscription (known by pretreatment photographs or other dependable infor-
Verso Inscriptions
mation) that was subsequently covered by relining, we record what we
Verso inscriptions are listed starting at the upper left. Each verso
know of the inscription, directly transcribed from the source.
inscription that appears in a different place on the back of the work is placed on a separate line, in order to make clear the distinctive
Artist’s Studio Number
features and idiosyncrasies of the various parts of each inscription.
Starting in 1977, studio inventory numbers, called “studio numbers,”
We indicate whether verso inscriptions are directly on the
were assigned to works in Motherwell’s possession. These were entered
verso of the work itself, or on a backing board, stretcher, or strainer.
on the 5 x 8–inch studio cards that were created for each individual
If an inscription is not on the work itself, we specify where it is, in
work. The studio numbers were normally also put on the backs of the
parentheses.
works, usually on the strainers or frames, almost always by someone
The versos of works frequently contain handwritten inscriptions
other than Motherwell himself.
that are not in Motherwell’s hand, which may include titles, dates,
These studio numbers organized his works by medium (desig-
medium, inventory numbers, and so forth. These are not included
nated by a prefix, such as P for painting) and by year (expressed as a
under Inscriptions but are sometimes discussed in the Comments.
two-digit number), as in “p79” to designate a painting done in 1979.
In the verso inscriptions, all signatures, dates, titles, and nota-
These designations of medium and year were followed by a (usually
tions about medium and so forth are given exactly as Motherwell
arbitrary) inventory number, as in “p79-2251.”
wrote them, including particularities or idiosyncrasies such as titles
Eventually, cards were made for earlier works that had left
written in full capitals or set within quotation marks (no part of an
Motherwell’s studio before the card system was initiated (as the works
inscription is placed within quotation marks unless Motherwell put
were published or appeared on the market); this was an early step
quotation marks around it). A line break in a signature or inscription
toward creating a complete catalogue of his works. The works that were
is designated by a backward slash set off by a single empty space
catalogued after they had left his studio were usually given inventory
between it and whatever precedes or follows it.
numbers of 5000 and higher (for example, p57-5122 and c57-5087).
x
k e y to th e catalo g ue en tri es
This process of making new studio cards as works came to light contin-
The Provenance does not include art dealers and galleries to whom a
ued after Motherwell’s death, supervised by the Dedalus Foundation.
work was consigned; they are included only if they actually owned the
Although the information on the studio cards is not always com-
work. (If consignment information is relevant to the provenance, it is
plete, consistent, or accurate, the cards are a valuable source of infor-
dealt with in the Comments.) Gaps in the provenance are indicated by
mation about titles and changes in title, dates, revisions, exhibitions,
the phrase “unknown owner.”
and consignments. The numbering system on the studio cards estab-
Any unusual circumstances surrounding the provenance of a
lished different categories between paintings (P), collages (C), and
work are noted in the Comments rather than in the Provenance,
drawings (D), as well as monotypes (M) and hand-painted or unique
except for stolen works.
impressions of prints (U). Those categories, however, were rather fluid during Motherwell’s lifetime (particularly P’s changed to D’s
Exhibitions
and vice versa), and the Dedalus Foundation made further changes of
Solo and group exhibitions are listed separately and are arranged
category—not always accurate—posthumously. Sometimes works were
chronologically within each separate list. The abbreviated citations
given more than one studio number; and sometimes the studio num-
refer to the full citations given in the List of Exhibitions (see volume 1),
bers were incomplete, with the date or medium left blank, or replaced
in which solo and group exhibitions are also listed separately and
by fillers, such as asterisks, dashes, empty spaces, or question marks.
arranged chronologically within each separate list. When a work that
As the result of new information that has been discovered in the
appeared in an exhibition was reproduced in the exhibition catalogue,
course of our research, the medium category or date designated by the
the citation for that work is given under Exhibitions rather than
studio number for a work is sometimes different from the medium or
References. (If a work was illustrated in the exhibition catalogue but
date given in this catalogue raisonné.
not shown in the exhibition, it is cited in the References section.) In
If a studio number was not assigned to a work, this field is
citations of exhibition catalogues, the information is given in the fol-
excluded in the catalogue raisonné entry for that work (as opposed to
lowing order: venue (museum, gallery, library, etc.), city, year, cata-
saying “No studio number”).
logue number, and where in the catalogue the work is illustrated. For example:
Present Owner The present owner of each work is listed with the information and
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1969, cat. no. 253, illus. p. 231. If a work was included in an exhibition of works from the per-
credit line provided by the owner. Some owners have wished to remain
manent collection at the institution that owns it, we do not include
anonymous and are listed with some variation of “Private collection.”
such a presentation of the work among the Exhibitions. But if the
If a work is known to have been destroyed, we note the circumstances
work was included in a monographic or thematic loan exhibition at
of its destruction, if known.
the institution that owns it, or in a show of recent acquisitions, that exhibition is included here.
Provenance
A traveling exhibition (one that was first shown at the orga-
The past owners of each work are listed in chronological order, begin-
nizing museum and then traveled to other institutions) is designated
ning with the first known owner after the work left the artist’s studio,
as such in italics set within parentheses, directly following the year:
and noting the year in which each owner acquired the work, when
(traveling).
known. The present owner is listed as the last entry in the Provenance
For example:
as well as on the Present Owner line. Auction sales are set in square
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 58, color
brackets and include the name of the auction house, the city, date, and
illus. p. 49; not shown in Los Angeles and Seattle.
lot number, and whether the work is illustrated in the auction catalogue. Past owners have sometimes wished to remain anonymous and are listed with some variation of “Private collection.” If a work was destroyed, or is said to have been destroyed, while
A circulating exhibition is one that was organized by an institution but not shown first at that institution, and in most cases not shown at all at the organizing institution. An exhibition that is categorized as “circulating” is listed under the organizing institution rather
still in the possession of the artist, the Provenance lists the owner as
than the first venue on the exhibition’s itinerary; it is described within
“The artist.” If Motherwell bought back a work after it had been sold
parentheses as “(circulating)” rather than “(traveling).” If a traveling or
to a collector or museum, he is listed as “Robert Motherwell” rather
circulating exhibition had different catalogues (or checklists) at differ-
than as “The artist.” For works that Motherwell left to the Dedalus
ent venues, the catalogue numbers for those exhibitions are listed in
Foundation, the first owner in the Provenance is “Dedalus Foundation.”
the catalogue entry by the venue’s city. ke y t o t h e cat alog ue e nt rie s
xi
For example:
The abbreviated form for an exhibition catalogue in the
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires,
References gives the venue, exh. cat., and year, not separated by
cat. no. 6; Caracas, cat. no. 61; Bogotá, cat. no. 61; Mexico City, cat.
commas.
no. 6.
Errors or discrepancies in titles are cited in the references when When the same institution originates two or more exhibitions in
the same year, the year is preceded by the month the exhibition started, as a way of differentiating between the two exhibitions.
relevant, and alternative titles and foreign languages are also noted. Auction catalogues are cited under Provenance rather than under Exhibitions or References.
When the same institution originates two or more exhibitions in the same month of the same year, the title of the exhibition is included
Comments
along with the month and the year.
The Comments on the individual works are not interpretive in the
For example:
broad sense but are meant to clarify fairly specific issues. These
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September
include the following: variations in titles and dates; revisions and
1965 (traveling).
reworkings; information about early states; the sources and signifi-
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper,
cance of titles, including literary allusions and references; statements
September 1965 (circulating).
by Motherwell about the work; any special circumstances (such as a
If an exhibition did not have a proper catalogue, but only a
commission) surrounding the work’s inception or installation; the
checklist or a brochure, the expression “cat. no.” is nonetheless used to
sources of collage elements; and conservation or condition issues.
designate the numbers given in the exhibition checklist or other ephem-
For series of works done around the same time, the main body
era (our source for the “cat. no.” is described in the List of Exhibitions).
of information about the series is generally given in the Comments for
Errors or discrepancies in titles are noted as erroneous when relevant. If a work was shown under an alternative title, this is noted in Exhibitions, and foreign titles are also noted and translated.
the first work (or the first numbered work) in the series. If a work is illustrated with a reproduction that is not of normal quality and format, the source of the reproduction is mentioned in the Comments (that it is from a Polaroid or black-and-white photograph,
References
for example, or from an auction catalogue or a color slide).
The References are listed in an abbreviated form, by author and year,
Photographs have provided important information about
and are arranged chronologically and alphabetically within each year.
the revision and dating of works. Unless stated otherwise, studio pho-
The abbreviated form corresponds to the author and year listed in the
tographs are from the Dedalus Foundation Archives. For photographs
full citation located in the Bibliography (see volume 1), which is also
taken by professional photographers, we cite the photographer’s
organized chronologically and alphabetically within each year by the
archive numbers whenever possible. Motherwell gave his own inven-
author and year. Each citation in the References includes the page
tory numbers to his prints of the photographs taken by Peter A. Juley
numbers on which the work is discussed, illustrated, or both.
& Son, which we cite; the Smithsonian American Art Museum has
When an author is cited in two or more references within a
subsequently posted the Juley photographs on its web site, using
given year, the citations are differentiated with the letters a, b, c, and
Juley’s negative numbers. So for Juley photographs we give both
so forth; these do not indicate order of importance, but rather how
Motherwell’s archive number for the print (which sometimes had cru-
the citations are alphabetized in the Bibliography.
cial information written on the verso) and the Smithsonian American
When Motherwell is quoted discussing a work in a published
Art Museum number, which always starts with “J000.” (In a few
source, this is indicated by an abbreviated form that contains
instances, there was no Motherwell archive number or no Smithsonian
Motherwell’s name and the source and year. The full citations for such
American Art Museum negative number; in those cases only a single
references are located in “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography.
number is given.)
When a work is reproduced only as a comparative figure in an
When we describe a photograph as “early,” we mean that it
exhibition catalogue, or when it is listed in the catalogue but did not
was taken early in the work’s history—that is, at a time close to the
appear in the exhibition, the citation is given under References rather
creation of the work, or of a state of the work.
than in Exhibitions. (In citations to exhibition catalogues, only works that were exhibited are listed under Exhibitions.) But in such a case, the full citation to the exhibition catalogue will be found in the List of Exhibitions rather than in the Bibliography. xii
key to th e catal o g ue en tri es
Collages
c1
c1
Pierrot’s Hat Alternative Title: Collage 1943 Watercolor, gouache, pasted papers, pasted glass button, and ink on paperboard 19¾ x 14⅛ in. (50.2 x 35.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center: motherwell 43 Artist’s Studio Number c43-5046; c43-5085 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Chareau, ca. 1944; Dollie Chareau, 1950; unknown owner, 1967 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, October 1949. New Gallery, Bennington College, Vt., 1959, cat. no. 5, as Collage. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965
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(traveling), New York, cat. no. 2; Amsterdam, cat. no. 2, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 2; Turin, cat. no. 2, illus. p. 62 (pl. 2), as Collage. References Arnason 1966a, p. 23, illus. p. 25 (fig. 4), referred to in text and in illus. as Collage; Wescher 1968, pp. 300–301; Pleynet 1977, p. 189, as Collage; Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 19 (pl. 8); Mattison 1985b, pp. 97–101, illus. n.p. (fig. 59, as Untitled); Pleynet 1986, p. 71, as Collage; Mattison 1987, p. 80, illus. p. 84 (fig. 24, as Untitled); Gilbert 1998, pp. 38–39, 93–94, illus. p. 518 (fig. 3). Comments Motherwell referred to this as his first collage, one of two works in the medium that he created on the same day early in 1943 (see also Untitled, c2). Both of these collages were done in Jackson Pollock’s studio, following Peggy Guggenheim’s invitation to the two artists to create works for an exhibition of collages by several artists she was planning for April at her New York gallery, Art of This Century. We do not know, however, whether either of
Motherwell’s first two collages was actually exhibited there, as no checklist or installation photographs survive. The colored papers used in these first two collages may have been brought back from Motherwell’s 1941 trip to Mexico, and the glass button was given to him by Jackson Pollock (Arnason 1966, p. 23). The title Pierrot’s Hat was given to this collage considerably later; it was not published with that title until 1982. The title contains a compounded pun: Pierrot is a stock French theatrical figure who wears a distinctive conical hat; and Pierrot is also an affectionate, diminutive form of Pierre, perhaps a reference to the French architect Pierre Chareau, to whom Motherwell gave this collage. The title also refers to Piero della Francesca. In a draft of a letter to E. A. Carmean dated July 13, 1971, Motherwell wrote: “But I also loved Piero della Francesca—a church hat of his appears in one of my 2 first collages” (see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). Our reproduction of this work comes from Arnason 1982.
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Untitled 1943 Watercolor, gouache, pasted papers, crayon, and ink on paper 19½ x 15¾ in. (49.5 x 40 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: [illegible] \ motherwell 43 Present Owner Galerie Jeanne-Bucher, Paris Provenance Galerie Jeanne-Bucher, Paris, 1946 Group Exhibitions Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, 2007, color illus. p. 195. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, France, 2008, cat. no. 56, color illus. p. 214. References Arnason 1966a, p. 23. Comments Motherwell told H. H. Arnason that he created two collages in Pollock’s studio, and that the second one had been lost
Solo Exhibitions Art of This Century, New York, October 1944, cat. no. 9. c2
or destroyed (Arnason 1966a, p. 23). But in fact, as he apparently forgot, he had sold this collage in January 1946 (along with four drawings) to the French art dealer Jeanne Bucher (1872– 1946), who had come to postwar New York to see the work of the most promising younger American artists. This collage is approximately the same size as Pierrot’s Hat (c1), with which it shares strong similarities in materials and composition. The pasted elements include a matchbook advertising Cuban cigars and pieces of colored paper. Because this collage was kept away from exposure to light for over sixty years (Bucher, who died shortly after her return to France, had slipped it into a portfolio that was not opened until 2005), it is in remarkably fresh condition. It offers perhaps the only accurate record we have of the
intensely colored magenta and yellow papers Motherwell used during the 1940s, which are now faded in other works, such as Joy of Living (c3), Personage (Autoportrait) (c8), and Mallarmé’s Swan (c11).
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Joy of Living 1943 Oil, gouache, pasted fabric, pasted papers, crayon, charcoal, and ink on paperboard 43½ x 33⅝ in. (110.5 x 85.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: motherwell 43 Artist’s Studio Number c43-5047
Watkins Gallery, American University, Washington, D.C., 1963. Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 1. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 3, illus. p. 20; Amsterdam, cat. no. 3, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 3; Turin, cat. no. 3, illus. p. 63 (pl. 3). Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 5, color illus. p. 56; shown in Buffalo only. Baltimore Museum of Art, 2006.
Present Owner The Baltimore Museum of Art. Bequest of Saidie A. May, bma 1951.344
Group Exhibitions Art of This Century, New York, April 1943.
Provenance Saidie A. May, 1943; Baltimore Museum of Art, 1951 (promised gift 1943)
Tate Gallery, London, 1946, cat. no. 157.
Baltimore Museum of Art, 1943.
Watkins Gallery, American University, Washington, D.C., 1953.
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Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., 1978 (traveling), Ithaca and New York, illus. p. 90 (fig. 93); Tokyo, illus. n.p.
pp. 40, 130, 166, illus. p. 167 (ill. 113); Engberg and Banach 2003, p. 42; Peggy Guggenheim Collection exh. cat. 2003, pp. 78, 295, 310, 350, color illus. p. 140 (pl. 46), illus. p. 308 (fig. 138); Gilbert 2004b, pp. 315, 317–19, 321–22, 331, 335, illus. p. 316 (fig. 1); Taylor 2004, p. 105; McNatt 2006, illus. sec. E, p. 4; Arca, Chiesa di San Marco, exh. cat. 2008, illus. p. 128 (in exhibition), color illus. p. 138.
References Greenberg 1944b, p. 599; Janis and Blesh 1962, illus. p. 162 (fig. 216); Carver 1965, p. 6; Charmet 1965, p. 168; Kay 1965, p. 4; O’Hara 1965b, p. 264; Arnason 1966a, p. 24, illus. p. 25 (fig. 3); Robertson 1966a, p. 89, illus. p. 89; Ashton 1967, illus. p. 34; Bowness 1967, p. 288, illus. p. 286; Wescher 1968, p. 301, color illus. p. 263 (pl. 37); Ashton 1972, illus. p. 120 (fig. 23); Kelder 1972, p. 100; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, illus. p. 11 (fig. 1); Volboudt 1973b, p. 84; Wilmerding 1973, illus. p. 283; Arnason 1977b, pp. 19–20; Pleynet 1977, pp. 189–90; Bonet 1980, p. 17; Lader 1981, pp. 209, 273–74; Arnason 1982, pp. 19–20, illus. p. 20 (pl. 8a); AlbrightKnox Art Gallery Calendar 1983, p. 3; Bonet 1983, p. 135; McClintic 1984, p. 39; Kimball 1985, pp. 32–33; Mattison 1985b, pp. 87, 102–8, 111, 132, 134, 141, 149–50, 155, 226, illus. n.p. (fig. 63); Rudenstine 1985, p. 583; Greenberg 1986a, p. 240; Pleynet 1986, pp. 71, 72; Mattison 1987, pp. 71, 80–82, 92, 94, 111, 112, 125, 127, 197, illus. p. 85 (fig. 25); Gibson 1988, p. 209, illus. p. 209 (fig. 1); Mattison 1988, pp. 172– 76, 182–83, illus. p. 173 (fig. 1); Pleynet 1989b, pp. 21, 23–25, 29, 32, color illus. p. 22; Pythoud 1990, p. 97; Shapiro and Shapiro 1990, p. 197; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 5); Terenzio 1992b, p. 291; Belgrad 1994, p. 332, illus. p. 333 (fig. 5-3); Franzke 1994, p. 7, color illus. p. 4 (fig. 2); Sawin 1995, pp. 334, 361, illus. p. 335; Caws 1996b, pp. 24, 38, 77, illus. p. 25, referred to in text and in illus. as La Joie de vivre; Belgrad 1998, p. 136; Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 10 (pl. 1); Gilbert 1998, pp. 18, 39–41, 51, 55–57, 94, 96, 346, 351–52, 427–29, 431–32, 435–37, 442–46, 448, 452–55, 457–58, 463–64, 466, 468–69, 471, 478, 481–82, 499–501, illus. p. 519 (fig. 4); Ward 1998, p. 54; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía exh. cat. 1999, illus. p. 232; Caws 2003,
Comments This work is Motherwell’s first largerformat collage, done right after his experiments with the medium in Pollock’s studio early in 1943. “A few days later,” he recalled, “my friend Matta dropped by and he said, ‘Those are really you, I can tell. Why don’t you make some bigger ones and more of them,’ and so on, and with that encouragement I went on and for a long time I was the only American painter who also made collages” (Catherine Tatge, Robert Motherwell and the New York School: Storming the Citadel, 1991; see Filmography). Among the varied collage elements in this work is a fragment of a military training map (at the upper right), in which the names of French battles from World War I are overlaid onto the geography of the countryside at Fort Benning, Georgia (see fig. 21 in volume 1). Such maps were used in military extension courses and would have been available to Motherwell in New York City as well as through friends in the army. The military map refers to the war then raging in Europe, so the title Joy of Living is no doubt meant to be ironic (see Gilbert 2004b). Fragments of this military map also appear in two other collages, The Painter (c12) and View from a High Tower (c17). The pink paper used near the center of this collage was originally a bright magenta, which can be seen in its original, unfaded state in Untitled (c2). Joy of Living was first shown in Exhibition of Collage at Art of This Century in April 1943, the first American exhibition devoted to works in what was then a rarely used medium in the United States. This is the first work by Motherwell to enter a museum collection; it was purchased by Saidie A. May on May 11, 1943 (along with William Baziotes’s collage The Drugged Balloonist; see fig. 17 in volume 1), for the Baltimore Museum of Art. It was
Baltimore Museum of Art, 1972, illus. p. 13, illus. p. 50. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 139. Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 115, illus. n.p.
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shown again in Motherwell’s solo debut at Art of This Century in October 1944, when Clement Greenberg noted, “The big smoky collage Joy of Living— which seems to me to hint at the joy of danger and terror, of the threats to living—is not half as achieved as the perfect and Picasso-ish Jeune Fille, yet it points Motherwell’s only direction: that is, the direction he must go to realize his talent—of which he has plenty” (Greenberg 1944b).
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The Displaced Table 1943 Tempera, pasted wood veneer, pasted papers, ink, graphite, and colored pencil on canvas 41 x 30 in. (104.1 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right [partially obscured by framing mat]: Motherw[ell] Present Owner Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Gift of Robert H. Halff through the Modern and Contemporary Art Council Provenance Dwight Ripley, New York, 1944; Robert H. Halff and Carl W. Johnson, 1976; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2005
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Solo Exhibitions Art of This Century, New York, October 1944, cat. no. 10. Group Exhibitions Cincinnati Art Museum, 1944 (traveling), cat. no. 63. Montgomery Art Gallery, Pomona College, Claremont, Calif., 1977 (traveling), cat. no. 52, color illus. p. 121. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, March 1987 (traveling), cat. no. 32, illus. p. 58. Comments The collage element at the upper right-hand corner of this work is wood veneer; this is one of eight collages, all done between 1943 and 1945, in which Motherwell used such veneer. This collage and Figure with Blots (c5) both contain strong automatist elements and forms reminiscent of Matta’s work of the same period. This collage probably dates from early 1943, when Motherwell first began to work in the medium. If this and other larger collages done at this time are not 6
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usually listed as being among his early collages, it is largely because they remained in private collections; some of the other early collages, such as Joy of Living (c3), Personage (Autoportrait) (c8), and Pancho Villa, Dead and Alive (c7), entered public collections early and were therefore more widely visible.
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Figure with Blots 1943 Oil, pasted papers, crayon, and ink on paper 45½ x 38 in. (115.6 x 96.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Robert Motherwell 1943 Artist’s Studio Number c43Present Owner Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto Provenance Livingston and Virginia Gearhart, ca. 1943; Livingston Gearhart, 1953; Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, before 1983 Solo Exhibitions Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 4, color illus. p. 55; not shown in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 10.
Group Exhibitions Fort Worth Art Museum, March 1985, cat. no. 14, color frontispiece, color illus. p. 49. Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, Calif., 1986 (traveling), cat. no. 78, color illus. p. 131. Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 1993, cover color illus. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 1999 (traveling), color illus. p. 179. National Academy Museum, New York, 2005 (traveling), color illus. n.p. (pl. 87). Haunch of Venison New York, 2008, cat. no. 26, color illus. p. 71. References Drohojowska 1987, illus. p. 29; Polcari 1991, p. 306, illus. p. 306 (fig. 242); Smith 2008, color illus. sec. E, p. 27. Comments The pale pink and yellow papers in this collage, which have faded dramatically, are probably the same as those
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that Motherwell used in Pierrot’s Hat (c1) and Untitled (c2). Livingston Gearhart, who acquired this collage directly from Motherwell, listed it on his insurance appraisal as Untitled. The present title appears to have been given to the work by the artist when it was exhibited for the first time, in his 1983 retrospective at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
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The Flute 1943 Oil and pasted papers on cardboard 35½ x 18 in. (90.2 x 45.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right [partially abraded ]: Robert Mothe[rwe]ll 1943 Artist’s Studio Number c43-5002 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1946; private collection, ca. 1948; private collection, 1958 Group Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, December 1946, cat. no. 16. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 1947, cat. no. 122. References Seitz 1955, p. 136, illus. n.p. (fig. 140); Seitz 1983, p. 51, illus. n.p. (fig. 152); Mattison 1985b, pp. 120–21, illus. n.p.
(fig. 71); Caws 2003, illus. p. 45 (ill. 32). Comments The patterned paper on the right side of this collage, widely assumed to have been brought back from Mexico, is in fact a German wrapping paper that Motherwell bought five sheets of, with slightly different patterns, in a New York art supply store (interview with Sigmund Koch and Jack Flam, 1986; also discussed in a November 1989 interview with Jack Flam; see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). These papers were subsequently used in a number of other collages during the 1940s. The pinkish paper at the upper left center of this work was originally bright magenta, but has faded (see the Comments for c2). In a letter to curator Glen MacLeod dated November 16, 1983, Motherwell noted that this work was partly inspired by Wallace Stevens’s poem “The Man with the Blue Guitar” (1937), as well as by Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute; k. 620). The instrument in this collage, he
noted, is “a kind of imaginary instrument . . . but more like a woodwind, and is dominantly blue.” He had avoided the image of the guitar because, he said, “The guitar shape is so deeply a Cubist icon . . . especially in making a collage, which is a Cubist invention, and hence a reference by indirection” (see Motherwell 1992, p. 270). In a later letter to MacLeod, dated January 19, 1988, Motherwell wrote, “At one time I wanted to make a painting called ‘The Blue Guitar,’ but the shape turned out to be a wood instrument—a clarinet or a fife, I do not remember. I have not seen the picture in years” (see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). A black-and-white photograph of this painting from the Sidney Janis Gallery archives includes a note on the reverse, not written in Motherwell’s hand but most likely based on his comments, regarding the collage’s iconography: “Has music stand, metronome, flute, music, etc.”
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Pancho Villa, Dead and Alive 1943 Oil, gouache, pasted wood veneer, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 28 x 35⅞ in. (71.1 x 91.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Robert Motherwell 1943 Artist’s Studio Number c43-5005 Present Owner The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase Provenance Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1944 Solo Exhibitions Art of This Century, New York, October 1944, cat. no. 11.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1955 (circulating), Zurich, cat. no. 66; Barcelona, cat. no. 83; London, cat. no. 83. Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn., 1962, cat. no. 88, illus. p. 30. Wollman Hall, New School Art Center, New York, 1964, cat. no. 36, illus. n.p. Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1965. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1965, cat. no. 60, illus. p. 131. Museum of Modern Art, New York, June 1969, cat. no. 73. Museum of Modern Art, New York, July 1971, cat. no. 41. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1983, color illus. p. 181.
Arts Club of Chicago, 1946 (traveling), cat. no. 15.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, March 1987 (traveling), cat. no. 29, color illus. p. 55.
Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, 1961, cat. no. 2, color illus. n.p.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1991, color illus. p. 111.
Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 2, illus. n.p.
References Greenberg 1944a, p. 634; Jewell 1944c, p. 15; Paalen 1945, illus. p. 42, as Pancho Villa; Barr 1948, illus. p. 231 (cat. no. 550); Fischer [1950], illus. p. 11; Baur 1951a, illus. p. 19; B[ernier] 1955, illus. p. 41; Seitz 1955, pp. 64, 135, 192, 316, 340, illus. n.p. (fig. 143); Celentano 1957, pp. 35, 90, illus. n.p. (fig. 39); Goodrich et al. 1957, illus. p. 247; Apollonio et al. 1958, p. 305; Apollonio et al. 1962, p. 291; Janis and Blesh 1962, p. 171; Nordland 1962a, pp. 21, 22; Nordland 1962b, p. 50, as Pancho Villa; Tillim 1963, p. 41; Canaday 1964b, illus. sec. 2, p. 23; Barker 1965, sec. B, p. 5; B[erkson] 1965, p. 42; Charmet 1965, p. 168; Claus 1965, p. 3; Fabri 1965, p. 10, cover illus.; Kozloff 1965a, illus. p. 35; Kozloff 1965b, p. 258; Lippard 1965, p. 34; Tillim 1965, p. 35; Time 1965, p. 84; Arnason 1966a, p. 24, illus. p. 28 (fig. 6); Arnason 1966b, pp. 19, 25, 26, 29, 31; Bernardi 1966, p. 5, as Pancho Villa; Melville 1966, p. 478; Ashton 1967, p. 12; Bowness 1967, p. 286; Rose 1967, p. 180, illus. p. 177 (ill. 6-27); Supovitz 1967, p. 23, illus. p. 21; Arnason 1968, p. 507, illus. p. 506 (fig. 810); Kozloff 1968, p. 171; Wescher 1968, p. 301; Schjeldahl 1969a, p. 74, illus. p. 74; Simon 1969, p. 35; Myers 1970, p. 81; Sandler 1970, p. 203, illus. p. 205
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 4, illus. p. 14; Amsterdam, cat. no. 4, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 4; Turin, cat. no. 5, color illus. p. 65. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 1, illus. p. 48. Group Exhibitions Art of This Century, New York, May 1944, cat. no. 17. Museum of Modern Art, New York, February 1945. Museum of Modern Art, New York, June 1945. Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 1946 (traveling), cat. no. 57, illus. p. 34. Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 1948. Museum of Modern Art, New York, December 1948, cat. no. 550. Museum of Modern Art, New York, October 1949 (circulating). San Francisco Museum of Art, 1950. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1952 (circulating).
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(fig. 16-3); Freed 1972a, p. 8; Holmes 1972, sec. 3, p. 8; Hunter 1972, color illus. p. 176 (pl. 320); Kelder 1972, p. 100; Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 48; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Bulletin 1972, p. 89; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Calendar 1972, n.p.; Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art 1973, p. 382, color illus. p. 381 (fig. 3); Buettner 1973, p. 243; Harrison 1973, p. 11, illus. p. 10; Supplément à la Gazette des Beaux Arts 1973, p. 19; Wilmerding 1973, p. 284; Hobbs 1975b, pp. ii, 5, 126, 130–39, 169–70, 173, 212– 13, 255–57, 260–61, illus. n.p. (pl. 3); O’Hara 1975, p. 70; Rose 1975, pp. 153– 54, illus. p. 152 (ill. 6-23); Van Syckle 1975, sec. C, p. 20; Arnason 1976, p. 56; Carmean 1976, p. 94; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum exh. cat. 1976, illus. p. 20; Arnason 1977a, p. 535, illus. p. 535 (fig. 921); Arnason 1977b, pp. 19–21, 22, 29–30, 46, 98, color illus. n.p. (pl. 61); Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris exh. cat. 1977, illus. n.p.; Pleynet 1977, pp. 189, 190, 192– 93, 194, 196–97; Wolfowicz 1977, p. 15; Carmean 1978, pp. 96, 100, 107, 110; Fineberg 1978, p. 53; Hilton 1978, p. 63; Ashton 1980, p. 4; Bonet 1980, p. 17; [Forman] 1980, p. 56; Moore 1980, illus. p. 3; Torroella 1980, p. 17; Anderson 1981, p. 109; Buettner 1981, p. 71; Lader 1981, pp. 246–47, 273–74, illus. p. 495 (pl. 17); [Pleynet] 1981, pp. 20–21, 24; Arnason 1982, pp. 9, 19–21, 22, 29–30, color illus. p. 105 (pl. 112); Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 105; Wolff 1982, sec. Home Forum, p. 20; Albright-Knox Art Gallery exh. cat. 1983, color illus. p. 21; Seitz 1983, pp. 23, 51, 72, 116, 126, color illus. n.p. (fig. 155); Van Hook 1983, p. 103, illus. p. 103 (fig. 3); Alley 1984, pp. 56, 58; Collins 1984, p. 94; De Antonio and Tuchman 1984, p. 63; Drudi 1984, pp. 47–49; Gelles 1984, p. 37; Glueck 1984b, sec. Magazine, p. 78; Knight 1984, sec. E, p. 3; Colony Newsletter 1985, n.p.; Digby and Digby 1985, p. 175; Gaugh 1985, p. 75; Hunter and Jacobus 1985, p. 277; Kimball 1985, p. 32; Mattison 1985b, pp. 51, 60–62, 68, 87, 102, 109–20, 122–30, 132–33, 149–50, 163, 166, 168, 173, 179, 226, 237, 250, illus. n.p. (fig. 65); Rudenstine 1985, p. 583; Arnason 1986, p. 406, illus. p. 407 (fig. 600); Pleynet 1986, pp. 70, 72, 74, 76–77, 79, 81;
Campoy 1987, p. 101; Loughery 1987, p. 111; Mattison 1987, pp. 36, 42, 53, 71, 80, 92–98, 108–9, 111, 125, 142, 143, 145, 146, 148, 178, 197, 202, 218–19, illus. p. 87 (fig. 27); Molina 1987, p. 28; Drudi 1988b, pp. 47–49; Lloyd 1988c, p. 17; Mattison 1988, pp. 172, 178, 180, 182–83, illus. p. 179 (fig. 4); Enright 1989, p. 8; Mackie 1989, pp. 183, 184, illus. n.p.; Pleynet 1989b, p. 24, color illus. p. 69; Manthorne 1990, pp. 66, 67, 68, color illus. p. 66; Vinson 1990, p. 969; Brunet-Weinmann 1991, sec. B, p. 2; Craven 1991, p. 56; Flam 1991, pp. 15, 19, 20, 23, color illus. n.p. (pl. 3); Glimcher 1991, p. 11; Glueck 1991, sec. B, p. 9; Hartford Courant 1991, illus. sec. A, p. 13; Kramer 1991d, illus. p. 31; Museo Rufino Tamayo exh. cat. 1991, color illus. pp. 42–43; Pleynet 1991, p. 12; Polcari 1991, pp. 302, 303, illus. p. 303 (fig. 237); Kingsley 1992, pp. 305–6; Terenzio 1992b, pp. xxv, 22–23, 40, 291, color illus. n.p.; Waldman 1992, p. 219, illus. p. 219 (pl. 288); Jones 1993, p. 642, illus. p. 642 (fig. 2); Linsenmeyer 1993, sec. B, p. 8; Yale University Art Gallery exh. cat. 1993, color illus. p. 211 (fig. 164); Franzke 1994, p. 6, color illus. p. 4 (fig. 1); Magyar 1994, p. 94; Falgàs 1995, pp. 22, 28; Fineberg 1995, color illus. p. 32; Kaiser 1995, pp. 123, 128, illus. n.p.; Pleynet 1995, pp. 106, 113; Sawin 1995, pp. 334, 359, illus. p. 360; Caws 1996b, pp. 24, 77, 127, illus. p. 26; Fundació Antoni Tàpies exh. cat. 1996, illus. p. 54; Anfam 1997, p. 504; del Conde 1997, pp. 71, 95; Gibson 1997, pp. 6, 29, illus. p. 7 (fig. 7); Madoff 1997, p. 110; Rosand 1997, pp. 23, 33; Arnason 1998, p. 466, illus. p. 466 (fig. 536); Chalumeau 1998, illus. p. 5 (fig. a); Gilbert 1998, pp. 39, 358–59, 445, 447, 454, illus. p. 521 (fig. 6); Pleynet 1998, p. 87; Barnier 2000, p. 108; Fineberg 2000, p. 69, color illus. p. 32 (fig. 2.15); Dumas 2001, color illus. p. 100; Sylvester 2001, p. 365; Wentrup 2001, pp. 50–51, 53, illus. (fig. 17); Anfam 2002, pp. 79, 87, 93, 98, 114, illus. p. 92 (fig. 66); Caws 2003, pp. 16, 40, 71, illus. p. 70 (ill. 46); Engberg and Banach 2003, p. 43, illus. p. 42 (fig. 9); Peggy Guggenheim Collection exh. cat. 2003, pp. 80, 86, 307, 310, 375; Museum Morsbroich exh. cat. 2004, color illus. p. 21, color illus. p. 142; Taylor 2004, p. 105; Landau 2005, color illus. n.p. (pl. 5); McCormick Gallery 2007, n.p.;
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Arca, Chiesa di San Marco, exh. cat. 2008, color illus. p. 143; Haxall 2009, p. 24; Mattison et al. 2009, p. 54, color illus. p. 54; Sandler 2009, pp. 22, 92. Comments This collage uses the same kind of German wrapping paper, though with a slightly different pattern, that Motherwell used in The Flute (c6) and the same sort of wood veneer that he used in The Displaced Table (c4)— elements that he would use in a number of other early collages. The area around the left-hand figurative form retains fragments of a yellowand-white-striped section of rice paper, which had been laid down and then torn off, and a number of small, reddish ovoid forms. The rough handling of physical elements on the surface of this collage is very much in keeping with its violent subject matter. Pancho Villa, Dead and Alive was done in New York between October and December 1943, following Motherwell’s return from California after the death of his father that August. The work was inspired in part by a widely reproduced photograph of the bullet-riddled corpse of the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa (1878–1923). In a Museum of Modern Art questionnaire that was filled out in May 1945, Motherwell replied to an inquiry about the subject of the work and its possible “personal, topical or symbolic significance” as follows: “The picture represents Pancho Villa dead, on the left, with bloodstains, bullet holes etc.; + Pancho Villa alive, on the right, with a Mexican ‘wall paper’ behind him, + pink genitals. The personal + topical + symbolic significance are evident to anyone who sees it as I do; I have tried to ‘objectify’ (in Santayana’s sense) these values: i.e., make a picture. If I were French, I would have called it ‘Le Tombeau de Pancho Villa,’ following a convention.” Some twenty years later, in 1965, Motherwell told Bryan Robertson that it was not often observed that one half of this work “is a figure inside a coffin shape, covered with blood spots; and the other half is a figure with a pink penis hanging down—the penis being alive. Two portraits of Pancho Villa, one dead in the coffin, the other standing there alive!” (See “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography.) In a 1989 interview with Jack Flam, Motherwell elaborated on how 10
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the collage was made and titled: “The splotchy part on the right is actually a German wrapping paper that I came across in an art store. . . . it was literally copies of brushstrokes. . . . and the circles in a way seemed like heads and I was making lines for formal reasons and in the end I think the red splotches on the left bled through from a piece of oriental rice paper that I ultimately tore off but obviously reminded me of blood and. . . . the vertical lines on the right struck me as a bit coffin shaped though they probably weren’t done for that reason but for plastic reasons. And in the end one day—I always title pictures afterward, I have lots of literary titles but I’ve never started with one—and looking at it one day it suddenly occurred to me, what is it? It’s Pancho Villa, dead and alive, and there was also a book . . . that was filled with photos of the Mexican revolution and one of them was of Pancho Villa assassinated in his Model-T Ford lying there all bloody . . . so it’s a whole string of associations and also problems of getting away from the Cubist collage” (see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography).
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Personage (Autoportrait) Alternative Titles: Wounded Personage; Personnage; Collage; Large Collage; Surprise and Inspiration 1943 Oil, gouache, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 40⅛ x 25¼ in. (101.9 x 64.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Robert Motherwell \ 1943 Verso: Robert Motherwell \ 9 December 1943 Artist’s Studio Number c43-5004 Present Owner Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York) Provenance Art of This Century, 1944; Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, 1976 Solo Exhibitions Art of This Century, New York, October 1944, cat. no. 13. Arts Club of Chicago, 1946 (traveling), cat. no. 10, as Surprise and Inspiration. Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1989, cat. no. 2, color illus. p. 31. Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 3, color illus. p. 77, erroneously as Personnage (Self-Portrait). Group Exhibitions Art of This Century, New York, April 1944, cat. no. 13, as Personnage. David Porter Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1945 (traveling). Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 1946 (traveling), cat. no. 58, illus. p. 35, as Large Collage; shown in New York only. Palazzo Centrale, Venice, 1948 (traveling), Venice, cat. no. 95; Florence, cat. no. 101; Milan, cat. no. 102; as Sorpresa ed ispirazione (Surprise and Inspiration). Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1951 (traveling), Brussels and Amsterdam, cat. no. 116; Zurich, cat. no. 110; as Surprise and Inspiration. Palazzo del Parco, Bordighera, Italy, 1953, cat. no. 12, as Surprise and Inspiration.
Tate Gallery, London, December 1964, cat. no. 130, illus. p. 78, as Surprise and Inspiration. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1969, illus. p. 163, as Surprise and Inspiration. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, November 1982, cat. no. 57, color illus. p. 63, as Surprise and Inspiration. Galleria dell’Accademia, Venice, 1985, color illus. n.p., as Sorpresa ed ispirazione (Surprise and Inspiration). Centre de la Vielle Charité, Marseille, France, 1986, cat. no. 237, color illus. p. 121. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1998 (traveling), color illus. p. 66. Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, 2003 (removed mid-show), illus. p. 308 (fig. 138). Foro Boario, Modena, Italy, 2004, cat. no. 34, color illus. p. 123. Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin, Italy, 2007, cat. no. VI.41, color illus. p. 229, erroneously as Character (Self Portrait). References J[ewell] 1944b, sec. 2, p. 7, as Personnage; Paalen 1945, illus. p. 43, as Collage; Celentano 1957, pp. 35, as Personage, 90, as Large Collage; Arnason 1966a, p. 24, as Surprise and Inspiration; Sandler 1970, p. 93, as Auto-Portrait; Arnason 1977b, pp. 19–20, 50, illus. n.p. (pl. 59), referred to in text and in illus. as Surprise and Inspiration; Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Pleynet 1977, p. 189, as Surprise and Inspiration; Lader 1981, pp. 242, 274; Arnason 1982, pp. 19–20, 50, illus. p. 104 (pl. 110), referred to in text and in illus. as Surprise and Inspiration; Mattison 1982, p. 10, as Wounded Personage; Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 104; Seitz 1983, illus. n.p. (fig. 154, as Surprise and Inspiration); Mattison 1985b, pp. 62, 87, 102, 103, 108–9, 111, 118, 149–50, 208, 224, 237, illus. n.p. (fig. 64), referred to in text and in illus. as Surprise and Inspiration; Rudenstine 1985, pp. 583–86, 811, illus. p. 584 (cat. no. 128); Borges 1986, cover color illus.; Pleynet 1986, p. 71, as Surprise and Inspiration; Mattison 1987, pp. 42, 71, 80–82, 92, 94, 97, 125, 166–67, as Autoportrait, 178, 196, 202, illus. p. 86
(fig. 26), referred to in text and in illus. as Surprise and Inspiration; Mattison 1988, pp. 172, 174, 176–78, illus. p. 175 (fig. 2), referred to in text and in illus. as Surprise and Inspiration; Wallock 1988, color illus. p. 134 (fig. 138, as Personage [Surprise and Inspiration]); Terenzio 1992b, p. 291, as Surprise and Inspiration; Krens et al. 1993, color illus. p. 223 (pl. 94); Falgàs 1995, p. 22, as Surprise and Inspiration; Krens et al. 1997, p. 193, color illus. p. 195 (fig. 159); Gilbert 1998, pp. 39, 94, 96, 346, 444, illus. p. 520 (fig. 50), referred to in text and in illus. as Surprise and Inspiration; Vail 1998, color illus. p. 66; Krens and Rylands 2000, p. 154, color illus. p. 155 (pl. 77); Caws 2003, illus. p. 87 (ill. 57); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum exh. cat. 2003, pp. 80, 310, 311, 353, illus. p. 308 (fig. 138); Taylor 2004, p. 105, color illus. p. 102 (pl. 103), referred to in text and in illus. as Surprise and Inspiration; Waldman 2006, p. 200, color illus. p. 200 (fig. 71); Ashton and Banach 2007, illus. p. 47; Arca, Chiesa di San Marco, exh. cat. 2008, color illus. p. 139, illus. p. 140 (in exhibition). Comments Motherwell wrote that this collage was “originally entitled by me Wounded Personage, a title and an image that struck Meyer Shapiro [sic] very much when I showed it to him” (letter to Robert Mattison, dated August 20, 1979; see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). The collage was nonetheless first exhibited as Personnage (using the French spelling of the word) at Art of This Century in April 1944 and only a few months later as Personage (Autoportrait) in Motherwell’s October 1944 solo exhibition at Art of This Century (where it was erroneously dated 1944, despite the 1943 dates inscribed on both the recto and the verso). By the time of Motherwell’s solo exhibition, Peggy Guggenheim had already purchased the work for her gallery. (This purchase was in part an exchange with Motherwell for his painting The Sentinel, which she had purchased in early 1943 and later returned to him; see the Comments for p10.) In 1945, this collage was reproduced next to the title of an essay by Wolfgang Paalen called “Surprise and Inspiration” (Paalen 1945), and as a result Peggy Guggenheim mistakenly assigned that title to it— which it retained for many years.
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Motherwell considered this work a self-portrait, and in his statement for the catalogue of the 1945 David Porter Gallery exhibition A Painting Prophecy—1950, he discussed this work in relation to his views about the expressive potential of his art: “To begin with, this picture is not abstract. . . . But if my picture is not abstract, it is imaginative. Its feeling–content happens to be just how I feel to myself (hence its name, ‘Autoportrait’), expressed as directly and cleanly and relevantly as I can communicate the concrete felt pattern of my senses. How I feel is not how I look; naturally then I have not represented my visage. This is the justification for the non-representational means employed in this work. Nonrepresentation for its own sake is no more though no less interesting than
representation for itself. There simply happen to be certain problems of expression which representational means cannot solve. . . . The main thing is not to be frightened. Or rather, since this is impossible, to act as if one is not” (reprinted in Motherwell 2007, p. 46). Within this context, the conflation of the depicted figure’s head with the form of an artist’s palette is especially noteworthy.
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Collage in Black and Green Ca. 1943–44 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Unknown Present Owner Unknown (said to have been destroyed, date unknown) Provenance The artist References Claus 1965, illus. p. 5, as Ohne Titel (Untitled); Arnason 1966a, pp. 24, 33, illus. p. 26 (fig. 7); Arnason 1966b, pp. 19, 25; Wescher 1968, p. 301, erroneously as In Green and White; Arnason 1969, p. 51; Arnason 1976, p. 13; Arnason 1977b, pp. 29, 73, illus. p. 29 collag e s
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(pl. 11); Arnason 1982, pp. 29, 73, illus. p. 30 (pl. 21); Mattison 1985b, illus. n.p. (fig. 107). Comments This work is said to have been “accidentally destroyed” (Arnason 1982, p. 30). Our reproduction of it comes from an early black-and-white photograph (Juley photo no. 38; j0004833). The vertical forms that frame the two ovals appear to be the exposed paperboard ground on which the work was constructed. Motherwell would revisit this kind of image in several later works, first in an early state of the painting In Black and Pink with the Number Four (p353), where it is still visible in the pentimenti, and again in an untitled 1973 collage (c416).
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Viva 1943–44 Oil, ink, pasted paper, and crayon on paperboard 29 x 21½ in. (73.7 x 54.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number c43/44-5172 Present Owner Private collection, Houston Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1946; private collection, ca. 1947; James Martone, New York, ca. 1948; Edward A. Hinkle, Cleveland, 1964; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, May 5, 1986, lot 62, illus.]; Fayez Sarofim, 1986; private collection, Houston
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References O’Hara 1975, p. 77; Mattison 1985b, pp. 171–72, illus. n.p. (fig. 148); Mattison 1987, pp. 71, 111–12, 144–45; Pleynet 1989b, pp. 25, 29–30, illus. p. 29; Flam 1991, illus. n.p. (pl. 4). Comments This collage has been assigned dates ranging from 1943 to 1946. The earlier date seems more likely, based on its style and on the 1943–44 date assigned to it in early exhibition records. The word viva also appears in View from a High Tower (c17) and Viva (c33).
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Mallarmé’s Swan Alternative Title: Mallarmé’s Dream 1943–44 Gouache, pasted wood veneer, pasted sandpaper, pasted papers, crayon, charcoal, and ink on cardboard 43½ x 35½ in. (110.5 x 90.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell 1944
Group Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, May 1946 (?). Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1972, cat. no. 71. 12
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Verso of c11
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Artist’s Studio Number c44/47-5003 Present Owner The Cleveland Museum of Art. Contemporary Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1961.229 Provenance Cleveland Museum of Art, 1961 Solo Exhibitions Art of This Century, New York, October 1944, cat. no. 1, as Mallarme’s Dream (?). Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio, 1952, cat. no. 10. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 2, illus. n.p. New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 12, illus. p. 13; Amsterdam, cat. no. 12, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 14; Turin, cat. no. 14, color illus. p. 73 (pl. 13). Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 7, color illus. p. 19 (pl. 4), illus. p. 55. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 2, color illus. n.p. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 13, color illus. p. 28. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 8. Group Exhibitions University Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1951, cat. no. 49, illus. n.p. Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, 1954, cat. no. 33. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1969, cat. no. 254, color illus. p. 93. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, September 1976 (traveling), color illus. p. 352 (fig. 309). Cleveland Museum of Art, 1979, cat. no. 90, color illus. n.p. (pl. 30), illus. p. 150. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1987, cat. no. 43, illus. p. 133. Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany, 2000 (traveling), cat. no. 299, color illus. p. 67. 14
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References Stroup 1944, p. 16, as Mallarmé’s Dream (?); Holmes 1954, p. 3; Seitz 1955, p. 61, illus. n.p. (fig. 141); Henning 1962, pp. 50–51, 53, illus. p. 50 (fig. 2), back cover color illus.; Motherwell in Smith College Museum of Art exh. cat. 1963, n.p.; Weller 1963, p. 290, illus. p. 290; B[erkson] 1965, p. 42; Carver 1965, p. 6; Charmet 1965, p. 168; Claus 1965, p. 3; Edgar 1965, illus. p. 39 (fig. 3, erroneously as Beige and Black); Hudson 1965, sec. G, p. 7; O’Hara 1965b, p. 264; Arnason 1966a, p. 34, illus. p. 26 (fig. 11); Arnason 1966b, p. 31; Bernardi 1966, p. 5; Cleveland Museum of Art exh. cat. 1966, illus. n.p.; Dunlop 1966; Melville 1966, p. 478; Robertson 1966a, p. 89; Moore 1968, illus. p. 80; Wescher 1968, p. 301; Kramer 1969c, illus. sec. Magazine, p. 99; Courthion 1970, color illus. p. 17; Henning 1970, illus. p. 21; Sandler 1970, p. 203, illus. p. 202 (fig. 16-1); Freed 1972a, p. 8; Kelder 1972, p. 100; Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 54; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Bulletin 1972, p. 89; Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art 1973, p. 382; Patton 1973, p. 2; Volboudt 1973b, p. 85; Acha 1975, p. 81; Baker-Carr 1975, color illus. p. 35; Hobbs 1975b, p. 190; O’Hara 1975, p. 70; Arnason 1976, p. 56; Stebbins 1976, p. 348, color illus. p. 352 (fig. 309); Arnason 1977b, pp. 21–22, 24, illus. n.p. (pl. 72); Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Bonet 1978, p. 6; Ashton 1980, p. 4, as Mallarmé’s Dream; Anderson 1981, p. 158; Lader 1981, p. 273, as Mallarmé’s Dream; Arnason 1982, pp. 9, 21–22, 24, color illus. p. 112 (pl. 123); Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 112; AlbrightKnox Art Gallery Calendar 1983, p. 3; Ashton 1983, p. 43, color illus. p. 28; Bonet 1983, p. 135; O’Hara 1983, p. 177; Seitz 1983, p. 22, color illus. n.p. (fig. 153); Van Hook 1983, pp. 102, 104–6, illus. p. 102 (fig. 1); Baitz 1984, sec. Reader’s Guide, p. 15; Duffy 1984, pp. 61, 93; Richard 1984, sec. D, p. 13; Shere 1984, sec. Calendar, p. 4; Cooke 1985, p. 193; Digby and Digby 1985, p. 175; Garcia-Herraiz 1985, p. 135; Kimball 1985, pp. 33, 40; Landau 1985, p. 311, illus. p. 311 (fig. 4); Mattison 1985b, pp. 80, 122, 136–44, 149, 167, 232, 239, illus. n.p. (fig. 101); Amepnka 1986, color illus. p. 48; Ashton 1987, p. 269, as Mallarmé’s Dream; Mattison
1987, pp. 68, 98, 113–16, 142, 199, 203, illus. p. 118 (fig. 42); Rodari 1988, p. 132, color illus. p. 130; Ashton 1989, illus. p. 9; Mackie 1989, illus. n.p.; Pleynet 1989b, pp. 24, 70, color illus. p. 71; Zanetti 1990, p. 91; Flam 1991, p. 20, color illus. n.p. (pl. 8); Kramer 1991d, p. 33; Pleynet 1991, p. 15; Motherwell 1992, p. 230; Terenzio 1992b, color illus. n.p.; Waldman 1992, pp. 217–18, color illus. p. 218 (pl. 287); Falgàs 1995, pp. 19, 49; Caws 1996b, pp. 7, 9, 29, 127–28, 149, cover color illus., illus. p. 10; Ràfols-Casamada 1996, p. 20; Anfam 1997, p. 504; del Conde 1997, pp. 80–81, 103; Museum of Contemporary Art exh. cat. 1997, illus. n.p. (fig. 9); Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 17 (pl. 10); Gilbert 1998, pp. 94, 264–65, 268–70, 274, 277, 279, 368–79, illus. p. 535 (fig. 20); Pleynet 1998, p. 90; Wentrup 2001, pp. 34, 54–55, illus. (fig. 3); Anfam 2002, p. 114; Caws 2003, pp. 99, 101, 120, color illus. p. 99 (ill. 67); Engberg and Banach 2003, p. 42, illus. p. 43 (fig. 11); Quast 2003, pp. 317–26, illus. p. 319 (fig. 2); Museum Morsbroich exh. cat. 2004, color illus. p. 17; Caws 2006, p. 117, as Mallarme’s Dream, illus. p. 119, erroneously as Mallarmé’s Swan no. 2; Haxall 2009, p. 24; Mattison et al. 2009, pp. 52, 85, color illus. p. 53. Comments The pale, pinkish papers in this collage were once a vivid magenta, but have faded (see Untitled, c2, for their original color). The verso contains another, unfinished collage composed of vertical blue and brown rectilinear forms and a vertical sheet of white paper painted with splashed red biomorphic forms similar to those in the horizontal rectangle of the recto composition (see figure on p. 12). Three other collages from this period are known to have works on their versos in various states of completion: The Sun (c15), Collage in Beige and Black (c16), and Collage (c43). This work was not shown or published with its present title until 1952. According to Motherwell, he had originally titled the work Mallarmé’s Dream: “This work was first titled Mallarmé’s Dream. Joseph Cornell, with whom I shared in those days a lonely preoccupation among American painters with French Symbolism, misremembered the title as Mallarmé’s Swan, which along with white or blankness was the symbol for Mallarmé of purity.
I preferred Cornell’s misremembrance, and the picture has been so named ever since” (Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 112). (Cornell remembered this rather differently and thought that the work in question was one of his own works that he had called Mallarmé’s Swann [sic], adding, “Bob didn’t like my title. So I changed the name. It’s now in Cleveland”; see Dortch 1994, p. 97. But there is no work by Cornell in the Cleveland Museum of Art with that name or from that time period.) In fact, Motherwell did show a work called Mallarmé’s Dream at his first solo exhibition at Art of This Century, in October 1944. But that work was listed as an oil painting, and dated 1942–44. In a letter to L. Bailey Van Hook dated April 16, 1981, Motherwell wrote that there was “a very high degree of probability” that “there was also an oil called Mallarme’s Dream,” and added, “Throughout my painting career I have used the same title again and again, totally unaware at the time that I had used it before, just as in certain details of my work I arrived at some solution or other that I discover at some later point I had arrived at— sometimes years before—without being aware of it at the time” (see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). There does not seem to be a painting under the collage; but it is possible that the work on the verso is the one that was titled Mallarmé’s Dream. As Van Hook has noted (Van Hook 1983), the imagery of this collage appears to be a visual equivalent of Motherwell’s verbal evocation of Mallarmé in his 1951 essay “What Abstract Art Means to Me”: “Sometimes I have an imaginary picture in mind of the poet Mallarmé in his study late at night— changing, blotting, transforming each word and its relations with such care— and I think that the sustained energy for that travail must have come from the secret knowledge that each word was a link in the chain that he was forging to bind himself to the universe” (reprinted in Motherwell 2007, p. 159). Although Frank O’Hara stated that “the title is from a poem by Paul Eluard” (Museum of Modern Art, Robert Motherwell, exh. cat. September 1965, p. 13), a more likely source is Mallarmé’s celebrated sonnet “Le Vierge, le vivace et le bel aujourd’hui” (The Virgin, Vivid and Lovely Today),
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with its haunting images of the swan. In the “Preliminary Notice” to Marcel Raymond’s From Baudelaire to Surrealism (1949), Motherwell describes a space that is remarkably evocative of this collage, and concludes his text with the following words: “But the desert air is white. Mallarmé’s Swan” (reprinted in Motherwell 2007, p. 74). That edition of the Raymond book also includes a full-page illustration of an etching of a swan done by Matisse for his illustrated book of Mallarmé’s poetry. The reference to Matisse may have another dimension: the overall structure of Mallarmé’s Swan, and the contrast within it between broad geometrical forms and more condensed curvilinear ones, recall Matisse’s Piano Lesson of 1916 (Museum of Modern Art, New York).
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The Painter Alternative Title: Collage 1944 Oil, pasted papers, and crayon on canvas board 24 x 20⅞ in. (61 x 53 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell 1944 Present Owner Wichita Art Museum, Kans. Gift of the Wichita Art Museum Members Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts Provenance Jon Stroup, 1944; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, January 27, 1966, lot 26, illus.]; Harold Reed Gallery, 1966; Wichita Art Museum, Kans., 1969
Solo Exhibitions Art of This Century, New York, October 1944, cat. no. 12. Group Exhibitions 67 Gallery, New York, 1944, cat. no. 25, as Collage. Comments Among the papers used in this collage is a fragment from the same military training map used in Joy of Living (c3) and View from a High Tower (c17). This work was sold at Sotheby Parke Bernet in 1967 as Composition with Yellow Square, but that was only a descriptive title, not Motherwell’s. This collage is almost certainly the work shown as The Painter in Motherwell’s first solo exhibition at Art of This Century in October 1944. Like the other five collages in that show, it appears to have been sold directly by the gallery at the time of the exhibition,
in this case to the artist Jon Stroup, who reviewed the show for Art Digest; the sale of a collage to Stroup is recorded in the gallery sales ledgers (Bernard J. Reis Papers, 1934–79, Archives of American Art). The composition of this collage clearly evokes a figure similar to the depiction of the artist in Picasso’s Studio paintings of the late 1920s. In fact, it has strong affinities with Picasso’s Studio of 1928 (see fig. 11 in volume 1), which Motherwell said was his favorite of all the works Peggy Guggenheim owned: “[Mondrian’s] work gave me the sense that painting could be wholly expressive without ‘literature’ or expressionism, but my favorite picture in the whole Guggenheim collection was the white Picasso which she told me Max Ernst persuaded her to buy” (interview with Bryan Robertson, 1965; see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). collag e s
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Jeune Fille 1944 Oil, pasted cloth, and pasted papers on paperboard 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm), approx. Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Robert Motherwell 1944 Artist’s Studio Number c44-5012 Present Owner Unknown Provenance James Johnson Sweeney, 1944; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Art of This Century, New York, October 1944, cat. no. 14. Arts Club of Chicago, 1946 (traveling), cat. no. 14. References Artnews 1944, illus. p. 26; Greenberg 1944b, p. 599; Stroup 1944, illus. p. 16; Seitz 1955, p. 135, illus. n.p. (fig. 150);
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Celentano 1957, pp. 34, 98; Seitz 1983, p. 51, illus. n.p. (fig. 162); Mattison 1985b, pp. 86, 155, illus. n.p. (fig. 95); Greenberg 1986a, p. 240; Mattison 1987, pp. 71, 127; Mattison 1988, p. 176; Rubenfeld 1997, p. 77; Peggy Guggenheim Collection exh. cat. 2003, p. 310. Comments On a checklist for the 1946 Arts Club of Chicago exhibition, Motherwell wrote that this work “has a magenta piece of cloth for eyes” (Dedalus Foundation Archives). The magenta cloth is the large L-shaped form at the upper left that intersects the head and on which the eyes are rendered. This collage also contains a small piece of the German wrapping paper that was used in other collages of this period (see the Comments for c6). Our reproduction of this collage comes from an early black-and-white photograph with an Art of This Century gallery stamp on the verso. The collage is also visible in installation photographs of Motherwell’s October 1944 solo exhibition at that gallery next
to other known works; it appears to measure about 24 x 20 inches. The curator James Johnson Sweeney, who wrote the introductory catalogue essay for Motherwell’s solo exhibition at Art of This Century, was the first owner of this work.
c14
c14
Untitled Alternative Title: Study for Pancho Villa Dead and Alive 1944 Pasted sandpaper, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 19⅝ x 14⅞ in. (49.8 x 37.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell \ 1944 Present Owner Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch Collection, Berlin Provenance Private collection; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 11, 1986, lot 106, illus.]; Galerie Folker Skulima, Berlin, 1986; Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch, Berlin, 1988 Group Exhibitions Rosa Esman Gallery, New York, 1982. Gemäldegalerie Neue Meister, Residenzschloss, Dresden, Germany, 2000.
c15
Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, 2005, as Study for Pancho Villa Dead and Alive. BA-CA Kunstforum, Vienna, 2006, cat. no. 92, color illus. p. 167, as Study for Pancho Villa Dead and Alive. Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, 2009, as Study for Pancho Villa Dead and Alive. References Mattison 1985b, illus. n.p. (fig. 96). Comments Although this work was auctioned at Sotheby Parke Bernet in 1986 as Study for Pancho Villa Dead and Alive, and has been exhibited as such since then, that title was not given by Motherwell. While this collage has certain features in common with Pancho Villa, Dead and Alive (c7), such as the rendering of the figure and the similar patterned German wrapping paper, it was created independently of that work and at a later date.
c15
c16
The Sun
Collage in Beige and Black
1944 Tempera, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 32 x 29 in. (81.3 x 73.7 cm)
Alternative Title: In White and Beige 1944 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 43⅜ x 29⅛ in. (110.2 x 74 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised and inscribed: Motherwell 44
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell 44 Artist’s Studio Number c44-5010
Verso not signed, not dated Present Owner Private collection Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1945; private collection, ca. 1946; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, April 12, 1967, lot 27, illus.]; unknown owner, 1967; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, February 27, 1980, lot 87, illus.]; Jeffrey E. Horvitz, 1980; André Emmerich Gallery, 1987; private collection, 1987 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, October 1949.
Verso of c15
Group Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, September 1946, cat. no. 13. Comments The verso of this work contains an unfinished collage (see figure above).
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Paul Peters and Ivan von Auw Jr., ca. 1944; private collection, 1972 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, January 1946, cat. no. 12, as In White and Beige. Arts Club of Chicago, 1946 (traveling), cat. no. 17. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 5, illus. p. 20; Amster dam, cat. no. 7, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 5; Turin, cat. no. 5, illus. p. 64 (pl. 4). collag e s
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Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 4, illus. p. 52. Group Exhibitions Robert Elkon Gallery, New York, 1972, cat. no. 31, illus. n.p., as In Beige and Black. References McB[ride] 1946, p. 9; Motherwell 1946, illus. p. 14; Seitz 1955, illus. n.p. (fig. 148), illus. n.p. (fig. 151, in studio); Celentano 1957, pp. 35, 97, illus. n.p. (fig. 42), referred to in text and in illus. as In White and Beige; Arnason 1966a, p. 34, illus. p. 26 (fig. 10); Wescher 1968, p. 301; Galerie im Erker exh. cat. 1971, illus. p. 9 (in studio); Kramer 1972b, illus. p. 27, as In Beige and Black; Princeton University Art Museum exh. cat. 1973, illus. p. 18 (in studio); Arnason 1977b, pp. 21–22, illus. n.p. (pl. 62, in studio); Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, 18
collages
Cornell University, exh. cat. 1978, Ithaca and New York, illus. p. 89 (fig. 90, in studio), Tokyo, illus. n.p. (in studio); Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas exh. cat. 1979, illus. n.p. (in studio); Arnason 1982, pp. 21–22, illus. p. 29 (pl. 18, in studio); Albright-Knox Art Gallery exh. cat. 1983, illus. p. 130 (in studio); Seitz 1983, p. 51, illus. n.p. (figs. 160, 163, in studio); Van Hook 1983, p. 104, illus. p. 103 (fig. 4); Bannon 1984a, illus. p. 100 (in studio); Glueck 1984b, illus. sec. Magazine, p. 72 (in studio); Mattison 1985b, pp. 80, 136, 143, 167, illus. n.p. (fig. 103); Mattison 1987, pp. 68, 113, 116, 142, illus. p. 91 (fig. 31, in studio), illus. p. 119 (fig. 43); American Art 1991, illus. p. 70 (in studio); Danto 1991, illus. p. 111 (in studio); Flam 1991, illus. p. 30 (in studio); Rose 1991, illus. p. 8 (in studio); Terenzio 1992b, cover illus. (in studio); Dortch 1994, illus. p. 134
(fig. 60, in studio); Fineberg 1995, illus. p. 69 (fig. 3.31); Craven 1996, illus. p. 27 (in studio); Chalumeau 1998, illus. p. 8 (in studio); Gilbert 1998, p. 356, illus. p. 561 (fig. 46); Scott and Rutkoff 1999, illus. p. 304 (in studio); Fineberg 2000, illus. p. 69 (fig. 3.31, in studio); Wentrup 2001, pp. 54–55. Comments An earlier work appears on the verso of this collage, executed in paint and charcoal and oriented horizontally (see figure below); this work on the verso employs the same kind of abstracted figurative forms that Motherwell used in his 1943–44 drawings (see fig. 9 in volume 1).
c17
View from a High Tower Alternative Title: V-Letter 1944–45 Oil, pasted wood veneer, and pasted papers on paperboard 29¼ x 29¼ in. (74.3 x 74.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Robert Motherwell 1944 Artist’s Studio Number c44-5009; c44-5051 Present Owner Fram Trust Provenance Paul Peters and Ivan von Auw Jr., ca. 1946; Fram Trust, 1972 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 8, illus. p. 12; Amsterdam, cat. no. 8, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 8; Turin, cat. no. 8, illus. p. 68 (pl. 8).
Verso of c16
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 3, illus. p. 51.
c17
c18
Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 1946 (traveling), cat. no. 60, as V-Letter; not shown in Bloomington. Robert Elkon Gallery, New York, 1972, cat. no. 30. Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 116, illus. n.p. Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Conn., 1997. Bruce Museum of Arts and Science, Greenwich, Conn., 2000, cat. no. 35, color illus. p. 73 (fig. 54). References Seitz 1955, p. 137, illus. n.p. (fig. 147, in early state); Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 51; Arnason 1977b, p. 22, color illus. n.p. (pl. 67); Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris exh. cat. 1977, illus. n.p.; Pleynet 1977, pp. 190–94; [Pleynet] 1981, pp. 20–21; Arnason 1982, p. 22, color illus. p. 107 (pl. 117); Seitz 1983, pp. 51, 88, illus. n.p. (fig. 159), referred to in text and in illus. erroneously as View from a Tower; Mattison 1985b, pp. 132–36, 171–72, 20
collages
illus. n.p. (fig. 100, in early state); Pleynet 1986, pp. 71–74, 76–77, 79; Mattison 1987, pp. 111–13, 144, illus. p. 117 (fig. 41); Pleynet 1989b, pp. 24–25, 29, 32, color illus. p. 72; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 7); Fisher 1992, p. 158; Zimmer 1997, sec. 13, p. 16; Chalumeau 1998, back cover color illus., color illus. p. 16 (pl. 8); Gilbert 1998, pp. 289, 445–46, 448, illus. p. 551 (fig. 36); Sprengel Museum exh. cat. 2000, illus. p. 284; Gilbert 2004b, pp. 321–22, illus. p. 321 (fig. 4); Taylor 2004, p. 105, color illus. p. 106 (pl. 105); Noguchi Museum exh. cat. 2005, color illus. p. 124 (fig. 73), illus. p. 125 (fig. 74, in early state, as V-Letter); Haxall 2009, pp. 70, 81. Comments Among the varied collage elements in this work is a fragment cut from a military training map from Fort Benning, in which the French names of battles from World War I are overlaid onto the geography of the Georgia countryside (fragments from the same map appear in other early collages; see c3 and c12). A painted collage element, similar to
that in Viva (c33), includes part of the word vive or viva in combination with the word la. Taken together, these suggest the phrase “Vive la France.” Several fragmentary letters at the bottom of the paper are not legible but could suggest the syllable reg, a possible reference to the “Himno el Quinto Regimiento” (Hymn of the Fifth Regiment), a Spanish Civil War song. This collage was begun in 1944 as a composition with dimensions of approximately 40 x 30 inches. A photograph of the work in that state, with simpler forms, without the painted black lines, and with an inscription at the upper left reading “Motherwell 1944,” is reproduced in Seitz 1983, fig. 159 (see also Juley photo no. 2; j0004800). Later that year, or more likely in 1945, Motherwell revised the composition of this collage extensively. He cut ten inches off the top, giving the work its present square format; he painted over part of the piece of wood veneer, which had dominated the early state of the composition; he added a number of small collage elements;
and he painted in the sweeping black linear forms. He then re-signed the work in the lower right corner, since the original signature had been located in the top part of the work, which had been cut off. The 1945 date for this reworking is suggested by the fact that in early 1945 Motherwell considered using a photograph of the early state of the collage as an illustration in Wolfgang Paalen’s Form and Sense, which he was editing for the Problems in Contemporary Art series, and which was published that spring (George Wittenborn Papers, Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York). In fact, the addition of the collage fragment with overlapping graffitilike texts suggests that this work may not have been given its definitive form until 1946, when Motherwell was developing his idea of the Walls of Europe series (see the Comments for A Wall in Italy, c32). This work was first shown in 1946, in its final state but under its original title, V-Letter, which referred to letters sent from abroad by U.S. military
c19
personnel, which were censored, sent to the United States on microfilm, and printed out in a smaller format before being forwarded to their recipients. This term already had literary currency; it had been used in 1944 as the title of Karl Shapiro’s Pulitzer Prize– winning book of poems. The first owner of this collage noted that the “title was changed after the war” by Motherwell (verso of color photograph, Dedalus Foundation Archives). The title View from a High Tower first appeared in William Seitz’s 1955 dissertation, in which the new title was used in conjunction with a photograph of the early state.
c18
c19
Untitled
In Beige with Sand
Ca. 1945 Pasted papers on paperboard 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
Alternative Title: Abstraction with Scallops 1945 Oil, pasted wood veneer, and sand on paperboard 44⅞ x 35 in. (114 x 88.9 cm)
Inscriptions Unknown Present Owner Unknown (said to have been destroyed, date unknown) Provenance The artist
Inscriptions Recto, upper right [painted over]: [Robert Motherwell 45] Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 45
References Mattison 1985b, illus. n.p. (fig. 131).
Artist’s Studio Number c45-5142
Comments This work, in which the lighter-colored pasted papers are placed on a black paperboard ground, is known only from an early black-and-white photograph (Juley photo no. 22; j00004819). We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Present Owner The Saint Louis Art Museum. Gift of Joseph Pulitzer Jr. Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1946; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1946; Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, ca. 1949; Joseph Pulitzer Jr., 1951; Saint Louis Art Museum, 1955 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, January 1946, cat. no. 10, as Abstraction with Scallops.
Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, October 1949. Washington University Gallery of Art, Saint Louis, 1995, cat. no. 1. Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, February 1946. Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 1946 (traveling), cat. no. 63. Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela, 1948, as Composición en beige, con arena (Composition in beige, with sand). City Art Museum of Saint Louis, 1952, cat. no. 66, illus. p. 19. Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1957, cat. no. 124, illus. p. 238 (pl. 88). City Art Museum of Saint Louis, 1968, cat. no. 53. Steinberg Hall, Washington University Gallery of Art, Saint Louis, 1975, cat. no. 52. References Jewell 1946c, sec. 1, p. 21; Barr 1948, p. 316; Mattison 1985b, illus. n.p. collag e s
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(fig. 140, as Beige with Sand); Terenzio 1992b, p. 40; Caws 2003, color illus. p. 11 (ill. 3). Comments This work is rendered mostly in paint; the only collage element is the piece of wood veneer at the lower left. Motherwell wrote that this collage was “made in East Hampton, Long Island, one winter, there is some sand in it and the colors have to do with the sand and sea in winter” (letter from Motherwell cited in Fogg Art Museum exh. cat. 1957, p. 239). The Samuel M. Kootz Gallery first exhibited the work in January 1946 as Abstraction with Scallops, but by the time the Museum of Modern Art acquired it and exhibited it in their Recent Acquisitions show the following month, Motherwell had renamed it In Beige with Sand.
c20
La Resistance 1945 Oil, pasted paper, ink, and sand on board 36 x 47¾ in. (91.4 x 121.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised [painted over]: [Motherwell 45]
Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 3, illus. n.p.
Artist’s Studio Number c45-5014 Present Owner Yale University Art Gallery. Gift of Fred Olsen
Architecture Building, College of Fine and Applied Arts, Urbana, Ill., 1950, cat. no. 93, illus. n.p. (pl. 30).
Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1945; Fred Olsen, ca. 1949; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1954
Newark Museum, N.J., 1956, cat. no. 49.
Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, January 1946, cat. no. 13.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2006 (traveling), color illus. p. 221 (pl. 117); shown in Minneapolis only.
Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, October 1949.
co llages
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 2, color illus. p. 13 (pl. 2), illus. p. 50.
Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 1946 (traveling), cat. no. 62; shown in New York only.
Arts Club of Chicago, 1946 (traveling), cat. no. 12.
22
Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, 1961, cat. no. 3.
Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 118, color illus. n.p.
References Artnews 1946a, p. 21; Jewell 1946d, sec. 2, p. 7; Wolf 1946a, p. 17; Kees 1948, illus. p. 87; G. 1949, p. 51;
S[harp] 1949, p. 22; Seitz 1955, pp. 64, 135, illus. n.p. (fig. 153); Celentano 1957, pp. 35, 98; Rosenberg 1961, illus. p. 22 (in exhibition); Schiff 1961, illus. p. 63; Freed 1972a, p. 8; Holmes 1972, sec. 3, p. 8; Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 50; Arnason 1977b, pp. 22, 24, illus. p. 21 (pl. 7); Wolfowicz 1977, p. 15; Fineberg 1978, p. 53; Arnason 1982, pp. 22, 24, illus. p. 21 (pl. 10); Seitz 1983, pp. 23, 51, color illus. n.p. (fig. 165); Mattison 1985b, pp. 166–68, illus. n.p. (fig. 133); Albright-Knox Art Gallery exh. cat. 1987, illus. p. 42 (fig. 3); Mattison 1987, pp. 142, 143, illus. p. 139 (fig. 54); Pleynet 1989b, pp. 24, 26–29, 32, 35, 37, 45–46, 51, color illus. p. 73; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 9); Pleynet 1991, pp. 12, 18; Polcari 1991, p. 303; Caws 1996b, p. 127; Chalumeau 1998, p. 5, color illus. p. 13 (pl. 5); Gilbert 1998, pp. 446–48, illus. p. 568 (fig. 53); Pleynet 1998, pp. 87, 92–93; Wentrup 2001, pp. 53, 54, illus. (fig. 21); Caws 2003, illus. p. 20 (ill. 12).
c21
Comments The left side of this collage contains a large piece of the German wrapping paper that Motherwell had been using since The Flute, 1943 (c6). In 1972 Motherwell wrote that the title of this collage, “refers to the French underground, among other references” (Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 50). The composition contains clear pictorial allusions to Picasso’s Studio, 1927–28 (Museum of Modern Art, New York), and was meant to refer to artistic as well as political resistance.
c21
Collage No. 1 Alternative Title: Figuration 1945 Tempera, pasted wood veneer, and pasted papers on paperboard 21½ x 14½ in. (54.6 x 36.8 cm)
Group Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 1946, cat. no. 123, as Figuration. Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1951. Boston Arts Festival, 1957, as Collage.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [painted over]: [illegible]
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1964, cat. no. 21, as Collage.
Recto, lower left: Motherwell 45
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1975, cat. no. 27.
Artist’s Studio Number c45-5213 Present Owner The Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums. Louise E. Bettens Fund Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1945; Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Mass., 1949 Solo Exhibitions Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 2, illus. n.p. (erroneously in caption as The Elegy); as Collage.
wrapping papers that Motherwell had been using in his collages since 1943. The numbers in the titles of this work and of Collage No. 2 (c22) are related to the numbering system of the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery; these were the first two Motherwell works assigned Kootz Gallery inventory numbers (Kootz nos. 501 and 502 respectively).
Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Mass., 1985, cat. no. 89, color illus. p. 93. Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, 1999 (traveling), cat. no. 52. References Celentano 1957, pp. 35, 98, illus. n.p. (fig. 41), referred to in text and in illus. as Figuration; Pleynet 1975, illus. p. 7, erroneously as Personnage. Comments This collage contains wood veneer and a piece of one of the German
collag e s
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c22
c22
Collage No. 2 1945 Tempera, pasted wood veneer, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 21⅞ x 14⅞ in. (55.6 x 37.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: 45 Robert Motherwell 45
(traveling), cat. no. 7; not shown in Stanford. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 6, illus. p. 54. Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 3, illus. p. 98.
Recto, lower right (upside down) [partially erased]: [Robert Motherwell 45]
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 7, illus. p. 58; shown in Buffalo and San Francisco only.
Artist’s Studio Number c45-1534
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 7.
Present Owner Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of the Dedalus Foundation and museum purchase
Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1989, cat. no. 3, color illus. p. 32.
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. H. Gates Lloyd, before 1963; Robert Motherwell, ca. 1969; Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., 1995 Solo Exhibitions Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, 1969
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co llages
Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 4, color illus. p. 79. Group Exhibitions Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1963, cat. no. 283. Whitney Museum of American Art, Downtown Branch, New York, April 1975.
c23
Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1977. Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., 1978 (traveling), Tokyo, illus. n.p.; shown in Tokyo only. Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, Calif., 1986 (traveling), cat. no. 81, color illus. p. 135. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, March 1988, cat. no. 92. Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami, 2008 (traveling), color illus. p. 12 (detail), color illus. p. 176. References Mattison 1985b, illus. n.p. (fig. 136); Appella 1989, illus. p. 3; Zanetti 1990, color illus. p. 90 (fig. 3); Anfam 1997, p. 505, illus. p. 505 (fig. 72).
Comments This collage contains wood veneer and a piece of one of the German wrapping papers that Motherwell had been using in his collages since 1943. An erased inscription under the signature reads “Robert Motherwell 45,” but upside down, indicating that at some point in the process of creating this work Motherwell rotated it 180 degrees. The numbers in the titles of this work and of Collage No. 1 (c21) are related to the numbering system of the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery; these were the first two Motherwell works assigned Kootz Gallery inventory numbers (Kootz nos. 501 and 502 respectively).
c24
c23
Figure
Stone Gallery, New York, 1971; private collection, 1971
Alternative Title: Collage 1945 Oil, pasted wood veneer, pasted sandpaper, and pasted papers on board 44¾ x 24½ in. (113.7 x 62.2 cm)
Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, January 1946, cat. no. 14, as Collage.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell 45
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 5, color illus. p. 16 (pl. 3), illus. p. 53.
Verso [circled]: [14] \ «Figure» \ IX.45 Artist’s Studio Number c45-5086 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1946; Mr. and Mrs. George Wittenborn, 1947; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 17, 1971, lot 1, illus.]; Allan
Arts Club of Chicago, 1946 (traveling), cat. no. 16.
Group Exhibitions Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 140, illus. p. 87. Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 117, color illus. n.p. References Artnews 1946a, illus. p. 21; Holmes 1972, sec. 3, p. 8; Conroy 1977, p. 86; Van Hook 1983, p. 104, illus. p. 105
(fig. 6); Mattison 1985b, pp. 167–68, illus. n.p. (fig. 135); Mattison 1987, pp. 142–43, illus. p. 150 (fig. 56); Gilbert 1998, pp. 368–69, illus. p. 562 (fig. 47); Rosenblum et al. 2004, p. 365, color illus. p. 87 (pl. 60). Comments This collage contains a piece of wood veneer on the lower right side and part of a sheet of one of the German wrapping papers that Motherwell had been using in his collages since 1943.
c24
Figure 1945 Oil, pasted papers, and sand on paperboard 30 x 23¼ in. (76.2 x 59.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: 45 \ Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number c45-5006 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1945; private collection, 1946 References Seitz 1955, illus. n.p. (fig. 144); Hobbs 1975b, p. 232; Seitz 1983, illus. n.p. (fig. 156); Mattison 1985b,
collag e s
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c25
illus. n.p. (fig. 137); Caws 2003, illus. p. 29 (ill. 21).
c25
Comments This collage contains a piece of one of the German wrapping papers that Motherwell had been using in his collages since 1943.
1945 Oil, pasted papers, charcoal, and sand on paperboard 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm)
Maria
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised [painted over]: [R Motherwell 45] Artist’s Studio Number c45-5015 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1945; private collection, ca. 1952; private collection, 1997
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co llages
Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, January 1946, cat. no. 15. Arts Club of Chicago, 1946 (traveling), cat. no. 13. Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 1946 (traveling), cat. no. 65, illus. p. 38; not shown in Bloomington. References Seitz 1955, illus. n.p. (fig. 154); Wescher 1968, p. 301; Seitz 1983, illus. n.p. (fig. 166); Mattison 1985b, p. 168, illus. n.p. (fig. 139), referred to in text and in illus. as For Maria; Mattison 1987, p. 143, as For Maria. Comments This collage is one of three portraits Motherwell made of his first wife, Maria Emilia Ferreira y Moyers (see
also p1 and p70). Although historical personages are referred to in the titles of other works from this period, such as Pancho Villa, Dead and Alive (c7), the portraits of Maria are the only ones in which Motherwell named in the title a person he actually knew.
c26
c26
c27
Untitled
The Cat of “The Weasel, Little Rabbit, and Cat”
1945 Pasted paper and ink on paper 8¾ x 3⅝ in. (22.2 x 9.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Robert Motherwell III 45 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Paul Peters and Ivan von Auw Jr., 1945; unknown owner, after 1964 Comments In 1945 Motherwell gave this collage as a birthday gift to the editor and playwright Paul Peters, who was one of his East Hampton neighbors. The work is composed of a small ink drawing that Motherwell cut out and pasted down on a ground of the same kind of patterned German wrapping paper that he had been using in his collages since 1943. Our reproduction of this work comes from a color photograph sent to Motherwell in 1964.
1945 Pasted papers and ink on paper 14¼ x 7⅛ in. (36.2 x 18.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center: The Cat—of “The Weasel, Little Rabbit, + Cat” Present Owner The Chinese Porcelain Company Provenance Walter Pistole, 1945; Estate of Walter Pistole, ca. 1994; [Sotheby’s, New York, June 12, 1997, lot 201, illus.]; Elton and Penny Yasuna, 1997; [Christie’s East, New York, February 20, 2001, lot 42, illus.]; Chinese Porcelain Company, 2001 Group Exhibitions Salvador Dalí Museum, Saint Petersburg, Fla., 1998 (traveling), color illus. p. 75 (fig. 47).
c27
Comments The title of this work refers to one of the poems in La Fontaine’s Fables. It is one of nine drawings and collages related to La Fontaine that were originally owned by Walter Pistole, an editor at Reynal & Hitchcock who chose Motherwell to illustrate a planned translation of the Fables by the poet Marianne Moore (1887–1972). Motherwell’s role in the project came to a halt when Moore made it known that she preferred to have the French and English texts presented on facing pages, which would preclude illustrations. The project was canceled after the death of Curtice Hitchcock, the head of the publishing house, in May 1946. Moore’s translation of the complete Fables was eventually published by Viking Press in 1954. See also the related collages c28–c31.
References Geissler 2005, cover color illus.
collag e s
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c30
c28
c29
c31
c28
c29
c30
c31
L’Abeille
Rabbit
Dog
The Dog
1945 Pasted papers, ink, and graphite on paper 11 x 7⅛ in. (27.9 x 18.1 cm)
1945 Pasted papers and graphite on paper 11½ x 7 in. (29.2 x 17.8 cm)
1945 Pasted papers and graphite on paper 11½ x 7 in. (29.2 x 17.8 cm)
1945 Pasted papers and ink on paper 7¼ x 11½ in. (18.4 x 29.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Walter Pistole, 1945; Estate of Walter Pistole, ca. 1994; [Sotheby’s, New York, June 12, 1997, lot 200, illus.]; unknown owner, 1997
Provenance Walter Pistole, 1945; Estate of Walter Pistole, ca. 1994; [Sotheby’s, New York, June 12, 1997, lot 197, illus. (not sold)]; [Sotheby’s, New York, October 6, 1998, lot 343, illus.]; unknown owner, 1998
Provenance Walter Pistole, 1945; Estate of Walter Pistole, ca. 1994; [Sotheby’s, New York, June 12, 1997, lot 199, illus. (not sold)]; [Sotheby’s, New York, October 6, 1998, lot 344, illus.]; unknown owner, 1998
Comments The title of this work (The Bee) relates to La Fontaine’s Fables. See the Comments for c27. Our reproduction of this work comes from a color slide provided by the estate of Walter Pistole.
Comments The title of this work relates to La Fontaine’s Fables. See the Comments for c27. Our reproduction of this work comes from a color slide provided by the estate of Walter Pistole.
Provenance Walter Pistole, 1945; Estate of Walter Pistole, ca. 1994; [Sotheby’s, New York, June 12, 1997, lot 196, illus. (not sold)]; [Sotheby’s, New York, October 6, 1998, lot 341, illus.]; private collection, 1998; unknown owner
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: L’abeille Present Owner Unknown
28
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Comments The title of this work relates to La Fontaine’s Fables. See the Comments for c27. Our reproduction of this work comes from a color slide provided by the estate of Walter Pistole.
Comments The title of this work relates to La Fontaine’s Fables. See the Comments for c27. Our reproduction of this work comes from a color slide provided by the estate of Walter Pistole.
c32
c32
A Wall in Italy 1946 Oil, pasted papers, and sand on board 37¾ x 30¼ in. (95.9 x 76.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right [“signed and dated lower right,” per André Emmerich Gallery exh. cat. 1989; cropped out in only available image] Verso not seen [“signed and dated . . . on the reverse,” per André Emmerich Gallery exh. cat. 1989] Present Owner Private collection Provenance Vera G. and Albert A. List, 1955; Mr. and Mrs. M. A. Gribin, before 1970; private collection; André Emmerich Gallery, 1988; private collection, 1989; Frances and Kenneth Eisenberg, ca. 1995; Greenberg Van Doren, Saint Louis; Spencer Tomkins Fine Art, Inc., New York, 1998; private collection, 1998 Solo Exhibitions Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1974, cat. no. 1, color illus. n.p.
Group Exhibitions Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, Lynchburg, Va., 1952, cat. no. 15. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1953, cat. no. 94. Art Gallery, University of California at Riverside, 1973. André Emmerich Gallery, New York, 1989, cat. no. 10, color illus. n.p. References Seldis 1974b, sec. C, p. 82; Mattison 1985b, p. 61, illus. n.p. (fig. 72). Comments This collage was part of the Walls of Europe series that Motherwell described in a letter to Dorothy Miller dated May 22, 1946, as a subgroup in the “political” works that he was working on at the time (see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). Although this collage has been dated as early as 1943, it appears to have been done in 1946, based on its style, subject, and the date assigned to it during its early exhibition history.
c33
Viva 1946 Oil, gouache, pasted papers, and sand on board 13 x 16¾ in. (33 x 42.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell 46 Artist’s Studio Number c46-5054 Present Owner Private collection, Munich Provenance Robert E. Kantor, Atherton, Calif., ca. 1946; [Christie’s, New York, November 1, 1984, lot 9, illus.]; private collection, Munich, 1984 Solo Exhibitions Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, 1961, cat. no. 4. Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 7. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 11, illus.
p. 16; Amsterdam, cat. no. 11, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 11; Turin, cat. no. 11, illus. p. 71 (pl. 11). Group Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, May 1946 (?). San Francisco Museum of Art, 1964. References Schiff 1961, illus. p. 63; Claus 1965, p. 4; Hudson 1965, sec. G, p. 7; Arnason 1966a, p. 34, illus. p. 27 (fig. 12); Arnason 1966b, p. 27; Hunter 1970, illus. p. 93; Arnason 1977b, pp. 22, 24, 37, illus. p. 23 (pl. 9); Huser 1977, p. 55; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris exh. cat. 1977, illus. n.p.; Pleynet 1977, pp. 187, 189, 191– 94; Gaugh 1978, p. 31; Mattison 1981, p. 198; [Pleynet] 1981, pp. 20, 21; Arnason 1982, pp. 22, 24, 37, color illus. p. 23 (pl. 12); Mattison 1985b, pp. 172–73, illus. n.p. (fig. 149); Pleynet 1986, pp. 67, 70, 73–77, 79; Mattison 1987, pp. 71, 111–12, 144–45, 205, illus. p. 151 (fig. 57); Pleynet 1989b, pp. 29, 32, color illus. p. 75; Flam 1991, p. 21, color illus. n.p. (pl. 12); Polcari 1991,
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29
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c34
p. 307; Caws 1996b, p. 21, illus. p. 22, color illus. n.p.; Gordon 2001, p. 50; Richardson 2001, p. 246; Caws 2003, color illus. p. 35 (ill. 24). Comments The word viva (in both Spanish and Italian, literally “it lives”; figuratively “long live”) has a graffito-like presence in this work, as though it were written on a wall. In fact, the interlocking double-V sign on the left side of the work is seen written on walls in photographs and films from the period (such as Roberto Rossellini’s Open City, which was shown in New York in February 1946; see fig. 27 in volume 1), and it is still sometimes seen among graffiti on walls in Italy, where VV (the Italian character for the letter W ) is a compressed sign for “Viva.” The graffiti-like writing in this work relates it to the Walls of Europe series Motherwell mentioned to Dorothy Miller in a letter dated May 22, 1946 (see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). Other fragmentary words appear in the painting: la q and ifro (or iero) in white, and vio in red. The combination of the word viva and
the letters la q may refer to words from a well-known Spanish Civil War song, “Viva la quinta brigada.” Motherwell’s intense interest in political imagery is evident in a 1948 account by an anonymous writer of a visit to his studio, in which it is noted that Motherwell showed “some of the posters from war shattered countries, which he had clipped out of a magazine” (unpublished 1948 essay, typescript in the Dedalus Foundation Archives). The word viva is also written in two other collages from this period (c10 and c17).
c35
c34
c35
Summer Collage
Composition with Red Circle
Oil, pasted paper, and sand on board 10 x 9 in. (25.4 x 22.9 cm)
1946 Gouache, watercolor, pasted papers, and ink on paper 12¼ x 9¼ in. (31.1 x 23.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell Verso: Motherwell \ 46 Verso [partially painted over]: “summer \ [“]collage” \ [with] \ [3] \ [letters]” Present Owner John F. Goldsmith Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery; Morton R. Goldsmith, ca. 1946; John F. Goldsmith, ca. 1984 Group Exhibitions Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., 1990, cat. no. 109, color illus. p. 69.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R.M. 46 Present Owner Collection of Caroline and Stephen Adler Provenance Margarete and Heinz Schultz, 1948; Caroline and Stephen Adler, 1954 Group Exhibitions Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, 1999, cat. no. 132, color illus. p. 295.
Comments The title of this work refers to the letters ete in the upper right of this composition; été is the French word for summer. The painted yellow ochre vertical rectangle on the right side is a piece of cut paper. collag e s
31
c36
c36
Untitled Gouache and pasted papers on paperboard 5 x 2½ in. (12.7 x 6.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM Verso: To \ Matta \ from his friend \ Robert Motherwell \ 1946 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Roberto Antonio Sebastian Matta Echaurren, 1946; private collection, 2002 Comments This small collage is one of two works Motherwell presented as gifts to his friend and early mentor, the artist Roberto Antonio Sebastian Matta Echaurren (see also p74).
c37
c37
Blue Air Alternative Title: Suite in Three Movements 1946 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 46 Verso not seen [“R. Motherwell/July 46,” per Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art exh. cat. 2002] Artist’s Studio Number c46-5017 Present Owner The Solinger Collection Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, ca. 1946; Solinger Collection, 1950 Group Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York,
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December 1946, as Suite in Three Movements (?). Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., 2002, color illus. p. 121. References Seitz 1955, illus. n.p. (fig. 155); Seitz 1983, illus. n.p. (fig. 168); Mattison 1985b, p. 179, illus. n.p. (fig. 156). Comments This work was made in East Hampton in July 1946, at the same time as Blue with China Ink (Homage to John Cage) (c38). It contains a piece of the patterned German wrapping paper that Motherwell had been using in his collages since 1943. This may be the work that was shown as Suite in Three Movements in the Kootz Gallery’s Homage to Jazz exhibition that December, along with The Flute (c6) and Blue with China Ink (Homage to John Cage).
c38
Blue with China Ink (Homage to John Cage) Alternative Titles: In Yellow and Blue: Homage to John Cage; Homage to John Cage 1946 Oil, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: Motherwell 46 Verso: “Blue with China Ink” \ (Homage to John Cage) Verso [partially crossed out]: [In yellow + blue]: \ homage to John Cage \ Robert Motherwell \ July 1946 Artist’s Studio Number c46-5056
c38
c39
Present Owner Yale University Art Gallery. Gift of Richard Brown Baker, B.A. 1935
Wellesley College, Mass., 1963.
Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1946; Richard Brown Baker, 1955; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1995
Oakland University, Rochester, Mich., 1966.
Group Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, December 1946, cat. no. 17, as Homage to John Cage. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1956, cat. no. 173, illus. n.p. Alan Gallery, New York, 1957, cat. no. 14. Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, 1957 (traveling), cat. no. 13.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1965, cat. no. 61, illus. p. 132.
Library and Teaching Galleries, University of South Florida, Tampa, 1967. Olympic Games Arts Festival, Mexico City, 1968. San Francisco Museum of Art, 1973 (traveling), cat. no. 45. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1975, illus. p. 25 (fig. 2). Minneapolis Institute of Arts, September 1976 (traveling), cat. no. [76]. Squibb Gallery, Princeton, N.J., 1979, cat. no. 32.
Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, 1959, cat. no. 32, illus. n.p. (fig. 5).
Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, 1985 (traveling), cat. no. 99, illus. p. 50.
Newark Museum, N.J., 1960.
References Kozloff 1965a, illus. p. 34; Buettner 1973, p. 336, as Homage to John Cage;
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1961, cat. no. 44, illus. n.p. 34
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Buettner 1981, p. 110; Mattison 1985b, pp. 51, 103, 173, 175–76, illus. n.p. (fig. 152), referred to in text and in illus. as In Blue with China Ink; Mattison 1987, pp. 36, 81, 145, 146–47, as In Blue with China Ink, illus. p. 154 (fig. 60, upside down); Westgeest 1996, pp. 61, 254, illus. p. 60 (ill. 35); Gilbert 1998, pp. 264, 266, 270, 549; Haxall 2009, pp. 8, 62, 69, 70, 76, 81, 83, 84, 86, 87, 90–93, 118, 122, 125, 126–27, 128, 132, 135, 136.
c39
Comments This collage was made in East Hampton in July 1946. Motherwell had met the composer John Cage in 1942. In the fall of 1946, Motherwell attended rehearsals for a performance of Cage’s work at Carnegie Hall and invited Cage to be the music editor of the journal Possibilities.
Artist’s Studio Number c46-5055
The Pink Mirror Alternative Title: Composition 1946 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 39 x 29½ in. (99.1 x 74.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised and inscribed: Motherwell 46 Verso: Robert Motherwell \ October 1946
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1946; Vera G. and Albert A. List; Barbara and Donald Jonas, 1977; [Christie’s, New York, May 11, 2005, lot 21, illus.]; private collection, 2005 Group Exhibitions Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 119, color illus. n.p.
c40
Robert Elkon Gallery, New York, 1981, illus. p. 12, as Composition. References Tallmer 1977, p. 16, illus. p. 16; Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 108 (pl. 118); Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 108; Mattison 1985b, pp. 173–75, illus. n.p. (fig. 150, as Untitled [Pink Mirror]); Mattison 1987, pp. 145–46, illus. p. 152 (fig. 58); Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 10); Gilbert 1998, pp. 348–49, 353– 54, illus. p. 560 (fig. 45); Wentrup 2001, p. 54, illus. (fig. 22). Comments This collage contains the same kind of patterned German wrapping paper that Motherwell had been using in his collages since 1943. The title of this work was later forgotten by Motherwell, but when he saw it for the first time in many years at the Andrew Crispo Gallery in 1977, he remembered it to be The Pink Mirror (Tallmer 1977, p. 16).
c40
Collage 1946 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: 46 \ Motherwell Verso: Collage \ Motherwell Verso [circled]: [586] Present Owner David Winton Bell Gallery. Gift of the Albert A. List Family Collection Provenance Vera G. and Albert A. List; David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University, Providence, R.I., 1955 Group Exhibitions Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, Clinton, N.Y., 1983, cat. no. 12. Bell Gallery, Brown University, Providence, R.I., and Cantor Art Gallery, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass., 1985 (traveling), cat. no. 35, illus. p. 76.
Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, 1992, cat. no. 69, illus. p. 152.
c41
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, 2003.
Alternative Title: Montauk 1946–47 Oil and pasted papers on board 23¾ x 19½ in. (60.3 x 49.5 cm)
Comments The inscription “586” on the verso of this work in the artist’s hand refers to the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery inventory number for it.
Montauk Montage
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised [partially obscured by framing mat]: R[M] 47 Artist’s Studio Number c48-5163 Present Owner Collection of Caroline and Stephen Adler Provenance Margarete and Heinz Schultz, 1947; Caroline and Stephen Adler, 1954 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, October 1949. Group Exhibitions California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1948, illus. p. 10. Furniture Gallery, John Wanamaker’s department store, Great Neck, N.Y., 1952, cat. no. 36. collag e s
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c42
The Poet Alternative Titles: Absurd Personage with Orange; Orange Personage; Personage with Orange; Orange Collage 1947 Oil and pasted papers on board 55⅜ x 39⅛ in. (140.7 x 99.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM 47 Verso: «absurd personage with orange» \ Feb 1947 \ Robert Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number c47-5021 Present Owner Collections of Kate and Christopher Rothko Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1947; private collection, 1953; Robert Motherwell, ca. 1957; Mark Rothko, New York, ca. 1958; Kate and Christopher Rothko, 1970 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, April 1947, cat. no. 6, as Absurd Personage with Orange. c41
Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., 1982, color illus. p. 46, as Montauk. Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., 1996, color illus. p. 72, as Montauk. Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, N.Y., 1996, as Montauk. Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., 2000, color illus. p. 37, as Montauk. Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., 2007, color illus. p. 51 (upside down), as Montauk. Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., 2009, as Montauk. References Mattison 1985b, illus. n.p. (fig. 205), as Montauk; Gordon 2001, p. 50, as Montauk. Comments An early state of this work is visible in Francis Lee’s 1946 photograph of Motherwell in the studio the artist had set up in a rented East Hampton cottage. Montauk Montage is similar in 36
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compositional structure to several other works of the period, such as In Yellow and Black (p46), Dirge (w9), In Ashes with Collage (c53), and a 1948 ink drawing called Sailor’s Cemetery (see fig. 43 in volume 1). This work was shown as Montauk Montage in 1948 and 1952, but the title was afterward erroneously shortened to Montauk; we have restored Motherwell’s original title.
Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, October 1949, as Orange Personage. New Gallery, Bennington College, Vt., 1959, cat. no. 10, as Orange Collage. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 17, illus. p. 17; Amsterdam, cat. no. 16, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 16; Turin, cat. no. 16, illus. p. 75 (pl. 15). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 13. Group Exhibitions Arts Club of Chicago, 1953 (traveling), cat. no. 15, as Personage with Orange. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1955 (traveling); shown in New York only. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1957, cat. no. 96, as Personage with Orange. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 1958, illus. n.p., as Personage With Orange. Museum of Modern Art, New York, March 1968 (traveling); shown in New York only. References McB[ride] 1947, p. 9; Leepa 1949, illus. n.p. (fig. 84), as Person With Orange;
Motherwell in Leepa 1949, p. 194, as Person With Orange; S[harp] 1949, p. 22, as Orange Personage; Seeley 1950, illus. p. 164, as Person with Orange; Hess 1951, p. 132, color illus. p. 95 (pl. g); Seitz 1955, pp. 137, 190–92, illus. n.p. (fig. 160a), illus. n.p. (fig. 160b); Celentano 1957, p. 36; Sloane 1961, illus. p. 423 (fig. 3); Nordland 1962b, p. 50; McCoubrey 1963, pp. 121–22, illus. p. 111 (pl. 67); Ashton 1964b, illus. p. 102; Carver 1965, p. 6; Hudson 1965, sec. G, p. 7; O’Hara 1965b, p. 264; Arnason 1966a, p. 35, illus. p. 30 (fig. 17); Arnason 1966b, pp. 19, 31, 32; [Brett] 1966, p. 16; Ashbery 1968b, color illus. p. 42; Wescher 1968, p. 301; Boehs 1971, p. 133; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, illus. p. 57 (cat. no. 9); Arnason 1977b, pp. 25, 30, 41, illus. n.p. (pl. 68); Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Arnason 1982, pp. 25, 30, 41, color illus. p. 109 (pl. 119); Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 108; Seitz 1983, pp. 51, 71, color illus. n.p. (fig. 172); Mattison 1985b, pp. 176, 196–200, 205, illus. n.p. (fig. 161); Paul 1986, p. 69; Mattison 1987, pp. 146, 166, 167–68, 175, 176, illus. p. 169 (fig. 64); Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 14); Gooch 1993, p. 446; Anfam 1998, p. 317; Chalumeau 1998, p. 6, color illus. p. 10 (pl. 2); Gilbert 1998, pp. 264, 267–70, 274, 278–80, illus. p. 550 (fig. 35); Gordon 2001, p. 50. Comments This work was the only collage in a group of fairly large painted compositions with similar imagery that Motherwell created in 1946 and 1947 (see p36 and p56–p58). In 1949, Motherwell described the creation of this collage at length: “[The work] was done in a boarding house on the southeastern coast of Long Island . . . [on] late afternoons and nights during a week of snow and ice early in 1947. . . . The orange background, felt all over, asked for an image. As though ice suddenly said, yes I like my material but I want a shape. The figuration arose spontaneously, surprising me, though I had used the shape previously.” He also gave Allen Leepa information about specific aspects of the work, describing the papers as “butcher, wrapping, and Japanese rice,” and the medium in general as “flimsy papers painted with oils.” The process, he said, was “what Yeats called, in describing a class of artists, ‘simplification through intensity,’ ” and
c42
c43
the “felt content” he described as an “ecstatic figure.” Motherwell also distinguished this work from Cubist papier collé by its “automatic, not analytical drawing,” and discussed the light in terms of a “reddened and angry sky at the end of a day” (Motherwell in Leepa 1949, p. 194). This collage was originally titled Absurd Personage with Orange (as inscribed on the verso), and then Personage with Orange. It did not acquire its present title, The Poet, until it was shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1955. Even after that, however, the title remained tentative; in 1957 it was consigned to the Sidney Janis Gallery as Personage with Orange, and it was exhibited under that title in 1957 and 1958 in Minneapolis and Utah. Between the time the collage was returned from Utah in 1958 and exhibited at Bennington College in 1959, Motherwell gave it to Mark Rothko, as The Poet, in exchange for Rothko’s 1949 painting Untitled (Anfam 1998, no. 415a). In 1946 Motherwell had titled a painting The Poet (p36). 38
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c43
Collage 1947 Oil and pasted papers on board 26¼ x 18¾ in. (66.7 x 47.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 47 Present Owner Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass. Acquired by exchange Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1950 Solo Exhibitions Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 1, frontispiece. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 10, color illus. p. 60 (upside down); shown in Buffalo and San Francisco only. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1996.
Group Exhibitions San Francisco Museum of Art, 1954. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1985, cat. no. 41. Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, Mass., 2003. References Time 1954, p. 76, illus. p. 77; Parks 1960, illus. p. 86; Gaugh 1985, p. 71; Mattison 1985b, illus. n.p. (fig. 193, upside down); Smith College Museum of Art 1986, illus. p. 186 (pl. 171); Museum of New Mexico exh. cat. 1994, illus. p. 42; Caws 2006, cover color illus. Comments This collage contains the same kind of patterned German wrapping paper that Motherwell had been using in his collages since 1943. On the verso of this collage there is an unfinished oil painting by Motherwell (see figure at right); that unfinished composition has incised forms that recall the 1945 painting Small Personage (p32).
Verso of c43
c44
c44
Figure in Black
Motherwell, ca. 1976; Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., 1995
Alternative Titles: Girl with Stripes; {Figure in Black (Girl with Stripes)} 1947 Oil and pasted paper on board 23⅞ x 19¾ in. (60.6 x 50.2 cm)
Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, October 1949, as Girl with Stripes.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: R.M. 47
Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1981, cat. no. 20.
Verso not seen [“verso top center, handwritten in black paint: ‘Girl \ with \ Stripes,’ ” per Smithsonian American Art Museum]
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 11, color illus. p. 62.
Verso not seen [“verso center, oil: R Motherwell \ 47,” per Smithsonian American Art Museum] Artist’s Studio Number c47-5 Present Owner Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of the Dedalus Foundation and museum purchase, 1995.2.1 Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1947; Horace Richter, before 1960; Robert
Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, N.C., 1960 (traveling), cat. no. 62, illus. p. 10, as Girl with Stripes. Columbia Museum of Art, S.C., 1963, cat. no. 55, illus. p. 6, as Girl with Stripes. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977 (not in catalogue). Hayward Gallery, London, 1978, cat. no. 15.37. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1979, cat. no. 91, illus. p. 151.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 5.
City Art Centre and Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, 1981, cat. no. 25.
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1985 (traveling), cat. no. 70.
Washburn Gallery, New York, 1993, cat. no. 1.
Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 6, color illus. p. 83.
Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami, 2008 (traveling), color illus. p. 177.
Group Exhibitions Galerie Maeght, Paris, 1947, as Jeune Fille Aux Rayures (Young Girl with Stripes). Des Moines Art Center, 1950, cat. no. 58, as Girl with Stripes.
1985b, illus. n.p. (fig. 183); Tucker 1987, sec. 2, p. 8; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 13); Lynton 1997, p. 41, color illus. p. 41; Chalumeau 1998, p. 6, illus. p. 6 (fig. d), Lynton 2001, p. 181, color illus. p. 180, referred to in text and in illus. as Figure in Black (Girl with Stripes). Comments The head of the figure is painted on the only collage element in this work, a pasted-down piece of the same German wrapping paper that Motherwell had been using in collages since 1943 (see The Flute, c6). This collage was first shown as Girl with Stripes, and later retitled by the artist Figure in Black after he reacquired it. The title Figure in Black (Girl with Stripes), which combines the two earlier titles, was given to the work posthumously, shortly before it was acquired by the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
References S[harp] 1949, p. 22, as Girl With Stripes; Bowness 1978, color illus.; Hasiotis 1983, color illus. n.p. (fig. 1); Hughes 1983, p. 68, color illus. p. 68; Mattison
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c45
1947 Oil and pasted papers on board 20 x 15 in. (50.8 x 38.1 cm)
Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1947; Mr. and Mrs. Roy Neuberger, ca. 1948; private collection; Greenberg Gallery, Saint Louis, after 1965; private collection, 1977; Paul Gotskind, 1979; private collection, 1981; Iris S. Wolstein
Inscriptions Recto, lower center, incised: 47 \ Motherwell
Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, May 1948, cat. no. 3.
Recto, upper left, incised: Motherwell \ 47
Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 4.
Verso: In grey with Japanese rice paper \ /47
Group Exhibitions Detroit Institute of Arts, 1950.
Artist’s Studio Number c57-5060
Artist’s Studio Number c47-5153
References Mattison 1985b, illus. n.p. (fig. 196).
Present Owner Art Gallery of Ontario. Gift from the Women’s Committee Fund, 1962
c45
In Grey with Japanese Rice Paper
Present Owner Iris S. Wolstein
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c46
In Grey with Parasol Alternative Title: Grey Woman (?) 1947 Oil, pasted crocodile skin, pasted papers, and ink on board 47½ x 35½ in. (120.7 x 90.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: 47 \ Motherwell Verso: In grey with parasol \ /47
Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1947; New Gallery, New York, before 1961; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1962
Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, May 1948, as Grey Woman (?). Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, October 1949. Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio, 1952, cat. no. 11. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 15, illus. p. 21; Amsterdam, cat. no. 15, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 13; Turin, cat. no. 13, illus. p. 74 (pl. 14). Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 8, illus. p. 56. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 12, color illus. p. 61.
c46
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 9. Group Exhibitions Arts Club of Chicago, 1953 (traveling), cat. no. 11.
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., 1978 (traveling), Ithaca and New York, illus. p. 92 (fig. 96); Tokyo, illus. n.p.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1953 (circulating).
Museen der Stadt Köln, Cologne, Germany, 1981, cat. no. 236, illus. p. 373.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, October 1961 (traveling), cat. no. [155], color illus. p. 96.
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, September 1987, cat. no. 41, color illus. p. 207.
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba, Canada, 1967, cat. no. 10.
References Greenberg 1948, p. 613, as Gray Woman (?); Hudson 1965, sec. G, p. 7; O’Hara 1965a, color illus. p. 80; Chandler 1971, illus. p. 22 (pl. 2); Richard 1984, sec. D, pp. 12, 13; Mattison 1985b, illus. n.p. (fig. 195); Mattison 1987, illus. p. 190 (fig. 74); O’Neill 1988, p. 3, illus. p. 3; Polcari 1991, pp. 304, 306, illus. p. 304 (fig. 239).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 141. Rutgers University Art Gallery, New Brunswick, N.J., 1977, cat. no. 98, illus. p. 96. Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 120, illus. n.p.
Comments The collage element in the upper part of this work, which represents the “parasol” of the title, is a piece of real crocodile skin, which has been painted. It is quite possible that this is the work shown as Grey Woman at the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery in May 1948.
c47
Untitled Alternative Titles: Seaside Collage (?); {Untitled (Composition)} 1947 Oil, casein, and pasted papers on paperboard 29½ x 20 in. (74.9 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell 1947 Artist’s Studio Number c47-2759 Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Museum purchase, the Friends of Art Endowment Fund Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1999
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c47
Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, April 1947, cat. no. 11, as Seaside Collage (?). Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 2004. Group Exhibitions Centro Cultural de Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, 1996, color illus. p. 435. Comments This work is the earliest example of a collage by Motherwell in which the image is dominated by forms produced by paper having been torn off the surface, rather than only pasted down. See the Comments for The Tearingness of Collaging (c69). This collage may have been shown as Seaside Collage at the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery in April 1947. It 42
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anticipates the torn imagery of collages done during the 1950s that have titles related to the sea, such as The End of Dover Beach (c68), and the early state of Souvenir de Californie, first known as The French Coast (c61).
c48
c48
The Best Toys Are Made of Paper Alternative Title: The Best Toys Are Paper (for Harold Rosenberg) 1948 Oil, pasted wood veneer, and pasted papers on board 48 x 24 in. (121.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell 48 Artist’s Studio Number c48-5160 Present Owner Private collection, New York Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1948; Mr. and Mrs. Burt Kleiner, Beverly Hills, Calif., ca. 1948; private collection,
ca. 1975; Greenberg Gallery, Saint Louis, ca. 1991; private collection, New York, ca. 1995 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, May 1948, cat. no. 11. Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, October 1949. Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 11. Washington University Gallery of Art, Saint Louis, 1995, cat. no. 2. Group Exhibitions Detroit Institute of Arts, 1950. Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1952, cat. no. 25. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1965, cat. no. 63, illus. p. 134.
c49
References Hunter 1948b, sec. 2, p. 8; Seventeen 1949, illus. p. 145; Moritz 1962, p. 310; Seldis 1962b, sec. A, p. 24; Kozloff 1965a, illus. p. 37; Mattison 1985b, pp. 224–25, illus. n.p. (fig. 201); Mattison 1987, p. 196; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 19); Rosand 1997, p. 33. Comments This collage contains the patterned German wrapping paper that Motherwell began to use in 1943. Motherwell wrote to Margaret Miller on July 1, 1948, saying that the title of this collage was supposed to be The Best Toys Are Paper (for Harold Rosenberg), which came from a poem by Rosenberg (Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York). We have retained the original published title, however, because after Motherwell sent this letter he
allowed the erroneous title to stand. The poem in question was Rosenberg’s “Reminder to the Growing. To Patia. For a painting by William Baziotes” (published in Tiger’s Eye 1, no. 7 [March 1949]: p. 82), which begins: “The best toys are paper that opens in surprise / Or a lost umbrella dancing on its one leg / Stars on strings of infancy.” This collage was done a year before the poem was published.
c49
Elegy 1948 Gouache, pasted papers, and ink on Masonite 29½ x 23½ in. (74.9 x 59.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell 48 Verso [circled ]: [9] Verso: elegy \ 48 Artist’s Studio Number c48-5062; c48-5214 Present Owner The Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums. Louise E. Bettens Fund Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1948; Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Mass., 1949
Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, May 1948, cat. no. 10. Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, October 1949. New Gallery, Bennington College, Vt., 1959, cat. no. 12. Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, 1961, cat. no. 7. Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 12, illus. n.p. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 4, illus. n.p. New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963. Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 3.
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c50
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 18, illus. p. 15; Amsterdam, cat. no. 17, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 17; Turin, cat. no. 17, illus. p. 76 (pl. 16). Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 10, color illus. p. 8 (pl. 1), illus. p. 58. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 5, illus. n.p. Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 10, color illus. p. 61, illus. p. 100. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, illus. n.p. Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1977. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 5, illus. p. 14. Group Exhibitions Duxbury Town Hall, Mass., 1951. United States Pavilion, Brussels World’s Fair, 1958 (traveling), Brussels, cat. no. 141; London, cat. no. 29 (erroneously as Elergy). 44
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Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., 1959. Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1964, cat. no. 22. Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lexington, 1969. Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1972, cat. no. 156, illus. n.p. Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1975, cat. no. 28. Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Mass., 1985, cat. no. 88, color illus. p. 93. Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, 1999 (traveling), cat. no. 53. References Greenberg 1948, p. 613; W[olf] 1948, p. 19; G. 1949, p. 51; S[harp] 1949, p. 22, erroneously as Elegy (American Twentieth Century); Claus 1965, p. 3; Arnason 1966b, p. 26; Holmes 1972, illus. sec. 3, p. 8; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Bulletin 1972, p. 89; Acha 1975, p. 82; Hobbs 1975b, pp. 139, 210;
Arnason 1977b, pp. 29, 41, 50, 104, illus. n.p. (pl. 73); Arnason 1982, pp. 29–30, 41, 50, illus. p. 112 (pl. 124); Mattison 1985b, pp. 224–25, illus. n.p. (fig. 204); Greenberg 1986b, p. 241; Mortimer 1986, p. 204, illus. p. 203 (cat. no. 233); Mattison 1987, pp. 196– 97, illus. p. 193 (fig. 77); Pleynet 1989b, pp. 30–32, 43, 237, color illus. p. 34; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 26). Comments This collage contains the patterned German wrapping paper that Motherwell began to use in 1943. This is the first work to which Motherwell gave the title Elegy, which would later become a persistent theme in his paintings. The first time this collage was exhibited, Clement Greenberg wrote, “The most surprising advance in the show is seen in the collages, one of them Elegy, being the first really successful one by Motherwell that I have seen” (Greenberg 1948, p. 613).
c50
In Grey and Tan 1948 Oil and pasted papers on composition board 47 x 39 in. (119.4 x 99.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell 48 Artist’s Studio Number c48-5061 Present Owner Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign. Gift of Albert List Provenance Vera G. and Albert A. List; Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign, 1955 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, May 1948, cat. no. 7, illus. n.p. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 11, color illus. p. 23 (pl. 5), illus. p. 59. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1985 (traveling), cat. no. 71.
c51
Group Exhibitions McCormick Place Art Gallery, Chicago, 1961. Peoria Art Center, Ill., 1963. Washington University in Saint Louis, 1964. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, 1965. Cedar Rapids Art Center, Iowa, 1966. References W[olf] 1948, p. 19; Arnason 1977b, p. 41, as In Gray and Tan; Arnason 1982, p. 41; Mattison 1985b, pp. 104, 224–25, illus. n.p. (fig. 202); Mattison 1987, pp. 81, 196, 197, illus. p. 192 (fig. 76); Mattison 1988, pp. 172, 185; Gilbert 1998, pp. 95, 346–47, 559. Comments This collage contains the patterned German wrapping paper that Motherwell began to use in 1943.
c51
Joy of Living 1948 Oil, pasted papers, and ink on board 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center, incised and inscribed: Motherwell 48 Verso not seen [“titled and dated upper center on verso: Joy of Living 48,” per San Francisco Museum of Modern Art exh. cat. 2000] Present Owner Collection of Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson Provenance Vera G. and Albert A. List; Robert Elkon Gallery, ca. 1965; Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson, 1984 Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 20, illus. p. 23. Group Exhibitions Robert Elkon Gallery, New York, 1976, cat. no. 25, illus. n.p.
Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, N.Y., 1980 (traveling), cat. no. 35; shown in Southampton and New York only. Robert Elkon Gallery, New York, 1983. Stanford University Museum of Art, Palo Alto, Calif., 1988, cat. no. 16. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2000, cat. no. 194, color illus. p. 286 (pl. 166). References Arnason 1977b, pp. 19–20; Arnason 1982, illus. p. 22 (pl. 11); Mattison 1985b, p. 224, illus. n.p. (fig. 203); Mattison 1987, p. 196, erroneously as The Joy of Living II; Caws 1996b, p. 168, illus. p. 167; Wentrup 2001, p. 50.
of Modern Art series in 1949. The composition is related to the drawings by Georges Braque that were used on the cover of the Kahnweiler book. Motherwell titled two other collages Joy of Living, one in 1943 and another in 1951 (see c3 and c54). While the use of the title in the 1943 collage may have been ironic, the later use of the title may simply reflect the spirit of Motherwell’s 1950 preface to Georges Duthuit’s Fauvist Painters: “Duthuit admits that he often cannot recall the subjects in Matisse’s pictures; but the content is always clear. Matisse named it in one of his fauve masterpieces, The Joy of Living” (reprinted in Motherwell 2007, p. 91).
Comments This collage contains the patterned German wrapping paper that Motherwell began to use in 1943. Its Cubist overtones reflect Motherwell’s contemporaneous work on DanielHenry Kahnweiler’s Rise of Cubism, which was published in the Documents
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c52
c52
Guild Hall, East Hampton, N.Y., 1952.
Collage in Yellow and White, with Torn Elements
Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, 1954, cat. no. 31, as Collage in Yellow and White.
Alternative Titles: Yellow Collage; In Yellow and White; Collage; Collage (Yellow and White with Torn Elements); Collage in Yellow and White; Collage (In Yellow and White with Torn Fragments) 1949 Casein and pasted papers on board 47⅜ x 35½ in. (120.3 x 90.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center (on collage element): 49 \ R Motherwell Verso: R. Motherwell Verso: “collage in yellow and \ white, with torn elements” \ 1949 Verso: casein + various papers Artist’s Studio Number c49-5025 Present Owner Jacqueline and Eugene Williams Provenance Ben Heller, 1956; Acquavella Contemporary Art, Inc., 1983; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, May 4, 1987, lot 13, illus. (not sold)]; private collection, 2001; Jacqueline and Eugene Williams, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, October 1949. Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, November 1950, sec. C, cat. no. 5, as Yellow Collage. Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio, 1952, cat. no. 12, as In Yellow and White. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 22, illus. p. 21, as Collage (In Yellow and White with Torn Elements); shown in New York only. Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 12, illus. p. 101. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, as Collage (In Yellow and White with Torn Elements). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 12, as Collage (in Yellow and White with Torn Elements). Group Exhibitions Rathaus Schöneberg, Berlin, 1951 (traveling), cat. no. 47, as Gelb-Weiß Studie (Yellow-White Study).
Edwin Watts Chubb Library Art Gallery, Ohio University, Athens, 1954, cat. no. 49, as Collage in Yellow and White with Torn Elements and as Collage in Yellow and White. Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 1961 (circulating), illus. n.p., as Collage. Stephen Mazoh & Company, New York, 1983, cat. no. 13, p. 28, color illus. p. 29. Acquavella Galleries, New York, 1984, cat. no. 32, color illus. p. 71, as Collage (In Yellow and White with Torn Fragments). References East Hampton Star 1952; Seitz 1955, p. 79, illus. n.p. (fig. 163); Weller 1963, p. 290, illus. p. 290, referred to in text and in illus. as In Yellow Ochre and White; Kozloff 1965b, p. 258, as In Yellow and White; Tillim 1965, illus. p. 36; Kozloff 1968, p. 171, as In Yellow and White; Arnason 1977b, pp. 29–30, illus. n.p. (pl. 71), referred to in text and in illus. as Collage (in Yellow and White with Torn Elements); Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Arnason 1982, pp. 29–30, color illus. p. 110 (pl. 121); Seitz 1983, p. 29, illus. n.p. (fig. 176); Mattison 1985b, illus. n.p. (fig. 206); Pleynet 1989b, p. 32, as In Yellow and White with Torn Element, color illus. p. 76; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 20); Polcari 1991, p. 311, illus. p. 311 (fig. 248), referred to in text and in illus. as Collage (In Yellow and White with Torn Elements). Comments This is the first collage by Motherwell in which the torn quality of the collage elements is referred to in the title; see the Comments for The Tearingness of Collaging (c69). Motherwell was familiar with Jean (Hans) Arp’s automatist torn-paper collages, one of which he chose for inclusion in the journal Possibilities in 1947, and he was deeply immersed in Arp’s work while editing Arp’s book of essays and poetry On My Way (1948) for the Documents of Modern Art series. Motherwell’s use of his signature as part of the composition here anticipates his use of this device in later works.
c53
c53
In Ashes with Collage Alternative Title: Grey Collage 1949 Casein and pasted papers on paperboard 26 x 19 in. (66 x 48.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell 49
rivate collection, 1990; Salvatore p Centola, Rome Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, October 1949. Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, November 1950, sec. C, cat. no. 3, as Grey Collage.
Verso: In Ashes with collage \ Robert Motherwell \ 1949
Group Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 1949, cat. no. 127.
Artist’s Studio Number c49-5164
References S[harp] 1949, p. 22.
Present Owner Salvatore Centola, Rome
Comments The collage elements in this work have a good deal in common with the compositional structure of works such as In Yellow and Black (p46), Montauk Montage (c41), Dirge (w9), and a 1948 ink drawing called Sailor’s Cemetery (see fig. 43 in volume 1).
Provenance Private collection, ca. 1949; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 9, 1989, lot 91, illus. (not sold)]; [Finarte, Rome, October 30, 1990, lot 276, illus.];
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c54
c54
c55
Joy of Living
Ninth Street Collage
1951 Gouache, pasted papers, and ink on paper 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm)
Alternative Title: Ninth Street Exhibition 1951 Gouache, pasted papers, and ink on paper 10¾ x 14 in. (27.3 x 35.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower center (on collage element): RM 51 Present Owner Collection of M. Woodside Provenance Private collection, 1955; private collection; M. Woodside, 1985 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, April 1952, cat. no. 25. Comments Motherwell used the title Joy of Living for two earlier collages (see c3 and c51).
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Washington University Gallery of Art, Saint Louis, 1995, cat. no. 4, as 9th Street Collage. Group Exhibitions 60 East Ninth Street, New York, 1951 (?). Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Mo., 1966.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left (on collage element): RM
Steinberg Hall, Washington University Gallery of Art, Saint Louis, 1975, cat. no. 51.
Present Owner Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in Saint Louis. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph L. Tucker, 1963
References Washington University Gallery of Art Calendar of Events 1982, illus. n.p.; Washington University Gallery of Art Bulletin 1995, p. 3, illus. p. 3.
Provenance Harriet and Donald Peters, 1951; private collection, 1962; Mr. and Mrs. Joseph L. Tucker, 1962; Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University, Saint Louis, 1963
Comments This collage may have been shown at the Ninth Street Show, held in the ground floor and basement of a vacant building at 60 East Ninth Street, New York, from May 21 to June 10, 1951. One of the collage elements is a fragment from the poster for that exhibition, which was designed by Franz Kline: “[m]ay 21st, 9 p.m.” The densely printed text that serves as the ground in this work appears to be part
Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, April 1952, cat. no. 24, as Ninth Street Exhibition.
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of a contract for a loan agreement, but it is not directly related to the Ninth Street Show. At the time that Motherwell created this collage he maintained a studio at 61 Fourth Avenue, between Ninth and Tenth streets.
c56
c57
c56
c57
Walden School, New York, 1960.
Untitled
Stars and Moons
1951 Gouache, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 39½ x 29½ in. (100.3 x 74.9 cm)
1951 Gouache, pasted paperboard, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 28¾ x 22¼ in. (73 x 56.5 cm)
Café Galerie, New York, 1968, cat. no. 38, as Untitled.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 51
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Robert Motherwell 51
Artist’s Studio Number c51-1459 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007 Group Exhibitions Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, 2005, color illus. p. 178. Comments The large form at the upper center of this collage recalls the image of the burning bush in several of Motherwell’s studies for the large 1951 mural painting Wall of the Temple (see the Comments for p114; see also p115 and p117).
Artist’s Studio Number c51-519
New York Studio School, 2003, cat. no. 30, as Untitled. References B[reuning] 1951, p. 22. Comments This collage was sold shortly after it was created. Motherwell bought it at auction in 1970.
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Vera G. and Albert A. List, ca. 1951; private collection, New York, 1969; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 18, 1970, lot 1, illus.]; Robert Motherwell, 1970; Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, May 2005, cat. no. 21, as Untitled. Group Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, May 1951. collag e s
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c58
c58
The Easel I 1952 Casein and pasted papers on board 29⅞ x 20⅛ in. (75.9 x 51.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R.M. Verso: “The Easel I” Verso [partially torn away]: Robert Motherwell 19[illegible] Verso [partially torn away]: [co]llage + casein Artist’s Studio Number c54-5034 Present Owner Knoedler & Company Provenance Dr. Montague Ullman, ca. 1955; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 18, 50
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1998, lot 223, illus. (not sold)]; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 12, 2008, lot 112, illus.]; Knoedler & Company, 2008 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, April 1953. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 12, color illus. p. 27 (pl. 6), illus. p. 60, as The Easel. Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 17, illus. p. 102, as The Easel. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, illus. n.p., as The Easel. Group Exhibitions Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, December 1953, cat. no. 15.
College of Fine and Applied Arts, Urbana, Ill., 1955, illus. n.p. (pl. 2), as The Easel. References C[ampbell] 1953, p. 52, illus. p. 52; George 1955, p. 15, illus. p. 15; Seitz 1955, illus. n.p. (fig. 175); Arnason 1966b, pp. 27, 32; Wescher 1968, p. 301, as The Easel, illus. p. 398 (pl. 290); Freed 1972a, p. 8, as The Easel; Arnason 1977b, pp. 38–39, 41, illus. p. 39 (pl. 17), referred to in text and illus. as The Easel No. 1; Franzke 1977, illus. p. 65; Arnason 1982, p. 39, illus. p. 39 (pl. 31, as The Easel No. 1); Seitz 1983, illus. n.p. (fig. 187, as The Easel ); Pleynet 1989b, p. 25, color illus. p. 87; Caws 1996b, p. 128, illus. p. 130, referred to in text and in illus. as The Easel No. 1; Thierolf 2002, pp. 266–67, illus. p. 266 (fig. 2, as The Easel); Caws 2003, p. 84.
Comments Part of the cover from the French journal L’Esprit nouveau, vol. 13 (December 1921), is placed at the upper center of this collage. This is one of the first collages in which Motherwell used a newspaper or magazine page, and it has strong affinities with Cubist collage generally. Although this collage is usually dated to around 1954, an April 7, 1953, consignment list for Motherwell’s solo exhibition at the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery lists it as a 1952 work, and it is also dated 1952 on a 1954 Kootz Gallery photography list. At the lower center of the collage, a partially painted-over movie schedule of films playing in East Hampton in early August 1952 lists several films, all released in 1952. Motherwell reworked a related 1953 drawing, originally titled The Easel II, in 1958 as an untitled painting on paper (w87).
c59
c59
East Hampton Beach 1953 Casein, pasted papers, and charcoal on paperboard 30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left [partially obscured by framing mat]: [R]M 53 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1955; unknown owner; private collection, 1989 solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, April 1953. Kootz Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., July 1953. References F[itzsimmons] 1953b, p. 17. Comments In a review of Motherwell’s April 1953 exhibition at the Kootz Gallery, James Fitzsimmons referred to this collage as
“[one of] a few collages in greys and ochers. . . . Its shapes like the patterns left by a receding tide—is the most successful” (F[itzsimmons] 1953b, p. 17).
c60
c60
Untitled Ca. 1954 Oil, pasted paper, and charcoal on paper 14¾ x 20¼ in. (37.5 x 51.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM Present Owner Private collection Provenance Clinton Hill; [Christie’s, New York, July 12, 2005, lot 10, illus.]; unknown owner, 2005; private collection, 2007
that was laid out for use on the top of the palette, which was turned facedown when it was incorporated into this work, so that the paint is visible through the surface of the translucent palette. A photograph of this work was shown to Motherwell around 1970, when the owner, Clinton Hill, wrote to him about it. Motherwell authenticated the work, and a photograph of it remains among his papers, signed and dated by him as “ca. 1951” on the back. Our 1954 date is based on its relationship to the 1954 paintings on palette paper.
Comments This work is related to Motherwell’s 1954 paintings on palette paper (see w20–w23), in which the painted forms were confined to the palette paper itself. Here, by contrast, the paper is used as an element in a larger composition, in which the horizontal linear form extends across both the pasted paper palette and the ground. The yellow ochre form at the lower right of the palette paper is oil paint
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c61
c61
Souvenir de Californie Alternative Title: The French Coast 1953/1955 Oil, casein, pasted papers, and charcoal on board 16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Verso: “souvenir de californie” \ 1953–55 \ 16" x 12" Verso [circled]: [#c2550] Verso [partially painted over]: [“The French Coast”] \ Robert Motherwell Collage + Casein \ New York 28 Verso [painted over]: [Robert Motherwell] \ [1953] Verso: “Souvenir de \ Californie” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1953–55 Artist’s Studio Number c53/55-5168 Present Owner Collection of Isabel Trimper
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Provenance Private collection, ca. 1955; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 2, 1988, lot 3376, illus.]; Isabel Trimper, 1988 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, April 1953 (shown in early state), as The French Coast. Group Exhibitions Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1956, cat. no. 164. Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, Conn., 1965. Comments The technique employed in this collage—tearing away pasted papers and leaving traces of the earlier forms in pieces of torn paper and glue residue—is similar to that used in The End of Dover Beach (c68), which underwent similar revisions, and whose title change, from Dover Beach to The End of Dover Beach, evokes a similar kind of “memory” of an earlier version of the work. The circled “#c2550” inscribed by Motherwell on the verso is the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery inventory number for the work.
c62
Motherwell exhibited an early version of this collage as The French Coast in his 1953 solo exhibition at the Kootz Gallery. He reworked it in 1955, inscribing it on the verso as Souvenir de Californie and dating it “1953–55.” It was photographed again before being exhibited in its final state, as Souvenir de Californie, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1956. The original title, The French Coast, referred to the third line of Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach”: “The sea is calm to-night. / The tide is full, the moon lies fair / Upon the straits; on the French coast the light / Gleams and is gone.” The present title may refer to Motherwell’s memories of California, but it may also refer to the villa near Cannes (on a French coast) that Picasso purchased in 1954, which was named “La Californie.”
c62
Untitled 1955 Pasted papers and graphite on paperboard 20 x 15 in. (50.8 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 55 Artist’s Studio Number c55-2602 Present Owner Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchased with funds from an anonymous donor, with support from the Dedalus Foundation, 1998 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1998 References Hume 1998, color illus. p. 1 (upside down). Comments The pasted papers in this work and in Untitled (c63) include torn packaging with labels from Abercrombie and Fitch, and betting tickets for a horse
c63
race dated August 13, 1955. Both works contain visible water damage, the result of a flood in the artist’s basement during the late 1950s. But Motherwell apparently preferred not to have the work restored (Art Gallery of Ontario work file, Dedalus Foundation Archives).
c64
c63
c64
Untitled
Collage with News from Zürich and Black Table
1955 Oil, pasted papers, charcoal, and graphite on paperboard 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 55 Artist’s Studio Number c55-2601 Present Owner National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. The Nancy Lee and Perry Bass Fund, 1999.55.6 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1999 Solo Exhibitions Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 16, color illus. p. 103. Comments Regarding the composition and condition of this collage, see the Comments for Untitled (c62).
1956 Oil, pasted papers, and graphite on paper mounted on board 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center (on collage element): Robert Motherwell \ 1956
which contains the Zurich address of European Art This Month, a journal published by James Fitzsimmons that debuted in November 1956. The line of poetry written in Motherwell’s hand at the upper right comes from Paul Eluard’s poem “Du fond de l’abîme” (From the Depths of the Abyss), and reads as follows: “Avaient leur âge de raison, les mélancholiques” (They had their age of reason, the melancholics).
Present Owner The Art Institute of Chicago. Bequest of Bernard Williams, 1994.276 Provenance Bernard Williams, 1959; Art Institute of Chicago, 1994 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, May 1957, cat. no. 17. References Ashton 1957a, illus. p. 4. Comments The “News from Zürich” of the title refers to the piece of torn brown paper in the lower right part of the collage,
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c66
c66
Histoire d’un Peintre c65
c65
Mediterranean Interior with Humor and Black Table 1956 Oil, pasted papers, and crayon on board 30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, center (on collage element): Robert Motherwell \ 56 Present Owner Collection of W. Stephen Croddy Provenance Private collection, 1957; [Christie’s, New York, May 13, 1998, lot 121, illus.]; W. Stephen Croddy, 1998 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, May 1957, cat. no. 9.
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Comments Placed among the pasted elements of this collage are a mailing label and brown paper packaging from Imprimeries Réunis, S.A., Lausanne, the publishers of the art journal L’Oeil. The Swiss postmark is dated July 17, 1956, and the package shows both Motherwell’s New York address and the address to which it was forwarded in Provincetown: 2 Allerton Street, where he spent the summer of 1956. This collage was reproduced on the poster for Motherwell’s first solo exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery, in May 1957.
1956 Pasted papers, charcoal, and crayon on paperboard 16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right (on collage element): R. Motherwell \ 1956
Watkins Gallery, American University, Washington, D.C., 1963, as Life of a Painter. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 13, illus. p. 61. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 9. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 83.
Verso: Robert Motherwell: “Histoire d’un peintre” 1956 \ “Story of a Painter” \ Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1996, cat. no. 29, color illus. n.p. “Day the house, \ Night the Street” Artist’s Studio Number c56-1948 Present Owner Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Gift of Margaret and Angus Wurtele and the Dedalus Foundation, 1995 Provenance Private collection, ca. 1957; Robert Motherwell, 1977; Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, May 1957, cat. no. 8.
Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 17, color illus. p. 105. Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño, Mexico City, 2008, color illus. p. 37. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., 2009, cat. no. 2. Group Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1956, cat. no. 129, illus. n.p. Baltimore Museum of Art, July 1959. Baltimore Museum of Art, 1971. Harcus Krakow Gallery, Boston, 1979.
c67
Pace Gallery, New York, 1979, illus. n.p. Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, 1993. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 2005. References Arnason 1966b, p. 32, illus. p. 41; Arnason 1977b, pp. 41–42, 50, illus. p. 41 (pl. 20); Ashton 1980, p. 6; Arnason 1982, pp. 11, 41–43, 50, color illus. p. 41 (pl. 33); Ashton 1989, illus. p. 12; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 86; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 37); Pleynet 1991, p. 19; Polcari 1991, p. 311; Motherwell 1992, p. 110; Terenzio 1992b, color illus. n.p.; Caws 1996b, p. 131, illus. p. 133; Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 16 (pl. 9); Pleynet 1998, p. 93; Caws 2003, p. 58, illus. p. 35 (ill. 25); Engberg and Banach 2003, illus. p. 45 (fig. 17). Comments The white pasted paper at the center of this work is part of a printed page that includes the phrases “histoire d’un p[eintre]” (story of a painter) and “Réalité et abstraction” (Reality and abstraction), which covers part of a blue package from Gauloises, a French brand of cigarettes. Motherwell used
Gauloises packages in several works from this period, and in the 1970s they became one of his most frequently used collage papers. The grayish paper at the lower left originally had a U.S. Customs stamp dated August 1, 1956, which was printed in an ink that has now entirely faded (it is visible in an early photograph, Juley photo no. 13; j0004810). The phrase “jour la maison nuit la rue” (day the house night the street) written in Motherwell’s hand on the torn piece of white paper just below the Gauloises package refers to the first line of Paul Eluard’s “Par un baiser,” from his book of poems Le dur désir de durer (1946): “Jour la maison et nuit la rue.” Motherwell discussed this phrase, and his deep interest in Eluard during the 1950s, in interviews with Paul Cummings beginning in 1971 (see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). The same words appear in another 1956 collage, Yellow Envelope (c67), and in a 1957 oil painting, Jour La Maison, Nuit La Rue (p164). This work was sold shortly after it was created. Motherwell reacquired it in 1977.
c67
Yellow Envelope Alternative Title: Collage 1956/ca. 1965 Oil and pasted papers mounted on silk mat board 21⅛ x 17⅝ in. (53.7 x 44.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell Verso not seen [“signed on the reverse under backing board,” per Fundació Antoni Tàpies exh. cat. 1996] Artist’s Studio Number c56-328; c58-1261 Present Owner The Saint Louis Art Museum. Funds given by the Shoenberg Foundation, Inc., and gift of the Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Saint Louis Art Museum, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, May 1957, cat. no. [11 or 14] (shown in early state), as Collage.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating). Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 14, illus. p. 62. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1985 (traveling), cat. no. 72. Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 21, color illus. p. 113. Group Exhibitions Zabriskie Gallery, New York, 1957 (traveling), cat. no. 36 (shown in early state). References Ashton 1957a, illus. p. 4 (in early state, as Collage); Arnason 1977b, p. 50; Arnason 1982, p. 50; Taylor 1986, sec. B, p. 3; Tucker 1987, sec. 2, p. 8; Caws 1996b, pp. 129, 131, 134; Belgrad 1998, p. 135, color illus. n.p. (pl. 7); Thierolf 2002, p. 281, illus. p. 281 (fig. 1). Comments The size of this work was originally 16 x 12 inches, but it was subsequently
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mounted on a wider board, for reasons having to do with framing. Around 1965 Motherwell reworked the collage by painting the border with a siennacolored paint and signed it at the upper right, incorporating the border into the work. A similar change was made around the same time to Fockink No. 1 (c75). An early state of this collage, signed “Robert Motherwell 1956” on a now-removed collage element that was at the upper right, was published and exhibited as Collage at the Sidney Janis Gallery in 1957 (Juley photo no. 15; j0004812); the work was given its present title later that year. The small piece of torn paper near the upper center, with the printed words “L’aventure de l’art abstrait” (The adventure of abstract art), refers to the title of a
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1956 book by the French critic Michel Ragon. A partially overlapped piece of yellow paper at the lower center features the handwritten phrase “Jour la maison nuit la rue,” taken from a poem by Paul Eluard, which was incorporated into other works of this period (see p164 and c66).
c68
The End of Dover Beach Alternative Title: Dover Beach 1952/1957 Tempera, pasted papers, crayon, and graphite on board 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center (on collage element): R. Motherwell \ 57
Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, April 1953 (shown in early state), as Dover Beach. Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, May 1957, cat. no. 12. Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 4.
Artist’s Studio Number c52-5038
Group Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 1953, cat. no. 94 (shown in early state), as Dover Beach.
Present Owner Robert and Jane Meyerhoff, Phoenix, Md.
Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1954 (shown in early state), as Dover Beach.
Provenance Robert and Jane Meyerhoff, Phoenix, Md., 1959
Detroit Institute of Arts, 1954, cat. no. 22 (shown in early state), as Dover Beach. Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1958, cat. no. 311, illus. n.p. (pl. 23).
c69
Baltimore Museum of Art, July 1959. Baltimore Museum of Art, 1963. Goucher College, Towson, Md., 1964. Baltimore Museum of Art, 1966. Baltimore Museum of Art, 1973. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1996, cat. no. 108, color illus. p. 140. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2001, cat. no. 91, color illus. p. 203. References W[escher] 1954, illus. (fig. 1, in early state, as La plage de Douvres [Dover Beach]); Seitz 1955, p. 79, illus. n.p. (fig. 179, in early state), referred to in text and in illus. as Dover Beach; Janis and Blesh 1962, p. 171, illus. p. 163 (fig. 219); Claus 1965, illus. p. 5, erroneously as Collage; Freudenheim 1973,
n.p., illus. n.p.; Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 94); Payant 1978–79, illus. p. 35 (in early state, as Dover Beach); Sundell 1980, pp. ix, 39, color illus. p. 39; Arnason 1982, illus. p. 128 (pl. 139); Seitz 1983, p. 29, illus. n.p. (fig. 192, in early state), referred to in text and in illus. as Dover Beach; Caws 1996b, p. 153. Comments A different version of this collage, containing a pasted paper on which the artist signed and dated the work “52/R. Motherwell,” was first exhibited as Dover Beach at the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery in April 1953 (see fig. 68 in volume 1). That 1952 version of the work was exhibited three more times in 1953 and 1954, and it was returned to Motherwell when he left the Kootz Gallery in February 1955. Sometime before May 1957, when the work was
exhibited at the Sidney Janis Gallery, Motherwell reworked the collage by tearing off a number of the pasted elements, reusing some of them and adding others. As a result, many traces of torn paper and glue residue are visible on the work, which was then retitled The End of Dover Beach and dated 1957. The title refers to Matthew Arnold’s poem “Dover Beach,” which Motherwell characterized in a 1961 interview with Rudi Blesh as “a 19th century Wasteland” (see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). The “end” of “Dover Beach” appears to refer both to Motherwell’s destruction of the collage called Dover Beach and to the famous, despairing last lines of Arnold’s poem: “Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; / And we are here as on a darkling plain / Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, / Where ignorant armies clash by night.”
c69
The Tearingness of Collaging 1957 Oil, pasted papers, and charcoal on board 29⅝ x 21⅜ in. (75.2 x 54.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, center (on collage element): 57 \ R. Motherwell Verso: “the tearingness of collaging” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1957 Artist’s Studio Number c57-5087 Present Owner Collection of Irma and Norman Braman Provenance Zurier Collection, 1958; [Christie’s, New York, May 5, 1982, lot 16, illus. (not sold)]; Irma and Norman Braman, 1982 collag e s
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Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, May 1957, cat. no. 16. Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 23. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 32, illus. p. 22; Amsterdam, cat. no. 27, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 27; Turin, cat. no. 27, illus. p. 83 (pl. 23). Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 15, color illus. p. 30 (pl. 7), illus. p. 63. Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1974, cat. no. 15. Group Exhibitions Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., 1963, cat. no. 47. La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, Calif., 1976. Knoedler & Company, New York, February 2000, cover color illus. References Coates 1957, p. 87; S[awin] 1957, illus. p. 56; Janis and Blesh 1962, p. 171, illus. 58
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p. 162 (fig. 217); Moritz 1962, p. 310; Seldis 1962b, sec. A, p. 24; Bourdon 1965, p. 13; Vogue 1965, illus. p. 141 (cat. no. 6, in exhibition); Arnason 1966b, p. 32; Freed 1972a, p. 8; Holmes 1972, sec. 3, p. 8; Kelder 1972, p. 100; Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 63; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Bulletin 1972, illus. p. 89; Volboudt 1973b, p. 84; Seldis 1974b, sec. C, p. 82; Hobbs 1975b, pp. 167, 170, illus. n.p. (pl. ix); Arnason 1976, p. 13; Arnason 1977b, pp. 50, 73, illus. n.p. (pl. 96); Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Tyler 1977, sec. F, p. 7; Anderson 1981, p. 161; Hughes 1981b, p. 163; Arnason 1982, pp. 50, 73, illus. p. 129 (pl. 141); Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 129; Siegel 1984, p. 6; Digby and Digby 1985, pp. 175, 176; Fisher 1992, p. 158; Caws 1996b, pp. 134, 145, 149, 159, illus. p. 136; Kunitz 2000, p. 55; Caws 2003, p. 123; Haxall 2009, pp. 81, 278. Comments The title of this work contains Motherwell’s most direct reference to the tearing process that characterized many of his collages at this time.
“Tearingness” is meant here not only to describe the way in which the pieces of paper are torn rather than cut, but also the way in which the artist has torn off pieces of paper that had been pasted down. The violence of the tearing process in this collage was clearly meant to convey strong emotions. In 1972 Motherwell wrote that this collage was “made during some of the most tormented and exhausted years of my life, the tearing was also equivalent to murdering symbolically” (Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 63). A few years later, he connected the emotional force of the work to what he considered a formal breakthrough, when he wrote: “The Tearingness of Collaging is, like many of my titles, a play on words. It refers not only to an angry tearing of a collage that seemed to me in its prior state too hard-edged and formal, but also it emphasizes that part of my contribution to the art of collage, the torn rather than the sharp or cut-out edge” (Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, caption to plate 96). The composition of this collage pivots around a fragment of a Gauloises cigarette package that is placed at its center.
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Collage Alternative Title: Yellow Envelope 1957 Oil and pasted papers on board 16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised and inscribed: 57 \ R. Motherwell Present Owner Princeton University Art Museum. Anonymous gift Provenance Harriet and Donald Peters, 1957; private collection, 1962; private collection, ca. 1962; Princeton University Art Museum, N.J., 1965 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, May 1957, cat. no. 18. Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 25, as Yellow Envelope. Comments This collage contains an envelope addressed to Motherwell from Switzerland with a postmark reading “13 III 57” and part of a blue Gauloises cigarette package.
c71
c71
Ash Wednesday Alternative Titles: Collage, in Tobacco and Blue; Collage in Tobacco and Blue: Ash Wednesday 1957 Oil, pasted papers, charcoal, and ink on board 20 x 15 in. (50.8 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right [partially torn away]: Motherwell \ [1]957 Verso: Robert Motherwell \ 1957 \ “Collage, in Tobacco + Blue” Verso: “Ô, moi qui connais \ l’amertume” \ Stéphane \ Mallarmé \ (“Oh I, who know bitterness”) Artist’s Studio Number c57-523
Present Owner Delaware Art Museum. F. V. du Pont Acquisition Fund and partial gift of the Dedalus Foundation, 1998
no. 6; Caracas, cat. no. 61; Bogotá, cat. no. 61; Mexico City, cat. no. 6.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, 1998
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, 1999.
Solo Exhibitions New Gallery, Bennington College, Vt., 1959, cat. no. 18. Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 12, as Collage in Tobacco and Blue: Ash Wednesday. Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 5. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating), illus. n.p. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat.
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
Group Exhibitions Flint Institute of Arts, Mich., 1958, cat. no. 13. Pace Gallery, New York, 1974. Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. 59, color illus. p. 122. Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern, Germany, 1997, color illus. p. 63. References Sozanski 1999, sec. F, p. 11, illus. sec. F, p. 11.
Comments This work was executed on Ash Wednesday, which fell on March 6 in 1957. The title also refers to T. S. Eliot’s poem by the same name, which contains a sense of bitterness similar to that in Motherwell’s inscription of the lines by Mallarmé on the verso. The Mallarmé poem actually reads: “Est-il moyen, ô Moi qui connais l’amertume” (Is there a way, O Self who has known bitterness). Motherwell discussed the genesis of this collage in a 1969 interview with Arthur Cohen: “I have one collage called Ash Wednesday and it was done one Wednesday night after I was teaching in the evening at Hunter and, I think probably the first year I was teaching there, and many of the girls had a marked smudge on their forehead and in my absentminded way for awhile collag e s
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I only half noticed it and thought it was charcoal or something and suddenly it dawned on me that more than fifty per cent of the class as is true of the population in general in New York was Roman Catholic and it was Ash Wednesday. And so in making this collage I wrote Ash Wednesday and rubbed my finger in charcoal and put a smudge in the center of the white paper. Which was not meant to be comic, and I don’t think even ironical maybe, as more playful and astonished really, as though I hadn’t realized that I was living in the midst of a certain tribal custom” (see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). The work is inscribed on the verso with the title “Collage, in Tobacco + Blue,” yet the first time it was exhibited, in 1958, it had already been given the title Ash Wednesday.
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Helen’s Collage Alternative Title: Collage in Deep Blue Space 1957 Oil, pasted papers, and charcoal on paperboard 30 x 19½ in. (76.2 x 49.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised and inscribed: Motherwell \ 57 Verso (on typed gallery label on original backing board) [revised ]: “helen’s collage” \ 195[7] Present Owner Helen Frankenthaler Provenance Helen Frankenthaler, 1957 Solo Exhibitions New Gallery, Bennington College, Vt., 1959, cat. no. 27. Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 3. New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963.
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c73
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 30; Amsterdam, cat. no. 25, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 25; Turin, cat. no. 25, illus. p. 82 (pl. 22). Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 5; Caracas, cat. no. 60, illus. n.p.; Bogotá, cat. no. 60; Mexico City, cat. no. 5. References Arnason 1966b, p. 32; Arnason 1977b, p. 50, illus. n.p. (pl. 95, in studio, in progress); Arnason 1982, p. 50, illus. p. 128 (pl. 140, in studio, in progress); Architectural Digest 1985, color illus. (installation view). Comments This work was originally consigned to the Sidney Janis Gallery as Collage in Deep Blue Space; this title is typed on a gallery label on the verso. Motherwell later crossed out this title and wrote “helen’s collage” in its place. When this collage was exhibited for the first time, in 1959, it was shown
as Helen’s Collage. In a 2002 letter, Frankenthaler herself referred to the work as “Wedding Collage” (Dedalus Foundation Archives).
c74
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c74
Untitled
Garden of Delights
1957 Oil and pasted papers on board 22 x 16 in. (55.9 x 40.6 cm)
Alternative Title: Untitled 1958 Oil and pasted papers on board 11¼ x 8¼ in. (28.6 x 21 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: R Motherwell Present Owner Unknown Provenance Unknown owner; private collection, 1977; Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1977; private collection, 1978; private collection and Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1989; unknown owner, 1989 Group Exhibitions Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1978. Comments The pasted papers in this work include a torn Wolfschmidt’s vodka label and part of a Gauloises cigarette package.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R.M. 58 Verso: For Sam Hunter \ 5 January 1958 \ from his friend \ Robert Motherwell Present Owner Williams College Museum of Art. Gift of Sam Hunter, class of 1944, 73.59 Provenance Sam Hunter, 1958; Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Mass., 1973 References Gratz 1973, p. 37. Comments In 1958 Motherwell gave this collage to the art historian Sam Hunter as an untitled work. The Williams College Museum of Art acquired it in 1973.
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In 1984, the museum’s registrar wrote to Motherwell regarding a small collage element that was missing from the lower right part of the composition. On December 19, 1984, Motherwell’s curator replied on his behalf: “I have discussed the problem of the missing collage element with Robert and he feels that the collage should be left as it is and that the glue area actually ‘constitutes a subtle form alongside some very definitive ones.’ To eliminate it would leave the picture unbalanced and to restore it is impossible. In addition, he would like the work to be titled ‘Garden of Delights’ ” (Dedalus Foundation Archives). The “delights” of the title probably refer in part to the collage elements, which include labels from 4711 Kölnisch Eau de Cologne, Callard & Bowser’s butterscotch candies, and English Ovals cigarettes.
c75
Fockink No. 1 1958/ca. 1965 Oil, gouache, and pasted papers on paperboard mounted on silk mat board 31 x 24 in. (78.7 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell 58 Verso: “fockink, no. 1” \ Robert Motherwell 1958 \ oil + collage Artist’s Studio Number c58-1535 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York, 2002; private collection, 2005 Solo Exhibitions New Gallery, Bennington College, Vt., 1959, cat. no. 19 (shown in early state), as Fockink. Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, illus. n.p. (shown in early state).
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Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 16 (shown in early state). Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 46, illus. p. 27. John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1973, cat. no. 21. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 14, illus. n.p., as Fockink. Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 21, illus. p. 102. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, erroneously as Focking No. 1. Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, 1999. Group Exhibitions Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany, 1959, cat. no. 4 (shown in early state). J. L. Hudson Gallery, Detroit, 1966. William Zierler, New York, 1974, cat. no. 23, illus. n.p. Berlinische Galerie, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Photographie, und
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Architektur, Berlin, 1988, cat. no. 16/33, illus. p. 448.
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Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York, 2002.
1957–58 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard mounted on board 30 x 21 in. (76.2 x 53.3 cm)
Comments The title of this collage refers to the label from the Dutch brand of gin Fockink at the center; the label just below it, which overlaps a paper painter’s palette, is from Sökelands Pumpernickel. The size of this collage was originally 24 x 16 inches, and it was mounted on a silk-covered board. Sometime around 1965 Motherwell painted the silk border, incorporating it into the work; this collage was listed for the first time with the larger dimensions when shown at the J. L. Hudson Gallery in 1966. A similar change was made to Yellow Envelope (c67) around the same time.
Fockink No. 2
Inscriptions Recto, upper left (on collage fragment) [partially torn away]: Moth[erwell] 58 Verso (on backing board): “fockink, no. 2” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1958 \ oil + collage Present Owner Museum of Fine Arts, Saint Petersburg, Fla. Extended loan to the museum by Elinor Gollay from the Benjamin Gollay Collection Provenance Benjamin Gollay, ca. 1959; Elinor Gollay, 1984; Museum of Fine Arts, Saint Petersburg, Fla.
Group Exhibitions Museum of Fine Arts, Saint Petersburg, Fla., 2008. References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 95, in studio, in progress); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 128 (pl. 140, in studio, in progress). Comments Along with the Fockink gin label that is pasted in upside down near the center of this collage, there are labels from packages of Pears soap and Schimmelpenninck Duet cigars. An early state of this work, when it had fewer collage elements and an unpainted ground, is visible in a photograph of Motherwell’s studio taken during the winter of 1957–58 (see fig. 92 in volume 1).
c77
c77
Collage with Ochre and Black 1957–58 Oil and pasted papers on canvas 30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised [painted over]: [Robert Motherwell 1958] Present Owner Collection of the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio. Gift of Mr. James A. Roemer 1994 Provenance Mr. and Mrs. James Roemer, 1959; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, 1994 Group Exhibitions Butler Trumbull County Branch Museum, Howland, Ohio, 1996. Saginaw Art Museum, Mich., 2003 (traveling). References Janis and Blesh 1962, p. 171, illus. p. 162 (fig. 218); Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 95, in studio, in progress);
Arnason 1982, illus. p. 128 (pl. 140, in studio, in progress); Sweetkind 1997, illus. p. 125. Comments The pasted papers in this collage include part of a label from a bottle of Ballantine Scotch whisky, and envelopes addressed to Motherwell from Great Britain and Cologne, Germany, both with June 1957 customs stamps. An early state of the work, signed and dated “Motherwell \ 57” at the upper right, and with a lighter ground, appears in a photograph of Motherwell’s studio taken during the winter of 1957–58 (see fig. 92 in volume 1). The work appears in its final state, with a new inscription dating it to 1958, in another studio photograph, taken shortly afterward (Juley photo no. 195).
c78
c78
Hein, Ma Vie?
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
1958 Oil and pasted papers on cardboard 21½ x 16⅞ in. (54.6 x 42.9 cm)
Group Exhibitions Alan Gallery, New York, 1958, cat. no. 10.
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Galerie Charles Lienhard, Zurich, December 1962, cat. no. 1182.
Verso (on backing board): “Hein, ma vie?” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1958 \ oil + collage
References Ashton 1959b, illus. p. 29, as Hein Ma Vie.
Artist’s Studio Number c58-1196
Comments This collage is unusual for its use of a three-dimensional support, a piece of perforated, one-inch-thick industrial cardboard that had been used as a packaging insert. The text written near the center is in Motherwell’s hand: “C’est gai, / Cette vie, / Hein, ma vie / ??” (It is joyous, / This life, / Eh, my life / ??). It comes from the eighth stanza of Jules Laforgue’s poem “Complainte de l’oubli des morts” (Complaint of the oblivion of the dead), which reads in its entirety “C’est gai, / Cette vie, / Hein, ma vie, / ô gué?” (The word “gué” is an untranslatable expression of gaiety at the end of the refrain of a song.)
Present Owner Private collection, New York Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Knoedler & Company, 2004; private collection, New York, 2004 Solo Exhibitions New Gallery, Bennington College, Vt., 1959 (not in catalogue). Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, color illus. n.p. Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 13. Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 7.
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c79
c79
Blue Collage 1958 Oil, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 24 x 19¾ in. (61 x 50.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 58 Artist’s Studio Number c58-331 Present Owner Collection of Brooke and Daniel Neidich
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, 1999. Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, May 2005, cat. no. 14. References Sidney Janis Gallery exh. cat. April 1961, illus. n.p. (in exhibition); Caws 1996b, p. 129. Comments This collage was made in Saint-Jeande-Luz, France, during the summer of 1958. At the center is a partially covered mailing label from Bowes & Bowes, booksellers in Cambridge, England, addressed to Motherwell in SaintJean-de-Luz.
c80
c80
The Sunlit Sea 1958 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 18 x 15 in. (45.7 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Verso: “the sunlit sea” \ oil and collage \ Robert Motherwell \ st-jeande-luz, \ france \ Summer 1958 Present Owner Private collection, Houston
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 35.
Provenance Gloria Ross, ca. 1958; unknown owner; private collection; Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1980; Knoedler & Company, 1981; private collection, 1983; Fayez Sarofim; private collection, Houston
Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 41, color illus. p. 47.
Group Exhibitions Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1980.
Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 20, color illus. p. 111.
Comments This collage was made in Saint-Jeande-Luz during the summer of 1958.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Brooke and Daniel Neidich, 2005
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The title contains multiple visual puns: it alludes to the vibrant yellow painted surface, and also to the elements of pasted paper, which refer to varied sources of light—labels from three brands of French candles, and packaging paper with an allover pattern of incandescent lightbulbs.
c81
c81
Marine Collage 1958/after 1972 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 18 x 15 in. (45.7 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 58 Verso: “Marine Collage” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1958 \ St-Jean-de-Luz \ France Artist’s Studio Number c58-2606 Present Owner Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Gift of the Dedalus Foundation, and museum purchase, the John Barton Payne Fund
c82
References Ravenal 2007, p. 190, color illus. p. 191.
c82
Comments This collage was begun in Saint-Jeande-Luz during the summer of 1958. An early version (Juley photo no. 178; j0004968), without the collage element at the lower center, was shown at the Sidney Janis Gallery in 1959 and at Galleria Odyssia, Rome, in 1962. That collage element, part of an envelope with the name and address of the French photographic agency Actualités Mondial Photo printed on it, was added sometime around or after 1972 (the five-digit postal code that is printed on the envelope was not used in France until 1972).
Alternative Title: An Artist’s Collage 1958 Pasted papers, ink, and graphite on board 18 x 14⅞ in. (45.7 x 37.8 cm)
The French Drawing Block
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Verso (on frame): “The French Drawing Block” 1958 Robert Motherwell, St-Jean-de-Luz, France Artist’s Studio Number c58-5088 Present Owner Yale University Art Gallery. Gift of Robert Motherwell
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1994
Provenance Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1963
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 33 (shown in early state).
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 34, as An Artist’s Collage.
Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 18 (shown in early state).
Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, color illus. n.p.
Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 1. Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 6, cover illus. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 7; Caracas, cat. no. 62; Bogotá, cat. no. 62; Mexico City, cat. no. 7. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 16, illus. p. 64. Group Exhibitions Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2002, cat. no. 32, illus. n.p. References Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin 1964, p. 51, illus. p. 41; Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 64; Patton 1973, p. 2; Caws 1996b, p. 134. Comments During his time in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Motherwell did a number of works on Lefranc papers and paperboards. The collage elements in this work include part of the cover of a Lefranc drawing
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65
c83
block with a printed text that once read in full: “décoration artistique.” A piece of the same drawing block cover is used in Collage (c83). Just under the fragments of the drawing block cover there is a seal from a bottle of Silver Top Dry Gin. The title under which this work was exhibited at the Sidney Janis Gallery in 1959, An Artist’s Collage, is inscribed on the verso of the work but not in Motherwell’s hand. It was first shown with its present title in 1961.
c83
Collage 1958 Oil and pasted papers on board 18⅛ x 15⅛ in. (46 x 38.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 58 Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. Myron and Bobbie Calhoun Provenance Private collection, ca. 1959; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 11, 2005, lot 133, illus.]; Myron and Bobbie Calhoun, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 40. Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 26. Galerie der Spiegel, Cologne, Germany, 1962, cat. no. [7]. Group Exhibitions Signa Gallery, East Hampton, N.Y., 1959.
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c84
References Sidney Janis Gallery exh. cat. April 1961, illus. n.p. (in exhibition). Comments This work was begun in Saint-Jean-deLuz during the summer of 1958 and photographed in that early state in the fall (Juley photo no. 177; j0004867). The collage element at the left center is from the same cover for a Lefranc drawing block that was used in The French Drawing Block (c82). Motherwell reworked this collage before it was exhibited at the Sidney Janis Gallery in March 1959.
c84
Black Collage 1958 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 18 x 15 in. (45.7 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: R Motherwell Present Owner The Baltimore Museum of Art. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Israel Rosen, Baltimore, bma 1972.64.1 Provenance Private collection, 1959; private collection, 1959; Dr. and Mrs. Israel Rosen, 1963; Baltimore Museum of Art, 1972 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 39. Baltimore Museum of Art, 2006. Group Exhibitions Signa Gallery, East Hampton, N.Y., 1959.
c85
References Sidney Janis Gallery exh. cat. April 1961, illus. n.p. (in exhibition). Comments This collage was created in Saint-Jeande-Luz during the summer of 1958.
c85
Handle with Care 1958 Oil and pasted papers on board 20 x 15 in. (50.8 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised (on collage element): RM Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lubin, Boston Provenance Martin Janis Gallery, 1962; private collection; Duncan MacGuigan, 1984; [Christie’s, New York, May 10, 2006, lot 114, illus.]; Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lubin, Boston, 2006 Comments The title of this collage is derived from a packing label that reads “handle \ with care \ glass,” pasted upside down in the upper half. The work also includes a U.S. Customs baggage inspection ticket and a label for Callard & Bowser’s Old English Treacle Brittle; in the latter label, Motherwell has
c86
painted out some of the text, but left the word Brittle, setting up a complex network of puns with the terms “handle with care,” “glass,” and “inspected baggage.”
c86
Collage Torn Out of Black 1958 Oil and pasted papers on paper 20 x 15 in. (50.8 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM Present Owner Private collection Provenance Sidney Janis Gallery, New York; William J. Casey, 1959; Everett Ellin Gallery, 1963; Harris B. Steinberg, New York; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, March 4, 1970, lot 68, illus.]; private collection, 1970 Group Exhibitions Baltimore Museum of Art, February 1959, cat. no. 3, illus. n.p. Baltimore Museum of Art, July 1959, as Torn Out of Black. Horace Mann School, Riverdale, N.Y., 1962, cat. no. 13.
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c87
c87
Memory of St.-Jean-de-Luz Alternative Title: Gauloises 1958 Oil, pasted papers, ink and graphite on paper 10½ x 8½ in. (26.7 x 21.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Verso: “memory of st-jean-de-luz” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1958 Present Owner Collection of Clifford Ross Provenance Arthur and Gloria Ross, 1959; Gloria Ross, ca. 1970; Clifford Ross, 1998 Solo Exhibitions New Gallery, Bennington College, Vt., 1959 (not in catalogue). Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 8, as Gauloises.
Comments The pasted papers in this collage include part of the label from a bottle of Bols Wolverton Dry Gin and a Gauloises Disque Bleu cigarette package.
c88
c88
Untitled 1958 Oil, pasted paper, and graphite on paper 14¼ x 11¼ in. (36.2 x 28.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Verso: Nov 1958 \ For Donald Peters \ from his friend \ Robert Motherwell Verso: Greetings—bon Santé—good cheer \ Bob Present Owner Grey Art Gallery & Study Center, New York University Art Collection. Anonymous gift Provenance Harriet and Donald Peters, 1958; Harriet Peters, 1960; Grey Art Gallery, New York University, 1964 Group Exhibitions Gould Student Center Gallery, New York University, 1968, cat. no. 19. Grey Art Gallery, New York University, 1976, illus. p. 67.
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Gallery Association of New York State, Hamilton, October 1988 (circulating), illus. p. 7. Grey Art Gallery, New York University, 2008 (traveling), color illus. p. 165. Comments This collage was most likely created in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. The “Nov 1958” date inscribed on the verso is probably the date that Motherwell dedicated the work to the collector Donald Peters.
c89
Greek Collage 1959 Oil, pasted papers, and graphite on paperboard 24 x 23 in. (61 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right (oriented vertically): R. Motherwell \ 1959
c89
Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 9. Galerie der Spiegel, Cologne, Germany, 1962, cat. no. [6].
Verso (oriented vertically): this collage is signed \ on the side, not the \ bottom Robert Motherwell
New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963.
Artist’s Studio Number c59-339
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 44; Amsterdam, cat. no. 39, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 39; Turin, cat. no. 39, illus. p. 94 (pl. 34/B).
Present Owner Pinakothek der Moderne. Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, inv. nr. 14755 Provenance Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, 1982 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 24. Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, color illus. n.p.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 14; Caracas, cat. no. 69; Bogotá, cat. no. 69; Mexico City, cat. no. 14. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 17, illus. p. 65. Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 39.
References Vogue 1965, illus. p. 141 (cat. no. 6, in exhibition); Arnason 1966b, p. 32; Arnason 1977b, p. 53, illus. p. 53 (pl. 28); Arnason 1982, p. 53, illus. p. 53 (pl. 46); Stabenow 1983, p. 82; Drudi 1984, illus. p. 105 (in studio), illus. p. 107 (in studio); Drudi 1988b, illus. p. 111 (in studio), illus. p. 113 (in studio); Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 44); Pleynet 1991, p. 13; Pleynet 1998, p. 88; Thierolf 2002, pp. 28, 278–83, color illus. p. 279 (cat. no. 23), color illus. p. 280. Comments Motherwell’s inscription on the verso of this work regarding the position of the signature indicates that an early state may have been oriented with what is now the right edge positioned at the top. This collage introduces a new motif in Motherwell’s collages of the period: the large piece of pasted white paper
is torn inward, up from the bottom edge, but the torn strip is not removed, so as to create four slightly overlapping strips that remain attached to the whole. This kind of internal tearing within a large piece of pasted paper will appear in several other collages from this period (see, for example, c90, c93, c100, c117, and c137). It would also influence the forms of other works (see c141, c142, c144–c146, and c148). To Motherwell, the tearing in this collage element was suggestive of a torso and Greek tunic: “Subtle reference to Greek Marble torso—or not so subtle!” (unpublished annotations to exhibition catalogue text for Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1972; see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography).
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c90
c90
Mail Figure 1959 Gouache and pasted papers on paper 28½ x 22½ in. (72.4 x 57.2 cm)
Group Exhibitions American Federation of Arts, New York, 1959 (circulating), cat. no. 27. Galerie Charles Lienhard, Zurich, December 1962, cat. no. 1184.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 59
Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1982, cat. no. 9.
Verso (on backing board): “Mail Figure” \ Robert Motherwell 1959 \ Falmouth, Mass.
Fenwick Library Gallery, George Mason University, Fairfax, Va., 1983.
Artist’s Studio Number d59-5099 Present Owner The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Provenance Marjorie Phillips, 1965; Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1966 Solo Exhibitions Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, illus. n.p.
c91
c91
Canadian Collage 1959 Oil and pasted papers on paper 22 x 18 in. (55.9 x 45.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised and inscribed: RM 59
Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1999, cat. no. 371, color illus. p. 589.
Verso not seen [“signed, titled and dated 1959 on the cardboard backing,” per Sotheby’s, 1992]
University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville, 2004.
Present Owner Unknown
References Pleynet 1975, p. 9.
Provenance Ulfert Wilke; Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, LLC, 1992; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 18, 1992, lot 97, illus. (not sold)]; unknown owner
Comments The pasted paper at the center of this collage is part of an envelope from Bowes & Bowes booksellers, Cambridge, England, postmarked July 13, 1959.
Solo Exhibitions Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, color illus. n.p.
Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 2.
Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 23.
Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 9.
Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 8.
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Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating). Group Exhibitions University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, 1975, cat. no. 373, illus. p. 67. Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York, 1991. Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, New York, 1992, cat. no. 23. Comments The central pasted element in this collage is a fragment of a Player’s cigarette package with a Canadian tobacco stamp attached to it. Motherwell traveled in Canada with Helen Frankenthaler during the latter part of August 1959.
c92
c92
Canadian Collage, with Sea Lion Sardines 1959 Paint and pasted papers on board 30 x 23 in. (76.2 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Verso (on backing board): “canadian collage, with ‘sea lion’ sardines” 1959 \ Robert Motherwell Verso (on label attached to the backing board): acrylic enamel \ rm 1959
Comments One of the pasted papers in this collage is a label from a package of Sea Lion sardines, a Canadian brand. We do not know exactly what medium Motherwell was referring to when he inscribed the words acrylic enamel on the verso; this medium is unknown to the conservation scientists we have consulted. Moreover, when the work was shown at the Sidney Janis Gallery in 1961, the medium was listed as “Oil and Collage.”
c93
c93
Sea Lion 1959 Oil, pasted paper, pasted cardboard, and graphite on paper 22⅜ x 28⅜ in. (56.8 x 72.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 59 Artist’s Studio Number c59-526 Present Owner Susan and John B. Hess
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Susan and John B. Hess, 2004
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. James Roemer, 1961; private collection, 1995
Solo Exhibitions Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 15, erroneously as Sea Lion No. 2.
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 26.
Group Exhibitions Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, 2005, color illus. p. 180.
Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, illus. n.p.
Comments The title of this work is taken from the torn corrugated cardboard box for Sea Lion brand sardines at the center
Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 27.
of the composition. A piece of paper with torn, overlapping edges that are similar to those in other works from this period is pasted on top of the cardboard (see c89 and c117). An early state of this work (Juley photo no. 118; j0004910) featured a fragment of a Craven “A” brand cigarette wrapper in the upper right of the torn white paper, which Motherwell subsequently removed.
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c94
c94
Sea Lion with Red Stripe 1959 Oil and pasted paper on board 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 59 Artist’s Studio Number c59-5091 Present Owner Bennington College Provenance Bennington College, Vt., 1960 Solo Exhibitions Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 12, illus. n.p. New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 18, illus. p. 66.
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Group Exhibitions Williams College Museum of Art, Willamstown, Mass., 1991. References Motherwell in Smith College Museum of Art exh. cat. 1963, n.p.; Arnason 1977b, p. 54; Arnason 1982, p. 54; Journal of the Print World 1991, illus. p. 28; Caws 1996b, p. 157. Comments The collage element near the center of this work is from a package of Sea Lion brand sardines. In the catalogue for his 1963 Smith College exhibition, Motherwell wrote of this work, “Painted in Canada. The label is from a Canadian sardine can. Only the ‘Sea’ shows in it. I tore off ‘Lion’: it didn’t fit. (Generally, in collages I only use things that happen to be in the studio. They represent familiarity and in a certain way domesticity)” (Motherwell in Smith College Museum of Art exh. cat. 1963, caption to plate 12).
c95
c95
Untitled 1959 Gouache, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 27⅞ x 21¾ in. (70.8 x 55.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 59 Artist’s Studio Number c59-527 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 16. Group Exhibitions Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, N.Y., 2002 (traveling), color illus. p. 38. References Bennett 2003, sec. F, p. 4. Comments The text on the piece of red paper at the lower center of this work is from
Book 9, Chapter 16 of Herodotus’s Histories. It reads: “Nothing in human life is more to be lamented than that a wise man should have so little influence.” Fragments of this same text appear in other collages (see also c96– c98). This particular printing of the Herodotus text was designed by Paul Rand and published as part of a Great Ideas of Western Man series issued by the Container Corporation of America. (A collage element with the text “Container Corporation of America” appears in another of the collages that contain this quote; see c96.) This work also has strong stylistic affinities with a contemporaneous large-scale painting, Untitled (p192).
c96
c97
c96
Untitled 1959 Gouache, pasted papers, and ink on paper mounted on board 14¼ x 11¼ in. (36.2 x 28.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 59 Present Owner Collection of Mr. Fred Birner Provenance Greenberg Gallery, Saint Louis; John C. Stoller & Co., Minneapolis, 1982; Mrs. Edmund Ruben; [Christie’s, New York, November 2, 1984, lot 149, illus.]; Marisa del Re Gallery, Inc., 1984; [Christie’s, New York, November 13, 1991, lot 126, illus.]; private collection, 1991; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 15, 2006, lot 168, illus.]; Fred Birner, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, 1992, color illus. p. 25.
Comments This collage includes two torn pieces of paper that contain the same printed text from Herodotus’s Histories that Motherwell used in other collages from this period (see c95, c97, and c98). The pasted element at the lower left of the composition contains the text “container corporation of america,” referring to the company that published the Herodotus text used by Motherwell in this and related collages.
c98
c97
c98
Human Life Is More . . .
Tricolor
1959 Ink and pasted paper on paper 11¼ x 14 in. (28.6 x 35.6 cm)
1959 Oil, pasted papers, and ink on paper 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 59
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 59
Artist’s Studio Number c59-343
Verso, original backing board removed (inscription on a fragment of the backing board held in the National Gallery of Art, Conservation Department): “tricolor” \ 1959 \ oil + collage
Present Owner Worcester Art Museum. Eliza S. Paine Fund and gift of the Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Worcester Art Museum, Mass., 1997 Comments The text on the torn yellow paper at the lower left of this collage is from Herodotus’s Histories; see the Comments for Untitled (c95).
Artist’s Studio Number c59-337 Present Owner National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. The Nancy Lee and Perry Bass Fund, 1999.55.5 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1999 Comments A black-and-white photograph of an early version of this work (Juley photo
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c99
no. 104; j0004896) shows torn fragments of the same Herodotus text that appears in c95–c97 pasted near the center; this area of the collage was subsequently painted over in ochre.
c100
c99
c100
c101
Sun and Sea
E-Z Cut
New York City Collage
1959 Oil and pasted papers on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Alternative Title: {Untitled (E-Z Cut)} 1959 Oil and pasted papers on board 30¼ x 22⅞ in. (76.8 x 58.1 cm)
1959 Oil, pasted papers, and crayon on paper mounted on paperboard 30¼ x 24⅛ in. (76.8 x 61.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 59
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 59
Artist’s Studio Number c59-529
Artist’s Studio Number c59-1012
Artist’s Studio Number c59-344
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection, New York
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, New York, 2005
Present Owner Denver Art Museum Collection. For a full list of donors, see the entry for p22.
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: Motherwell 1959
Solo Exhibitions Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 21. Group Exhibitions Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, 2005, References color illus. p. 179, as Sense titol (E-Z Sylvester 1962, illus. p. 97 (in studio). Cut) (Untitled [E-Z Cut]). Comments Comments The pieces of orange paper in this work were originally part of another 1959 col- The title of this collage refers to the wrapping for E-Z Cut brand stencil lage (Juley photo no. 227; j0005014), paper that is used in it. The H incised which was destroyed by the artist; fraginto the paint at the lower right probably ments of that work were incorporated refers to Helen Frankenthaler; a similar into this composition and White Collage inscription appears in another collage with Red Stripe (c112). made in 1959 (see c103). 74
collages
Provenance Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, 1982; Robert Motherwell, 1983; Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Denver Art Museum, 1994 Solo Exhibitions Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 20. Denver Art Museum, 1995, illus. n.p. References Stabenow 1983, p. 82, illus. p. 82; Drudi 1984, illus. p. 105 (in studio), illus.
c101
c102
p. 107 (in studio); Drudi 1988b, illus. p. 111 (in studio), illus. p. 113 (in studio); Tieken 2000, illus. n.p.; Thierolf 2002, illus. p. 331 (fig. 3). Comments Motherwell inscribed the following words in pencil on the palette paper placed near the center of this collage: “Kline \ Wed 5.30 \ 242 W 14.” The reference is to an appointment at Franz Kline’s New York studio. Motherwell gave this collage to the Pinakothek der Moderne in 1982, but reacquired it the following year in exchange for Vol de Nuit (c666).
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c102
{ Title unknown} 1959 Pasted papers on paperboard (?) Dimensions unknown Inscriptions Recto, upper right [partially obscured by frame]: RM 5[illegible] Present Owner Unknown Provenance The artist Comments The pasted elements in this collage include a small fragment of a printed label at the center of the composition, which reads “S. S. Pierce Co.” This label is identifiable as part of the packing for La Sanitas tissue paper, made by the S. S. Pierce Co. of Boston, which Motherwell used in several other 1959 collages that were later destroyed (Juley photo nos. 103 and 227; j0004895 and j0005014).
c103
This collage is known only from a black-and-white photograph (Juley photo no. 121; j0004913). We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
c103
{ Title unknown} 1959 Pasted papers on paperboard (?) Dimensions unknown Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 1959 Present Owner Unknown Provenance The artist Comments The inscription “H for love” written in Motherwell’s hand along the bottom center of this work refers to Helen Frankenthaler. A similar inscription appears in another 1959 collage (see c100). This work is known only through a black-and-white photograph (Juley photo no. 124; j0004916). We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
c104
c104
N.R.F. Collage No. 1 Alternative Title: N.R.F. Collage No. 2 1959–60 Oil and pasted paper on board 28⅜ x 22⅜ in. (72.1 x 56.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: R. Motherwell 59 Artist’s Studio Number c59-5092 Present Owner Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Purchase, with funds from the Friends of the Whitney Museum of American Art Provenance Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1961
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 15, illus. n.p.; illus. n.p. (in studio, in progress), as N.R.F. Collage, No. 2.
Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 23, illus. p. 103.
Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 121, illus. n.p.
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, illus. n.p.
References Rosenberg 1961, illus. p. 22 (in exhibition); Schiff 1961, illus. p. 63; Seldis 1962b, sec. A, p. 24; Museum of Modern Art, Robert Motherwell, exh. cat. September 1965, cover illus. (in studio, in progress); Vogue 1965, illus. p. 141 (cat. no. 6, in exhibition); Arnason 1966b, p. 32; Galerie im Erker exh. cat. 1971, illus. p. 11 (in studio, in progress); O’Hara 1975, p. 65; Schmidt 1976, illus. p. 77 (in studio, in progress); Arnason 1977b, pp. 53, 54, illus. n.p. (pls. 119, in studio, in progress, 120); Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Arnason 1982, pp. 53, 54, illus. pp. 138 (pl. 156, in studio, in progress), 139 (pl. 157); Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 139; Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, exh. cat. 1989, illus. p. 115
Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, 1961, cat. no. 28.
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 34, color illus. p. 77.
Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 41, illus. n.p.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 21.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 45, color illus. p. 64; Amsterdam, cat. no. 40, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 40; Turin, cat. no. 40, color illus. p. 93 (pl. 33).
Group Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1962, illus. n.p.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 19, illus. p. 67. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 16, color illus. n.p.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, January 1965 (circulating), New York, cat. no. 40. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1974. Miami-Dade Community College, Fla., 1976, illus. p. 15 (sideways).
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(cat. no. 74, pl. 102); Pleynet 1989b, p. 25, color illus. p. 104; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 47); Kramer 1991d, p. 33, illus. p. 33; Caws 1996b, illus. p. 132; Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 19 (pl. 13); Caws 2003, illus. p. 56 (ill. 40); Engberg and Banach 2003, p. 46, illus. p. 47 (fig. 23). Comments This work is one of three “N.R.F.” collages Motherwell composed during the spring of 1960 in which he used the wrapping paper from a mailed copy of the French periodical La Nouvelle Revue française (N.R.F.), published by Gallimard in Paris. The paper was given to him by his friend, the writer B. H. Friedman, to whom one of the collages is dedicated. Postmarks on the paper indicate that it was mailed from Paris on March 12, 1960, and arrived in New York on March 16. An early state of this collage appears in a studio photograph taken after mid-March 1960 (see fig. 101 in volume 1), where it is oriented as a vertical work; but it is signed “RM 60” on what is now the lower left side, oriented in a direction that indicates that it was originally conceived as a horizontal work. (Shortly afterward, the collage was also photographed alone as a horizontal work; Juley photo no. 271; j0005055.) The early signature was later painted over in black when the work was revised. The 1959 date that is incised into what is now its upper left corner refers to when Motherwell started the work (before he had the N.R.F. paper), not when he completed it. The numbering of the first two N.R.F. collages (see also c105) was originally reversed. This work, now number 1 in the series, was originally designated as number 2 when it was first exhibited at the Sidney Janis Gallery in April 1961. The present numbering of the works was established in July 1961, in an effort to align the numbers with the 1959 and 1960 dates inscribed on them (per correspondence between Motherwell and the Whitney Museum of American Art, Dedalus Foundation Archives). In fact both collages were created contemporaneously, although number 2 was completed first, as studio photographs attest, and as the original numbering sequence indicated. In a questionnaire for the Whitney Museum of American Art, dated April 13, 1961, Motherwell wrote that 78
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Friedman had given him the N.R.F. paper because he knew of his “admiration for Gallimard, publisher of Proust, Gide, Valéry, Breton, Michaux, Paulhan, Malraux, Camus et. al., men who have deeply affected me at one time or another (along with many other items of the World’s literature). The ‘N.R.F. Collage No. 1’ [now No. 2], a companion work, is subtitled ‘(For B. H. Friedman).’ . . . ‘No. 2’ [now No. 1] has plastic affinities with my ‘Spanish Elegies,’ but is a further development. The somber quality is characteristic of my work made in New York; most of my ‘lighter’ work was made after trips to, or in Mexico + Europe, or in the summertime” (see “Writings by the Artist,” in Bibliography). Although Motherwell notes that the subtitle of c105 was “For B. H. Friedman,” that subtitle never was officially given to it. In 1973, Motherwell used a remaining piece of the same wrapping paper to create N.R.F. Collage No. 4 (c384).
c105
N.R.F. Collage No. 2 Alternative Title: N.R.F. Collage No. 1 1960 Oil and pasted papers on paper 28¼ x 21½ in. (71.8 x 54.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 60 Artist’s Studio Number c60-5093 Present Owner Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Purchase, with funds from the Friends of the Whitney Museum of American Art Provenance Whitney Museum of American Art, 1961 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 20, illus. n.p. (in studio, in progress), as N.R.F. Collage, No. 1. Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, 1961, cat. no. 32, illus. n.p. Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 45. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 51, color illus. p. 64; Amsterdam, cat. no. 46, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 46; Turin, cat. no. 46, color illus. p. 95 (pl. 35). Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 20, illus. p. 68. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 17, color illus. n.p. Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 24, color illus. p. 63, illus. p. 103. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, cover color illus., color illus. n.p. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 38, color illus. p. 44. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 35. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1985 (traveling), cat. no. 73. Group Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1962, illus. n.p.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, January 1965 (circulating), New York, cat. no. 41. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1974. Miami-Dade Community College, Fla., 1976. Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 122, illus. n.p. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, March 1988, cat. no. 93. Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla., 1989 (traveling). References Pavia and Sandler 1960, illus. p. 2, as N.R.F. Collage #1; New York Times 1961, illus. sec. 2, p. 13; Rosenberg 1961, illus. p. 22 (in exhibition); Charmet 1965, p. 168; Museum of Modern Art, Robert Motherwell, exh. cat. September 1965, cover illus. (in studio, in progress); Newsweek 1965, illus. p. 98; Vogue 1965, illus. p. 141 (cat. no. 6, in exhibition); Arnason 1966b, p. 32; Robertson 1966a, illus. p. 89; Galerie im Erker exh. cat. 1971, illus. p. 11 (in studio, in progress); Apollo 1972, illus. p. 450 (fig. 6); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Bulletin 1972, p. 89; Kramer 1974b, illus. p. 27, as N.R.F. Collage Number 1; Acha 1975, illus. p. 81; O’Hara 1975, p. 65; Pleynet 1975, illus. p. 6; Meister 1976b, illus.; Schmidt 1976, illus. p. 77 (in studio, in progress); Arnason 1977b, p. 53, illus. n.p. (pls. 119, in studio, in progress, 121); Lit Tout 1977, illus.; Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Arnason 1982, pp. 11, 53, illus. p. 138 (pl. 156, in studio), color illus. p. 140 (pl. 158); Motherwell in Arnason 1982, pp. 139, 140; Ashton 1983, p. 43, color illus. p. 44; Pleynet 1989b, p. 25, color illus. p. 105; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 48); Seidel 1991, illus. p. 14; Van Siclen 1991, color illus. sec. D, p. 1; Martin et al. 1992, illus. p. 569 (pl. 605); Terenzio 1992b, color illus. n.p.; Kaiser 1995, p. 120, illus. n.p.; Caws 1996b, p. 120, illus. p. 122, color illus. n.p.; Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 18 (pl. 12); Gilbert 1998, p. 289, illus. p. 552 (fig. 37); Pleynet 1998, illus. p. 86; Venn and Weinberg 1998, color illus. p. 140; Thierolf 2002, p. 330, illus. p. 330 (fig. 1); Caws 2003, illus. p. 169 (ill. 120); Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 150.
c105
Comments Although in a 1961 Whitney Museum questionnaire Motherwell noted that the subtitle of this collage was “For B. H. Friedman,” it was never officially given that subtitle. See the Comments for N.R.F. Collage No. 1 (c104).
c106
N.R.F. Collage No. 3 1960 Oil and pasted papers on board 29 x 22½ in. (73.7 x 57.2 cm)
Solo Exhibitions Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, color illus. n.p. Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 8, color illus. n.p.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 60
Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 16.
Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 60
Group Exhibitions Galerie Charles Lienhard, Zurich, December 1962, cat. no. 1183.
Verso (on frame): “N.R.F. Collage No. 3” 1960 Robert Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number c60-5102 Present Owner Yale University Art Gallery. Gift of Robert Motherwell Provenance Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1963
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2002, cat. no. 33. References Sidney Janis Gallery exh. cat. April 1961, illus. n.p. (in studio, in progress); Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin 1964, p. 50, illus. p. 40; Museum of Modern Art, Robert Motherwell, exh. cat.
September 1965, cover illus. (in studio, in progress); Arnason 1966b, p. 37, illus. p. 34; Galerie im Erker exh. cat. 1971, illus. p. 11 (in studio, in progress); Schmidt 1976, illus. p. 77 (in studio, in progress); Arnason 1977b, pp. 53–54, illus. n.p. (pl. 119, in studio, in progress); Arnason 1982, pp. 53–54, illus. p. 138 (pl. 156, in studio, in progress). Comments An early state of this collage, without the ultramarine blue paint in the upper part of the composition, is visible in a studio photograph taken sometime after mid-March 1960 (see fig. 101 in volume 1); the work in this early state was also photographed individually (Juley photo no. 276; j0005060). The blue forms near the top of the work
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c106
c107
were added shortly afterward (Juley photo no. 318; j0005103). Regarding the N.R.F. collage series in general, see the Comments for c104.
c107
Raging Collage 1960 Oil and pasted paper on paper mounted on board 28¾ x 22½ in. (73 x 57.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM
c108
Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 11.
c108
Group Exhibitions Galerie Charles Lienhard, Zurich, December 1962, cat. no. 1180.
1960 Oil and pasted paper on paperboard 30 x 23 in. (76.2 x 58.4 cm)
References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 125, in studio).
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 1960
Reversible Collage
Recto, upper right, incised: 1960
Recto, lower left (upside down): RM 60
Recto, upper right, incised [painted over]: [RM 60]
Artist’s Studio Number c60-347
Verso (on bottom horizontal strainer): “raging collage” 1960/Robert Motherwell
Present Owner Collection of the Art Fund, Inc., at the Birmingham Museum of Art, with funds provided by the Merton Brown Estate and the Thelma Brown Trust
Artist’s Studio Number c60-346 Present Owner Private collection, Minneapolis Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Minneapolis, 2001 Solo Exhibitions Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, color illus. n.p.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Birmingham Museum of Art, Ala., 2001 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 18. Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, illus. n.p.
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c109
Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 6, illus. n.p. Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 11. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 22, illus. p. 70. Galería Joan Prats, Barcelona, 1986 (traveling), Barcelona, cat. no. 36, color illus. n.p.; Palma de Mallorca, cat. no. 36, color illus. n.p.; Madrid, cat. no. 36, color illus. n.p. (reversed). Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, 1999 (reversed). Group Exhibitions Galerie Charles Lienhard, Zurich, December 1962, cat. no. 1179. References Janis and Blesh 1962, illus. p. 164 (fig. 220, in progress); Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 70; Patton 1973, p. 2; Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 125, in studio, reversed); Miralles 1986, illus. p. 41 (reversed); Caws 1996b, p. 129.
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Comments Motherwell noted that this work was “called Reversible Collage because accidentally signed two different ways, and ‘works’ equally well either way” (Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 70). It was first shown as illustrated here and sometimes shown or reproduced reversed (rotated 180 degrees from our reproduction); see Exhibitions and References, above.
c110
c109
Sea Horse Collage 1960 Oil and pasted papers on paper 30 x 23 in. (76.2 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: R Motherwell 1960 Verso (on backing board): “sea horse collage” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1960 Present Owner Eight Modern, Santa Fe Provenance Klaus Gebhardt, Munich, ca. 1961; Peter Lempelius, Munich, 1976; private collection, 1988; [Sotheby’s, New York, October 4, 1990, lot 61, illus. (not sold)]; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 15, 2006, lot 133, illus.]; Eight Modern, Santa Fe, N.Mex., 2006 Solo Exhibitions Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, illus. n.p.
Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 5, illus. n.p. References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 125, in studio).
c111
c110
Collage with Ultramarine Blue 1960–61 Oil and pasted papers on paper 28⅞ x 22⅞ in. (73.3 x 58.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 60 Present Owner The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Marion Joseph Lebworth Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Marion Joseph Lebworth, 1961; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1981 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 12, illus. n.p. (in early state), illus. n.p. (in studio, in early state); shown in final state. Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, January 1965 (circulating), New York, cat. no. 42; shown in U.S. venues only.
References Museum of Modern Art, Robert Motherwell, exh. cat. September 1965, cover illus. (in studio, in progress); Galerie im Erker exh. cat. 1971, illus. p. 11 (in studio); Schmidt 1976, illus. p. 77 (in studio); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 138 (pl. 156, in studio, in early state). Comments An early state of this collage, without the ultramarine blue paint, is visible in a studio photograph taken sometime after mid-March 1960 (see fig. 101 in volume 1). It was also photographed individually in this early state (Juley photo no. 275; j0005059). Motherwell added the blue paint just prior to his solo exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery in April 1961.
c112
c111
c112
Three Birds
White Collage with Red Stripe
Ca. 1960 Oil and pasted paper on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Alternative Title: White Collage with Red Stripes 1960 Oil, pasted papers, and crayon on paperboard 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Present Owner Unknown (said to have been destroyed, before 1972)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell 1960
Provenance The artist
Verso (on strainer): “white collage with red stripe”
References Pavia and Sandler 1960, illus. p. 21; Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 125, in studio).
Verso (on strainer): 1960 R Motherwell
Comments A photograph of this work in Motherwell’s studio records (Juley photo no. 264; j0005048) is inscribed “Destroyed” on the verso. Our reproduction comes from that early blackand-white photograph. We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Artist’s Studio Number c60-349 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, illus. n.p. Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 22, illus. n.p.
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c113
Galerie der Spiegel, Cologne, Germany, 1962. Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 12, as White Collage with Red Stripes. Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2003, cat. no. 16, as White Collage with Red Stripes. Annandale Galleries, Sydney, Australia, 2005, as White Collage with Red Stripes. Comments This work incorporates sections of two destroyed 1959 collages (Juley photo nos. 103 and 227; j0004895 and j0005014). A fragment of the former also appears in White Collage with Black Stripe (c113), and a fragment of the latter appears in Sun and Sea (c99). Beginning with Motherwell’s 1965 exhibition at the Phillips Collection, this work was often shown with the title White Collage with Red Stripes.
c113
White Collage with Black Stripe 1960 Oil, pasted papers, and crayon on paperboard 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center, incised: Motherwell 1960 Present Owner High Museum of Art, Atlanta. Anonymous gift in memory of Robert Langdon Foreman Provenance J. Daniel Weitzman, New York, 1961; A. J. Pyrch, 1977; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 1979 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 19. Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 28, cover illus. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965
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c114
(traveling), New York, cat. no. 54, illus. p. 22; Amsterdam, cat. no. 49, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 49; Turin, cat. no. 49, p. 98 (pl. 38). References Janis and Blesh 1962, illus. p. 164 (fig. 221); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 54 (pl. 47); Plottel 1983, illus. p. 136 (fig. 28, upside down). Comments This work incorporates a section of a destroyed 1959 collage (Juley photo no. 103; j0004895), a fragment of which also appears in White Collage with Red Stripe (c112).
c114
A Rose for Winter 1960–61 Oil and pasted papers on paper 28⅝ x 22⅝ in. (72.7 x 57.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 60 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Paul Kantor, 1971; Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1977; Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York, 1978; private collection, 1979; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, color illus. n.p. Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 7, illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1978. Comments Motherwell set the composition of this collage in 1960, and it remained in that
c115
early state (without the yellow paint on the right side) as late as the spring of 1961, when it was documented in color photographs of his studio. He subsequently completed the work with the addition of the yellow sometime before it was sent to Paris for his exhibition at the Galerie Heinz Berggruen in October 1961. The title of this collage refers to A Rose for Winter (1955), a book by the British poet and novelist Laurie Lee (1914–1997), who also published autobiographical accounts of his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. In A Rose for Winter, Lee recounts his travels in Andalusia during 1951–52. Motherwell owned a copy of the 1960 Hogarth Press edition of this book.
c115
Blue Figure 1960 Oil and pasted papers on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R. Motherwell \ 60 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf, ca. 1961; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 16, illus. n.p. Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, color illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Esther Stuttman Gallery, New York, November 1960. Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf, 1961. References Ruhrberg 1996, illus. n.p.
c116
Comments Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1961 Galerie Heinz Berggruen exhibition catalogue.
c116
Midday Sun Alternative Title: In White and Orange 1960/ca. 1985 Oil, acrylic, and pasted papers on paper 28¾ x 22¾ in. (73 x 57.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 60 Artist’s Studio Number c60-348 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 17 (shown in early state), as In White and Orange. Galerie der Spiegel, Cologne, Germany, 1962, cat. no. [2] (shown in early state). Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 40. Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, May 2005, cat. no. 20.
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c117
Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., June 1986. New York Studio School, 2003, cat. no. 31. References Sidney Janis Gallery exh. cat. April 1961, illus. n.p. (in studio, in progress); Museum of Modern Art, Robert Motherwell, exh. cat. September 1965, cover illus. (in studio, in progress); Galerie im Erker exh. cat. 1971, illus. p. 11 (in studio, in progress); Schmidt 1976, illus. p. 77 (in studio, in progress); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 138 (pl. 156, in studio, in progress). Comments The basic composition of this collage was set in 1960 (the form at the center was torn from a 1959 collage that was subsequently destroyed; Juley photo no. 273; j0005057). An early version of this work was exhibited as In White and Orange in 1962. That early state, or perhaps a slightly reworked version of it, was photographed in 1972 (studio inventory photo no. ph 12-2); in it, the
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collage element is white, and a single area of cadmium orange or yellow abuts the collage element along the left diagonal. Motherwell extended the yellow painted area to the right of the collage element and retitled the work Midday Sun sometime before April 1985, when it was sent to Knoedler & Company to be photographed. The work was returned to Motherwell that May, after which he extended the yellow to the top of the paper. This collage was first shown in its present form at the Long Point Gallery in 1986.
c118
c117
Little Greek Collage 1960 Oil, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22½ x 17½ in. (57.2 x 44.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 60 Verso (on backing board): “little greek collage” \ 1960 \ oil + collage \ Robert Motherwell \ for Hans Kleinschmidt \ 1965 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Hans Kleinschmidt, 1965; [Kornfeld und Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland, June 15, 1972, lot 821]; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 11, 1986, lot 127, illus.]; private collection, 1986; [Christie’s, New York, May 8, 1996, lot 265, illus. (not sold)]; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 18, 2000, lot 413, illus. (not sold)]; private collection, 2008
Solo Exhibitions Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, illus. n.p. Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 10, illus. n.p. Galerie der Spiegel, Cologne, Germany, 1962, cat. no. [8]. Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 13. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 15; Caracas, cat. no. 70; Bogotá, cat. no. 70; Mexico City, cat. no. 15. References Vallier 1967, p. 304, illus. p. 306 (pl. 207, as Little Greek); Vallier 1970, illus. p. 279 (pl. 205, as Little Greek); Pleynet 1975, p. 9. Comments This collage resembles Greek Collage (c89) in its palette and its use of paper torn vertically to produce overlapping but attached strips. The dedication on the verso is to Hans Kleinschmidt, Motherwell’s psychoanalyst.
c119
c118
c119
Untitled
In Brown and White
1960 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 39½ x 26 in. (100.3 x 66 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM 60 Artist’s Studio Number c60-3798 Present Owner Private collection, New York Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, New York, 2004
1960 Oil, pasted papers, ink, and graphite on paperboard 40 x 26 in. (101.6 x 66 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM 60 Artist’s Studio Number c60-5114 Present Owner Ellen Iseman Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Joseph S. Iseman, ca. 1960; Marjorie F. Iseman; Ellen Iseman, 2003
c120
n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 45; Turin, cat. no. 45, illus. p. 94 (pl. 34/A).
c120
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 16, illus. n.p.; Caracas, cat. no. 71; Bogotá, cat. no. 71; Mexico City, cat. no. 16, illus. p. 25.
1960 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 39½ x 26 in. (100.3 x 66 cm)
References Sylvester 1962, illus. p. 97 (in studio); Tillim 1965, illus. p. 36; Arnason 1966b, p. 32. Comments This collage was used in 1974 as the basis for a tapestry designed by Gloria F. Ross Tapestries, woven in France by Pinton S.A.
Untitled
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM Artist’s Studio Number c60-3799 Present Owner Private collection, southern California Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, southern California, 2002
Solo Exhibitions Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, cover color illus. Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 19. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 50, illus. p. 39; Amsterdam, cat. no. 45, illus.
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c121
c121
Summertime in Italy No. 1 1960 Oil and pasted papers on paper 42 x 27 in. (106.7 x 68.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 1960 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf, ca. 1961; private collection, Münster, before 1976; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, color illus. n.p., as Summer in Italy, No. 1.
Comments This collage is the first numbered work in the Summertime in Italy series. It was done in Alassio, on the Ligurian coast, during the summer of 1960. Motherwell also did a number of paintings and paintings on paper of this theme, incorporating forms abstracted from the coastal landscape (see Summertime in Italy No. 8, p236; and Summertime in Italy No. 3, w116). Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1961 Galerie Heinz Berggruen exhibition catalogue.
c122
c122
Summertime in Italy No. 3 1960 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 40½ x 26¾ in. (102.9 x 67.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right [partially obscured by framing mat]: R Motherwell 6[0] Artist’s Studio Number c60-5101 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf, ca. 1961; private collection, ca. 1974; unknown owner
Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 26, illus. p. 103.
Solo Exhibitions Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, color illus. n.p., as Summer in Italy, No. 3.
Group Exhibitions Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf, 1961.
Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 27, illus. p. 103.
References Jappe 1976, illus. p. 40; Ruhrberg 1996, illus. p. 187 (installation view), illus. n.p. (installation view).
Group Exhibitions Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf, 1961.
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Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1974 (traveling), cat. no. 250, illus. p. 116.
References Catoir 1976b, illus. p. 15; Ruhrberg 1996, illus. p. 187 (installation view), illus. n.p. (installation view). Comments The triangle-dominated composition of this work is more typical of the Summertime in Italy series than is number 1 (c121). It also more directly evokes the view of the sea and mountains, and the colors of the beach and beach umbrellas, which Motherwell could see from his rented villa in Alassio. (Color slides taken in Alassio by Motherwell and Frankenthaler reveal how specifically the paintings and collages he did there refer to his surroundings; see figs. 98–99 in volume 1.) There is no number 2 in the Summertime in Italy series, but two works are given the number 3: this one and a 1960 painting on paper (w116). Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1961 Galerie Heinz Berggruen exhibition catalogue.
c124
The French Line 1960 Oil, pasted papers, and graphite on board 29½ x 22½ in. (74.9 x 57.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center, incised: R Motherwell Verso (on label): éze - sur - plage, france Verso (on backing board): on 100% rag paper \ Robert Motherwell 1960 \ “the french line”* Verso (on backing board): *Referring to: \ 1. Painting (French) \ 2. Diets (amis fidèles de votre ligne) \ 3. Boats (trans Atlantic) \ 4. Côte d’Azure (coast-line) Verso (on label): RM 60 Artist’s Studio Number c60-5094 Present Owner Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection. Promised gift of the Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum
c123
c123
Summertime in Italy No. 4 1960 Oil and pasted paper on paperboard mounted on canvas 41 x 26¾ in. (104.1 x 67.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM 60 Artist’s Studio Number c60-539 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 13, illus. n.p.
Comments This collage was created in Alassio, Italy.
Provenance Professor Sam Hunter, ca. 1960; Virginia and Bagley Wright Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 14, illus. n.p. Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, color illus. n.p. Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 4. Galerie der Spiegel, Cologne, Germany, 1962. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 19, illus. n.p. New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963. Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 15.
Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2002.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 49, illus. p. 56; Amsterdam, cat. no. 44, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 44; Turin, cat. no. 44, illus. p. 118 (pl. 58).
Group Exhibitions Cape Museum of Fine Arts, Dennis, Mass., 1998.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 21, color illus. p. 31 (pl. 8), illus. p. 69.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating).
Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 25, illus. p. 103. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 37, color illus. p. 80; not shown in Los Angeles. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 45. Group Exhibitions Seattle Fine Arts Pavilion, 1962, cat. no. 44, illus. p. 38. Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass., 1964, cat. no. 85. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 144. Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1977, illus. p. 655 (detail). Museum of Art, Washington State University, Pullman, 2006, color illus. p. 6 (detail), color illus. p. 45. References Porter 1961, p. 379; Sandler 1961a, illus. p. 44; Moritz 1962, p. 310; Motherwell in Smith College Museum of Art exh. cat. 1963, n.p.; Barker 1965, sec. B, p. 5; Vogue 1965, illus. p. 141 (cat. no. 6, in exhibition); Arnason 1966b, p. 32, color illus. p. 33; Andreae 1969, p. 8; Freed 1972a, p. 8, illus. p. 8; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Calendar 1972, cover illus.; Patton 1973, p. 2; Hobbs 1975b, p. 84; Arnason 1976, illus. p. 13; Arnason 1977b, pp. 53, 73, color illus. p. 52 (pl. 27); Arnason 1982, pp. 53, 73, color illus. p. 52 (pl. 45); Bonet 1983, p. 135, illus. p. 133; Hasiotis 1983, color illus. n.p. (fig. 4); Hughes 1983, p. 70, color illus. p. 68; Bannon 1984a, color illus. p. 37; Collins 1984, pp. 96–97, illus. p. 97 (fig. 5); Gelles 1984, p. 38, illus. p. 38; McClintic 1984, p. 41, color illus. p. 40; Danto 1985, p. 59; Kimball 1985, p. 33; Mattison 1985b, p. 142; Danto 1987, p. 50; Mattison 1987, p. 116; Mattison 1988, p. 171; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 46); Polcari 1991, p. 311, illus. p. 311 (fig. 249); Waldman 1992, p. 221, color illus. p. 220 (pl. 289); Caws 1996b, pp. 149, 153; RàfolsCasamada 1996, p. 20; Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 18 (pl. 11); Cateforis 2000– 2001, p. 8; Thierolf 2002, illus. p. 299 (fig. 5); Caws 2003, p. 130. Comments The pasted papers in this work were originally part of a larger collage composition created in Eze-Sur-Plage, France, during the summer of 1960, which contained significant areas of painted gestural forms
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(Juley photo no. 222; j0005010). After Motherwell returned to New York he tore the label from Labouchede brand gressins out of that earlier composition and made it the central element in this work. As noted in the verso inscription, Motherwell meant the title as a multiple pun, which he also explained in his 1963 Smith College exhibition catalogue: “The French advertisement is from a box of diet-crackers (the French always talk about one’s line in relation to weight); the line of the Riviera coast is visible; it is one of the most ‘French’ pictures I have ever painted (and in this sense follows the ‘French Line’ in painting); I traveled on the French Line to Europe to paint it. . . . But all that about the ‘title’ is ‘literature.’ The work has to stand or fall as painting” (Motherwell in Smith College Museum of Art exh. cat. 1963, caption to plate 19).
c125
Pyrénéen Collage Alternative Title: Pyrenean Collage 1958–61 Oil, pasted paper, and charcoal on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: Motherwell Verso (on backing board) [partially obscured by label]: [“pyr]énéen \ collage” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1961 Verso (on backing board): not for sale \ (collection helen frankenthaler) Artist’s Studio Number c59-5100 Present Owner Helen Frankenthaler
Provenance Helen Frankenthaler, 1961 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 16, illus. n.p.
Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 29, illus. p. 103. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, illus. n.p.
New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963.
Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, October 1961 (traveling), illus. p. 97.
Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 10, as Pyreneen.
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-deVence, France, 1967, cat. no. 169.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 61, illus. p. 31; Amsterdam, cat. no. 54, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 54; Turin, cat. no. 54, p. 103 (pl. 43).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 145.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 17; Caracas, cat. no. 72; Bogotá, cat. no. 72; Mexico City, cat. no. 17.
Drawing Center, New York, 1999, color illus. p. 48. References Gaul 1963, illus. p. 5; Arts Yearbook 1964, color illus. p. 62; Arnason 1966b, p. 37, as Pyrenean Collage; Baro 1966b, color illus. p. 39; Arnason 1977b, pp. 53–54, illus. n.p. (pls. 122, in early collag e s
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state, 123, as Pyrenean Collage, 125, in studio, in early state); Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Arnason 1982, pp. 53–54, illus. p. 141 (pls. 159, in early state, 160), referred to in text and in illus. as Pyrenean Collage; Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 141; Fisher 1992, p. 158, as Pyrenean Collage. Comments This collage was begun in Saint-Jeande-Luz during the summer of 1958 and subsequently reworked in New York. Its earliest documented state is in a photograph taken in Motherwell’s New York studio during the spring of 1960, where it is surrounded by stylistically similar works, all created during the winter months of 1959–60 (Juley photo no. 260; j0005044); around the same time, the collage was also photographed individually (Juley photo no. 265; j0005049). It is clear that in this 1960 92
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state many of the original 1958 collage elements were altered or no longer present, since glue and delaminated paper are visible under the painted areas. In 1961 Motherwell cut away the upper section of the collage, following the line of the black forms, pasted the remaining portion of the collage onto a painted white ground with a charcoal line, and titled the work Pyrénéen Collage. (The completion in New York is reinforced by a parking stub from Yankee Stadium at the upper right, which has been partially covered with black paint.) The brown paper at the center of the collage originally contained a printed label reading “produce of france,” but the ink has now faded entirely. Motherwell mentioned this area in 1977, when he described the genesis of the collage in relation to the Pyrenees: “As a person attached to the sea, not
to mountains, I was affected by those mysterious mountains more than I expected. The wine paper wrapper ‘Produce of France’ refers not only to the collage having been made in France, but also to both my indebtedness to modernist tradition and, with irony to my growing irritation at being labeled at home as a ‘French’ painter, a mistake that the French themselves have never made naturally” (Motherwell in Arnason 1977b).
c126
Sky and Pelikan 1961 Oil and pasted paper on paperboard 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 61 Artist’s Studio Number c61-5095 Present Owner Yale University Art Gallery. Gift of Robert Motherwell Provenance Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1963 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 15, illus. n.p.
c127
New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963. Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 17, as Sky and Pelican. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 23, illus. p. 71. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1985 (traveling), cat. no. 74. Group Exhibitions Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Fla., 1974, cat. no. 51. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, September 1976 (traveling), illus. p. 353 (fig. 310). Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2002, cat. no. 34, color illus. p. 16 (pl. 8), illus. p. 22 (detail).
References Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin 1964, p. 50; Arnason 1966b, p. 37; Stebbins 1976, p. 350, illus. p. 353 (fig. 310); Arnason 1977b, p. 64, illus. p. 64 (pl. 39), referred to in text and in illus. as Sky and Pelican; Arnason 1982, p. 64, illus. p. 64 (pl. 56); Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 57). Comments The title of this work alludes to the label from a bottle of Pelikan drawing ink at the upper left. This collage anticipates the Beside the Sea works of the following year.
c127
Fusains Superieurs 1961 Oil and pasted paper on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM Present Owner Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch Collection, Berlin
BA-CA Kunstforum, Vienna, 2006, cat. no. 93, color illus. p. 169. Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, 2009. Comments This work takes its title from the pasted paper element at the upper left, which is from a box of J. M. Paillard vine charcoal sticks that reads “50 fusains superieurs” (50 Superior Charcoal Sticks).
Provenance Unknown owner, ca. 1962; [Christie’s, New York, May 13, 1999, lot 391, illus.]; Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch, Berlin, 1999 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 11, illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, 2005. collag e s
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c128
c129
The Mediterranean Sky
In White and Yellow Ochre
1961 Oil and pasted paper on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1961 Oil, tempera, pasted papers, ink, and charcoal on paper 40⅞ x 27 in. (103.8 x 68.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 61 Present Owner The Art Institute of Chicago. Estate of Solomon B. Smith, 1986.1605 Provenance Solomon B. Smith, ca. 1963; Art Institute of Chicago, 1986 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 12, illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Art Institute of Chicago, 1967. References Baur 1967, illus. sec. Magazine, p. 42. Comments The sole collage element in this work is a small piece of torn brown paper at the upper center that has a staple in it, but which is pasted rather than stapled to the support. 94
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Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R Motherwell 61 Verso not seen [“lower center, in black marker: Robert Motherwell \ ‘In White + Yellow Ochre’ \ 1961 \ 27 x 41" \ oil + collage,” per Phillips Collection records]
c129
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 24, color illus. p. 34 (pl. 9), illus. p. 72. Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 30, illus. p. 105. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, color illus. n.p. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 41, color illus. p. 79; not shown in Los Angeles and Seattle. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 85.
Artist’s Studio Number c61-5096
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1985 (traveling), cat. no. 75.
Present Owner The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
Group Exhibitions Tate Gallery, London, April 1964, cat. no. 203a, illus. p. 169.
Provenance Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965
University of Maryland Art Department and Art Gallery, J. Millard Tawes Fine Arts Center, College Park, 1969, illus. n.p.
Solo Exhibitions Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 14. Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 18, illus. n.p.
California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1981 (traveling), cat. no. 53, color illus. p. 195, illus. p. 218.
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1985, cat. no. 42. Palm Springs Desert Museum, Calif., 1987 (traveling). Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1999, cat. no. 370, illus. p. 588. University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville, 2004. References Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 72; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Bulletin 1972, p. 89; Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 124); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 141 (pl. 161); Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 52). Comments The collage element near the center of this work is composed of several torn and pasted papers, including a fragment of a page from a Russian-language newspaper.
c130
c130
c131
Half and Half
U.S. Art Canvas
1962 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 40 x 27 in. (101.6 x 68.6 cm)
1962 Oil and pasted paper on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 62
Artist’s Studio Number c62/63-560
Verso (on backing board, reattached): “u.s. art canvas” \ Robert Motherwell \ oil + collage \ 1962
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating). Comments This collage takes its title from one of the pasted papers, which is a torn package of Half-and-Half brand cigarettes. It also contains a torn piece of blue paper with an ink drawing on it; a similar piece of blue paper with a fragment of a drawing on it appears in the collage In Black with Pink (c164).
Artist’s Studio Number c62-543; c62-544 Present Owner Collection of Lynn K. Altman Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Lynn K. Altman, 2002 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 29 (on checklist; not in catalogue). Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 27. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating).
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Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 32, illus. p. 105.
c132
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
1962 Oil and pasted paper on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1977. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, November 2002, cat. no. 2.
U.S. Art New York N.Y.
Inscriptions Recto, center, incised and inscribed: Motherwell
Group Exhibitions Art Institute of Chicago, May 1963, cat. no. 92.
Recto, lower right: 7
References San Francisco Examiner 1967, illus. p. 24 (in exhibition).
Verso (on backing board, reattached) [circled]: u.s. art new york n.y. \ R Motherwell \ 1962 \ [oil + collage]
Comments This work takes its title from the torn label from a roll of canvas made by the U.S. Art Canvas company that is pasted at the lower center.
Artist’s Studio Number c62-1536
Verso (on backing board, reattached) [partially abraded ]: pho[to #3]67
Present Owner Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Linda Hyman, 2002; [Cornette de Saint Cyr, Paris, October 8, 2005, lot 65, illus.]; Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, 2005
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Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 14, illus. n.p. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating). Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 19, illus. n.p.; Caracas, cat. no. 74, illus. n.p.; Bogotá, cat. no. 74; Mexico City, cat. no. 19, illus. p. 28. Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, 1969 (traveling), cat. no. 6. Group Exhibitions Department of Creative Arts Gallery, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., 1969, illus. n.p., as U.S. Art, N.Y. References Rosenberg 1963, p. 72; Rosenberg 1964, p. 101; Edgar 1965, p. 39, illus. p. 39 (fig. 2), referred to in text and in illus. as U.S. Art New York. Comments This collage takes its title from the label attached to the paper wrapping for U.S. Art Canvas Company pasted at the
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upper center. The number 7 written at the lower right in pencil was originally inscribed to indicate that this work was number 7 in the Beside the Sea series before Motherwell revised it by adding the collage element and changing the title. For more on the Beside the Sea series, see the entry for Beside the Sea No. 1 (w127).
c133
c133
Number 70
Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2003, cat. no. 7.
1962 Oil and pasted papers on paper 29 x 22⅞ in. (73.7 x 58.1 cm)
References Roberts 1963, illus. p. 54, erroneously as Collage.
Inscriptions Recto, lower center, incised and inscribed: Motherwell
Comments The title of this collage refers to the label from a roll of No. 70 grade Claessens Belgian artist’s canvas, which is part of the paper collage element at the upper left center. The number 9 in pencil inscribed at the lower right indicates that this work was meant to be Beside the Sea No. 9 before the collage element was added and the title changed. For more on the Beside the Sea series, see the Comments for Beside the Sea No. 1 (w127).
Recto, lower right: 9 Verso (on backing board): “Number 70” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1962 Verso (on backing board): oil + collage \ photo #363 Artist’s Studio Number c62-554 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 13, illus. n.p.
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c134
c135
Beside the Sea, with Collage
Beside the Sea, with Black and White
1962 Oil and pasted paper on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center, incised and inscribed: Motherwell Recto, lower right: 35 Verso (on backing board) [circled]: photo #346 \ “beside the sea, with collage” \ R Motherwell \ 1962 \ [oil + collage] Present Owner Private collection of M. Casotto
1962 Oil and pasted paper on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62 Recto, lower center, incised [painted over]: [Motherwell] Recto, lower right: 16 Verso (on backing board) [circled ]: photo #355 \ “beside the sea, \ with black and white” \ R Motherwell [oil] \ 1962
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Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, January 1965 (circulating), New York, cat. no. 43; Rotterdam, cat. no. 87, illus. n.p.; Oslo, cat. no. 34, illus. n.p.; Stockholm, cat. no. 34. References Nieuwe Rotterdamse Courant 1966, illus. p. 4; Caws 2003, illus. p. 88 (ill. 58). Comments The “Black and White” in the title of this collage refers to the label that is pasted at its upper center, which is from a bottle of Black & White Scotch whisky. The number 16 written in pencil at the lower right indicates that this work was meant to be Beside the Sea No. 16 before the collage element was added.
c136
The Magic Skin (Peau de Chagrin) Alternative Title: Norwegian Collage 1963 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 39¾ x 26⅞ in. (101 x 68.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 63 Verso: norwegian collage \ R. Motherwell \ 1963 \ oil Artist’s Studio Number c63-5097 Present Owner Yale University Art Gallery. Gift of Robert Motherwell
Provenance Private collection, 1967; private collection; M. Casotto, 2006
Artist’s Studio Number c62-552
Comments The number 35 written in pencil in the lower right corner of this work indicates that it was meant to be Beside the Sea No. 35 before the dark tan paper above the highest horizontal stripe was added.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, New York, 2003
Solo Exhibitions Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 21, as The Magic Skin.
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 17, illus. n.p.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 74, color
Present Owner Private collection, New York
Provenance Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1963
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illus. p. 64; Amsterdam, cat. no. 67, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 67; Turin, cat. no. 67, illus. p. 108 (pl. 48). Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 24, illus. n.p.; Caracas, cat. no. 79; Bogotá, cat. no. 79; Mexico City, cat. no. 24. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 25, illus. p. 73. Group Exhibitions Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2002, cat. no. 35, color illus. p. 33 (pl. 9), as The Magic Skin. References Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin 1964, p. 50, illus. p. 40, referred to in text and in illus. as The Magic Skin; Arnason 1966b, p. 37, illus. p. 41; Ray 1966, pp. 4–5, cover illus., illus. p. 4, 98
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referred to in text and in illus. as The Magic Skin; Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 73; Arnason 1977b, p. 53; Arnason 1982, p. 53; Thierolf 2002, p. 281, illus. p. 281 (fig. 2).
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Comments The title of this collage refers to Balzac’s novel La Peau de Chagrin (1831). Motherwell inscribed the title “norwegian collage” on the verso, but that title was never used publicly. In Motherwell’s notes to the catalogue for his 1972 exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, he wrote: “Reference of course to Balzac and to magic of something from ‘nothing’ in art” (Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 73).
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 63
Cafetiere Filtres 1963 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 39¾ x 26¾ in. (101 x 67.9 cm)
Verso: cafetiere filtres \ R. Motherwell \ 1963 Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. John C. Tashjian, New York Provenance Private collection, 1965; private collection; Mr. and Mrs. John C. Tashjian, New York, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 19, illus. n.p.
Group Exhibitions Pavilion of Fine Arts, New York World’s Fair, New York, 1964, illus. n.p, erroneously as Capetiere Filtre. Comments The title refers to the top of a box for a French filter-method coffeemaker at the center of the work. The title would be grammatically correct as the plural “Cafetières Filtres,” but Motherwell signed it as “cafetiere filtres” (without the accent on the second e in cafetière) on the verso, probably because some of the e and all of the s of the word cafetière is torn away on the label he used in the collage.
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Les Ballets Basques de Biarritz
Solo Exhibitions Art Center in Hargate, St. Paul’s School, Concord, N.H., 1970, cat. no. 5, illus. n.p. (in exhibition).
Alternative Title: Blue, with Orange 1963 Oil and pasted paper on paper 34 x 22 in. (86.4 x 55.9 cm)
Group Exhibitions Provincetown Art Association, Mass., 1964, cat. no. 120, illus. p. 32.
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Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell 63 Verso: blue, with orange \ 1963 \ oil \ R. Motherwell Verso (on backing board): Robert Motherwell \ “les ballets basques de biarritz” \ 1963 22" x 34" \ oil + collage Artist’s Studio Number c63-1504 Present Owner Sidney and Madeline Forbes Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Sidney and Madeline Forbes, 2004
Comments The work is signed on the verso “blue, with orange,” which refers to an early state of it, visible in studio photographs from June 1963. That version was oriented upside down from its current presentation, and did not yet include the collage element or the areas of green and white at the upper left, which were originally painted orange. The present title refers to the collage element at the upper center, which is a handbill dated July 26 for a performance in Saint-Jean-de-Luz of the Oldarra choral group with Les Ballets Basques de Biarritz. Motherwell and Helen Frankenthaler had spent their honeymoon in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958, and this
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handbill is a memento from that trip. See also Les Ballets Basques (w163), a 1963 painting on paper that contains a similar composition and colors.
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La Favorita 1962–63 Oil, pasted paper, and graphite on paper 28⅞ x 22⅞ in. (73.3 x 58.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: 62 \ Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number c62-1198 Present Owner Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Gift of Margaret and Angus Wurtele and the Dedalus Foundation, 1995 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating). Art Center in Hargate, St. Paul’s School, Concord, N.H., 1970, cat. no. 2. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. collag e s
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Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 42.
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Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1996, cat. no. 30.
1963 Oil and pasted papers on board 28¾ x 22¾ in. (73 x 57.8 cm)
Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño, Mexico City, 2008, color illus. p. 48. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., 2009, cat. no. 14. References Kutner 1992a, sec. C, p. 4. Comments The title of this work refers to the printed label at the center of the composition, which is from La Favorita brand corn flour. Though the work is signed and dated 1962, it is seen in an earlier state in studio photographs taken in April 1963. Sometime after those photographs were taken, Motherwell made his final revisions, adding yellow ochre paint to the area on the right side and painting out a black gestural mark that is still partially visible at the upper left.
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Winsor Collage
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R Motherwell 63 Verso (on backing board): “winsor collage” \ Robert Motherwell 1963 \ oil + paper Present Owner Fisher Collection, New York Provenance Private collection, 1965; Knoedler & Company, 1999; Fisher Collection, New York, 1999 Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, September 1991, cat. no. 8. Knoedler & Company, New York, February 2000. References Kunitz 2000, p. 55.
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Comments The title of this work refers to the red top from a box of Winsor & Newton burnt sienna oil paint near the center.
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The Scarlet Ring 1963 Oil, pasted papers, and charcoal on paperboard 40 x 27 in. (101.6 x 68.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised and inscribed: RM 63 Verso (on backing board): “the scarlet ring” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1963 \ oil + paper on board Present Owner David Nisinson Provenance Private collection, Virginia, 1965; private collection; [Christie’s, New York, November 12, 1991, lot 7, illus. (not sold)]; private collection, New York, 1991; [Christie’s, New York, November 14, 2007, lot 119, illus.]; David Nisinson, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 30.
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Group Exhibitions Achim Moeller Fine Art, New York, 1990, cat. no. 57, color illus. n.p. References Wilmerding 1973, illus. p. 329; Arnason 1977b, p. 65; Arnason 1982, p. 65.
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Cambridge Collage 1963 Oil, gouache, graphite, and pasted papers on paperboard 40 x 27⅛ in. (101.6 x 68.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 63 Recto, lower right [painted over]: [RM] Present Owner Private collection, New York Provenance Private collection, 1967; [Christie’s, New York, May 8, 1984, lot 18, illus.]; private collection, 1984; private collection, New York, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 20. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 72; Amsterdam, cat. no. 65, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 65; Turin, cat. no. 65, illus. p. 109 (pl. 49).
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References Edgar 1965, cover color illus.; Hunter 1972, illus. p. 223 (pl. 408). Comments The brown wrapping paper at the center of this collage contains a mailing label from Bowes & Bowes booksellers in Cambridge, England; it is addressed to Motherwell at the Villa Della Grazie in Alassio, Italy, where he spent part of the summer of 1960.
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Untitled 1963–64 Oil, acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on paperboard 40 x 27 in. (101.6 x 68.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 64 Present Owner Leslie Feely Fine Art, LLC, New York Provenance Jacques Kaplan, ca. 1964; Leslie Feely Fine Art, LLC, New York, 2008 Group Exhibitions Allan Stone Gallery, New York, 2002. Katonah Museum of Art, N.Y., 2004, color illus. n.p. John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 2009. Comments This is the fourth collage in which Motherwell used a piece of mailing wrapper from La Nouvelle Revue française as the main collage element.
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Unlike the first three, which were done in 1960 (see c104–c106), and another done in 1973 (c384), this one was not given a series title and number. An early state of this collage appears in a color slide of Motherwell’s studio taken in June 1963.
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In White with Four Legs
Wadsworth Atheneum Collage
1964 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
1964 Oil, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 64
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 64
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto
Provenance Joseph S. Iseman, 1965; Knoedler & Company, 1983; private collection, ca. 1999
Provenance Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, 1974
Solo Exhibitions Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 22. Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, September 1991, cat. no. 7.
Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973. Group Exhibitions Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba, Canada, 1967, cat. no. 11, illus. n.p. References Art in Embassies 1966, illus. p. 37, erroneously as Pop and Op Art. Comments Motherwell used this work as the basis for his first collage print, Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 16),
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made in 1964 for the portfolio Ten Works x Ten Painters, published by the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut.
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In White with Black Ring 1964 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 29¾ x 21⅞ in. (75.6 x 55.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 64 Verso (on strainer): “in white with black ring”
Amsterdam, cat. no. 72, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 72; Turin, cat. no. 72, illus. p. 114 (pl. 54/A). Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 15, color illus. p. 4. Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2006, cat. no. 9. Group Exhibitions Leslie Feely Fine Art, New York, 2007, cat. no. 24, color illus. n.p.
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David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973.
In White with Four Corners
References Vogue 1965, illus. p. 141 (cat. no. 6, in exhibition); Arnason 1966b, p. 32, illus. p. 41, referred to in text and in illus. as In White with 4 Corners; Baro 1966b, illus. p. 38; Arnason 1968, p. 507, illus. p. 506 (fig. 872); Arnason 1977a, p. 536, illus. p. 536 (fig. 923); Arnason 1977b, p. 53, illus. p. 53 (pl. 29); Arnason 1982, p. 53, illus. p. 82 (pl. 74).
1964 Acrylic and pasted papers on paperboard 29¾ x 21¾ in. (75.6 x 55.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell 64 Recto, upper left [upside down]: R Motherwell 64
Verso (on backing board): Robert Motherwell \ 1964
Artist’s Studio Number c64-1293
Artist’s Studio Number c64-371
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection, New York
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, New York, 2007
Solo Exhibitions Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 25.
Solo Exhibitions Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 28.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 83, illus. p. 41; Amsterdam, cat. no. 74, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 74; Turin, cat. no. 74, illus. p. 115 (55/B).
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 81;
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In White with Blue Hole
In White with Two Blue Holes
The America Cup
1964 Acrylic and pasted paper on paperboard 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
1964 Acrylic and pasted paper on paperboard 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
1964 Acrylic and pasted papers on paperboard 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 64
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 64
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 64
Artist’s Studio Number c64-1294
Verso (on backing board, reattached): Robert Motherwell \ 1964
Artist’s Studio Number c64-5083
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. David Rockefeller Jr.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Liberman; Brooklyn Museum, ca. 1991; [Christie’s, New York, November 19, 1998, lot 595, illus. (not sold)]; [Christie’s East, New York, May 18, 1999, lot 198, illus.]; private collection, 1999
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. David Rockefeller Jr., 1969
Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973.
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Solo Exhibitions Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 29.
Solo Exhibitions Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 26.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 26; Caracas, cat. no. 81; Bogotá, cat. no. 81; Mexico City, cat. no. 26.
References O’Hara 1965b, color illus. p. 206.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 25.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 26, color illus. p. 35 (pl. 10), illus. p. 74. Group Exhibitions Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, 1977. References Eagle 1967, color illus. p. 56 (installation view); Baker 1973, sec. 2, p. 12; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 111, as The American Cup; Caws 1996b, p. 157. Comments The title of this collage refers to the America’s Cup yacht race (commonly referred to as the America Cup). The printed collage element near the lower right corner of this work is from a “10m x 2m10” roll of No. 29 canvas, probably meant to reinforce the idea of canvas sails that is evoked by the large sail-like form that dominates the composition. Motherwell watched the America’s Cup race on television in 1964. He later remarked on the context in which the collage was created: “Was watching the America Cup races at the time. [This collage] was ultimately purchased by
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David Rockefeller for his son, who sailed on one of the yachts in those trials” (unpublished annotations to exhibition catalogue text for Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972; see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). The composition appears to have been inspired by Matisse’s 1952 cutpaper work La Voile (The Sail; see fig. 105 in volume 1), which also evokes the image of a sailing boat, and which was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in 1961 in The Last Works of Matisse: Large Cut Gouaches. Motherwell saw La Voile there, and it was illustrated in the catalogue, which he owned; see also the 1977 collage, America Cup II (c599). In 1965, Motherwell used this work as the basis for a benefit poster for the Paris Review (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 17).
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In White with Pink and Black Rings 1964 Acrylic, pasted paper, and ink on paperboard 29¾ x 21⅞ in. (75.6 x 55.6 cm)
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Group Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1974. References Art in Embassies 2008, color illus. p. 13.
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In Blue and White with Calligraphy 1964 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 30 x 21¾ in. (76.2 x 55.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 64
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 64
Present Owner Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto
Verso (on crossbar, reattached): “in blue + white with calligraphy”
Provenance Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, 1974
Verso (on backing board, reattached): Robert Motherwell \ 1964
Solo Exhibitions Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 24. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 82, illus. p. 41; Amsterdam, cat. no. 73, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 73; Turin, cat. no. 73, illus. p. 115 (pl. 55/A).
Artist’s Studio Number c64-1477 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 23.
David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973.
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Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 78, illus. p. 41; Amsterdam, cat. no. 71, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 71, erroneously as In Blue and White with Calligraphie; Turin, cat. no. 71, illus. p. 114 (pl. 54/B).
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Untitled 1964 Pasted paper and ink on paper 30⅝ x 22⅜ in. (77.8 x 56.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 64 Artist’s Studio Number c64-691 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
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African Collage No. 1 1965 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 39½ x 27 in. (100.3 x 68.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM Artist’s Studio Number c60-559 Present Owner Collection of the McNay Art Museum. Museum purchase with the Helen and Everett H. Jones Purchase Fund and gift of the Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Tex., 1996
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Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating). Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, October 1968, cat. no. 47, as Untitled. References McNay Art Museum 2001, color illus. p. 198. Comments The title of this work may refer to the masklike form of the central collage element, as well as to its general resemblance to the shape of the continent of Africa. At this time, Motherwell was also working on his large-scale paintings Africa and Africa No. 2 (p338 and p339), which he associated with the formal inventiveness and spiritual force
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of African art, and with the adventurism of Arthur Rimbaud; see the Comments for p338. The circle and dot motif alludes to Jean (Hans) Arp’s circle and dot “navel” forms.
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African Collage No. 2 1965 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 39¾ x 27 in. (101 x 68.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM Present Owner Unknown
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group Exhibitions Reese Palley Gallery, San Francisco, 1968. References Flores 1968, illus. Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Petersen photo no. 520).
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African Collage No. 3 1965 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 39⅞ x 27 in. (101.3 x 68.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM Present Owner Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto
Provenance Private collection, 1971; unknown owner, ca. 1977
Provenance Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, 1973
Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating).
Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating).
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 30, cover color illus., color illus. n.p.; Caracas, cat. no. 85, illus. n.p.; Bogotá, cat. no. 85, color illus. n.p.; Mexico City, cat. no. 30, color illus. p. 19; as Collage africano (African Collage).
Group Exhibitions La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, Calif., 1973. Fort Worth Art Museum, March 1985, cat. no. 15, color illus. p. 51.
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Byrrh 1964 Oil, pasted papers, and charcoal on paperboard 39¾ x 27 in. (101 x 68.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM Artist’s Studio Number c65-561 Present Owner Collection of Carol and Stephen Shey, Gainesville, Fla. Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Carol and Stephen Shey, Gainesville, Fla., 2007 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 29; Caracas, cat. no. 84; Bogotá, cat. no. 84; Mexico City, cat. no. 29. Art Center in Hargate, St. Paul’s School, Concord, N.H., 1970, cat. no. 8, illus. n.p. (in exhibition).
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Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 44.
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Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, January 1965 (circulating), Rotterdam, cat. no. 88; Oslo, cat. no. 35; Stockholm, cat. no. 35.
1965 Acrylic and pasted papers on paperboard 30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
Reese Palley Gallery, San Francisco, 1968. Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, 2008, cat. no. 75, color illus. p. 181. Comments The title of this work refers to the multiple images of the label from Byrrh, a French apéritif wine, near the center.
Call Steve
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Artist’s Studio Number c67-576 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, November 2002, cat. no. 49. Rosenbaum Contemporary, Gallery Center, Boca Raton, Fla., 2006. Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, January 1965 (circulating), Rotterdam, cat. no. 89; Oslo, cat. no. 36; Stockholm, cat. no. 36 (erroneously as Ring Steve).
Comments The collage element at the center of this work was torn from a painting on paper by Motherwell; it is inscribed with various notes, including a reminder to “Call Steve”—a reference to Steven Weil, then at the Marlborough-Gerson Gallery. The entire inscription reads: “Call Steve \ dimensions + titles + dates + \ media of Rubin + Mayer (?) pictures \ S E #102 Acrylic on canvas \ S. in Italy #10 oil on linen \ Liberté toute entière \ liberty wholly complete.”
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Caribbean Collage 1966 Oil, acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 66 Verso (on backing board): “caribean collage” \ R. Motherwell \ 1966 oil, acrylic, paper
Comments This collage was done during a Caribbean cruise that Motherwell and Helen Frankenthaler took from December 17, 1965, to January 3, 1966. In the couple’s 1965 datebook there is a note by Helen Frankenthaler: “RM collage ‘Caribbean Collage’ done on this trip. Both did dwngs [sic] watercolors” (Dedalus Foundation Archives). The collage element is a label from a bottle of Worthington’s India Pale Ale.
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In Pink and Green
Untitled
1966 Oil, acrylic, pasted paper, ink, and graphite on paper 28¾ x 22¾ in. (73 x 57.8 cm)
1966 Oil, acrylic, and pasted papers on paperboard 21¾ x 13¾ in. (55.2 x 34.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 66
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 66
Verso (on strainer): “in pink + green” \ collage, oil + acrylic
Artist’s Studio Number c66-385
Verso (on strainer): R. Motherwell 1966
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number c66-370
Artist’s Studio Number c66-369
Present Owner Imaginart Gallery, Barcelona
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Imaginart Gallery, Barcelona, 2007
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, January 1965 (circulating), Rotterdam, cat. no. 86; Oslo, cat. no. 33, as Caribean [sic] Collage; Stockholm, cat. no. 33; not shown in Delaware.
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Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Group Exhibitions J. L. Hudson Gallery, Detroit, 1966.
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I Ching 1966 Acrylic, pasted paper, and graphite on canvas board 16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 66 Recto, lower right [oriented sideways]: [RM 58] Verso (on backing board): I Ching Artist’s Studio Number c64-80 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2006, cat. no. 6, color illus. p. 18. Comments The collage element in this work was torn from an unknown 1958 painting on paper by Motherwell, the signature 110
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from which can be seen, turned sideways, at the lower right. Another part of that same painting on paper appears in Untitled (c163). The title of this collage refers to the Chinese classic I Ching (Book of Changes).
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Untitled
In Black with Pink
1966 Acrylic and pasted paper on cardboard 16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5 cm)
1966 Oil and pasted papers on canvas board 20 x 15¾ in. (50.8 x 40 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 66
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Artist’s Studio Number c66-1266
Verso not seen [“signed, dated, titled on reverse,” per document in Dedalus Foundation Archives]
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003 Comments The large painted collage element appears to be torn from a 1958 work on paper, as in I Ching (c162).
Present Owner The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The William S. Paley Collection (spc24.1990) Provenance William S. Paley, 1970; Museum of Modern Art, New York Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1992, cat. no. 48, color illus. p. 95, illus. p. 164. Comments The piece of torn blue paper in this work has an ink drawing on it, similar in style to that seen on a fragment of the same sheet of paper in Half and Half (c130).
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Collage with Linen Elements
Bowes & Bowes, Cambridge
Manchester Collage
1966 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and ink on paper 30¾ x 22¼ in. (78.1 x 56.5 cm)
1966 Ink and pasted papers on paper 24 x 19 in. (61 x 48.3 cm)
1966 Ink and pasted papers on paper 24 x 19 in. (61 x 48.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 66
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 66
Verso (on backing board): “Bowes + Bowes, Cambridge”
Verso (on strainer): “manchester collage” 1966
Artist’s Studio Number c66-386
Verso (on paper glued to backing board): For Kurt + Renée Neu \ from \ R.M. with greetings \ + thanks \ 1966
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 1966 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1966 Comments The linen elements referred to in the title of this collage are placed near the center.
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments The title of this work refers to the torn mailing wrapper, dated February 1966, from Bowes & Bowes, the Cambridge booksellers.
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to Kurt Neu and his wife, Renée Neu, an assistant curator at the Museum of Modern Art who organized two major traveling exhibitions of Motherwell’s works on paper, in 1965–67 and in 1967–68.
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Renée S. Neu, 1966; Estate of Renée S. Neu; [Doyle, New York, November 12, 2008, lot 1126, illus. (not sold)]; private collection Comments The title of this work refers to the piece of a mailing envelope from the Manchester Guardian Weekly newspaper near the center. The work is dedicated
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Stedelijk Collage 1966 Oil and pasted papers on paperboard 40 x 26½ in. (101.6 x 67.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Artist’s Studio Number c66-574 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Knoedler & Company, 2006; private collection, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Art Center in Hargate, St. Paul’s School, Concord, N.H., 1970, cat. no. 22, illus. n.p. (in exhibition), as Stedelijk. Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 8. Group Exhibitions J. L. Hudson Gallery, Detroit, 1966.
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Comments Among the collage elements in this work are three pieces of wrapping paper from a package mailed to Motherwell by the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Motherwell’s 1965 retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, traveled to Europe in 1966, and the Stedelijk Museum was the exhibition’s first European venue, in January 1966. The paper in the collage was most likely from the package used to send Motherwell copies of the Dutchlanguage catalogue for the exhibition.
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Whatman Board Collage 1966 Oil, acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 39¾ x 27 in. (101 x 68.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Present Owner Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto Provenance Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, 1973 Group Exhibitions Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba, Canada, 1967, cat. no. 12. La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, Calif., 1973. Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 1993. Haunch of Venison New York, 2008, cat. no. 27, color illus. p. 72, erroneously as Whatman Board Collage, PH-2-10.
References Plottel 1983, illus. p. 137 (fig. 29). Comments This collage takes its name from the label at the upper left, which is from a package of J. Whatman drawing boards. It also incorporates a label from an envelope sent by Art International magazine, which published major studies of Motherwell’s work by H. H. Arnason in its January and April 1966 issues.
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Guardian No. 1 1966 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on board 22 x 14 in. (55.9 x 35.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 1966 Present Owner Victoria Jemerin Provenance Dr. and Mrs. B. Rubinstein, 1973; Robert Motherwell, ca. 1974; Edward and Victoria Jemerin, 1978; Victoria Jemerin, 1983; [Doyle, New York, November 11, 2009, lot 79, illus. (not sold)] Comments This collage is the first in a numbered series that takes its title from Motherwell’s use of paper from issues of the Manchester Guardian Weekly, mostly dated between December 29, 1966, and January 5, 1967. The numbering of this series (originally
composed of between twelve and fourteen collages) is erratic because Motherwell later revised and/or retitled some of the works in it, in 1973 and 1986. For example, two works have at one time in their history been known as Guardian No. 3 (c171 and c743) and two as Guardian No. 4 (c391 and c744). In 1986 he reworked six collages in the series and retitled them as the Figure “4” series, while retaining their original numbers from the Guardian series (see c742, c743, and c745–c748). A seventh Guardian collage was also reworked in 1986; Motherwell neglected to rename it, so it remains Guardian No. 4 (c744). Further complicating the nomenclature of the series is the work now known as The Figure “4” No. 8 (c174), which Motherwell reacquired in 1986 and renamed in accordance with the revised 1986 works, while not making any changes to its original 1966 state. Motherwell reacquired this work around 1974, and gave it to Dr. Edward Jemerin, who had performed surgery on a member of his family.
c171
c171
Guardian No. 3 1966 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 22 x 14 in. (55.9 x 35.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 1966
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Esteban Vicente, Segovia, Spain, 2003, color illus. p. 91. References Staber 1974–75, color illus. p. 113. Comments Another collage from this series, The Figure “4” No. 3 (c743), was once known as Guardian No. 3.
Present Owner Es Baluard Museu d’Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma. Colección Serra Provenance Private collection, 1974; [Christie’s, London, March 25, 1993, lot 98, illus.]; Pere A. Serra, 1993; Es Baluard Museu d’Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma, Spain Solo Exhibitions Galerie André Emmerich, Zurich, 1974, color illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Casal Solleric, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 2002, color illus. p. 112.
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c172
c173
c172
c173
c174
Guardian No. 5
Guardian No. 7
The Figure “4” No. 8
1966 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 22 x 14 in. (55.9 x 35.6 cm)
1966 Acrylic, pasted paper, and ink on paperboard 22 x 14 in. (55.9 x 35.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell/1966
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell/1966
Alternative Title: Guardian No. 8 1966 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on board 22 x 14 in. (55.9 x 35.6 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number c66-381
Artist’s Studio Number c66-377
Inscriptions Recto, lower center (on collage element): R. Motherwell \ 1966
Present Owner Collection of Lynn K. Altman
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number c66-3251
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Lynn K. Altman, 2000
Provenance Private collection, 1978; Miriam Shiell Fine Art, 2003; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 15, 2006, lot 167, illus.]; unknown owner, 2006
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 8, color illus. n.p.
Solo Exhibitions Waddington Galleries, London, 1975.
Provenance Private collection, 1977; private collection, 1977; Robert Motherwell, 1986; Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Group Exhibitions Davis and Long Company, New York, 1977, as Guardian No. 8. Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling), cat. no. 10, color illus. n.p.
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c174
Comments Motherwell reacquired this work in 1986. He then changed the title from Guardian No. 8 to The Figure “4” No. 8, as he did with other works from the Guardian series; see the Comments for Guardian No. 1 (c170), and for The Figure “4” No. 2 (c742). But he did not make any physical changes to this work, as he did with the others.
c175
c176
c177
c175
c176
c177
c178
Guardian No. 9
Paterson’s Oatcakes
Untitled
Bowes & Bowes Collage
1966 Acrylic, pasted paper, and ink on paperboard 22 x 14 in. (55.9 x 35.6 cm)
1967 Acrylic and pasted cloth on paper 24 x 19 in. (61 x 48.3 cm)
1967 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 24 x 19 in. (61 x 48.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paperboard 39½ x 27 in. (100.3 x 68.6 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number c67-1873
Artist’s Studio Number c67-1871; p67-1871
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments This work takes its title from the collage element, a cloth pouch for Paterson’s Scottish oatcakes.
Comments The blue paper near the upper center of this collage is part of a mailing wrapper addressed to Motherwell from the Times Literary Supplement (similar papers also appear in c183 and c185).
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R Motherwell \ 1966 Artist’s Studio Number c66-384 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1978; Miriam Shiell Fine Art, 2003; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 11, 2006, lot 253, illus.]; unknown owner, 2006
Inscriptions Recto, lower left [painted over]: [RM] Recto, lower right [painted over]: [Motherwell 67] Artist’s Studio Number c67-572 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Group Exhibitions Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 1967 (traveling), Eindhoven, cat. no. 32, illus. p. 39; Frankfurt, cat. no. 31, illus. p. 39.
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c178
Comments The composition of this collage is dominated by a mailing wrapper from Bowes & Bowes booksellers in Cambridge, England, postmarked February 20, 1967.
c179
Berggruen Collage 1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paperboard 40 x 27 in. (101.6 x 68.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM Artist’s Studio Number c67-573 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 27, color illus. p. 37 (pl. 11), illus. p. 75.
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c179
Group Exhibitions Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 1967 (traveling), Eindhoven, cat. no. 31, illus. p. 39; Frankfurt, cat. no. 30, illus. p. 39. References Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 75; BakerCarr 1975, color illus. p. 38; Pleynet 1989b, pp. 25, 57, color illus. p. 114; Caws 1996b, pp. 129, 131, 139, illus. p. 138; Thierolf 2002, p. 330, illus. p. 330 (fig. 2). Comments The collage element at the center of this work is the wrapping paper from the package used to ship Motherwell copies of the catalogue for his 1961 collage exhibition at Berggruen & Cie, Paris; it is addressed to his
New York home and is postmarked November 1961. In 1972 Motherwell remarked about this collage, “I always felt wrongly somewhat like a rejected lover about Paris. Heinz Berggruen alone offered me a Paris exhibition, and a magnificent catalogue done by the pochoir process. The paper in the collage is the wrapping the catalogues arrived in. The collage is meant, among other things, as a kind of commemoration” (Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 75).
c181
c180
c182
c183
c180
c181
c182
c183
Untitled
Red, White, and Blue No. 1
Red, White, and Blue No. 2
Untitled
1967 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 24 x 19 in. (61 x 48.3 cm)
1967 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 8½ x 7 in. (21.6 x 17.8 cm)
1967 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 8½ x 7 in. (21.6 x 17.8 cm)
Pasted paper and acrylic on canvas board 10 x 14 in. (25.4 x 35.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 67
Artist’s Studio Number c67-1875
Verso (on backing board, reattached): “red, white + blue, #1”
Artist’s Studio Number c67-388
Present Owner Collection of Mrs. David A. Prager
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number c67-389
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Mrs. David A. Prager, ca. 1967
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments The green-and-white pasted paper in this collage is part of an envelope with a mailing label from the English magazine Country Life, in which Motherwell was especially interested at this time (see the Comments for c188).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, May 1979.
Comments The blue paper at the center of this collage is part of a mailing wrapper from the Times Literary Supplement sent to Motherwell at East Ninety-fourth Street and forwarded to him in Provincetown.
Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 30.
Bendheim Gallery, Greenwich, Conn., 2008.
Galerie im Erker, St. Gall, Switzerland, 1971 (traveling), cat. no. 18. William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, June 1979.
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c184
c184
Gauloises with Pink 1967–ca. 1969 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 8¼ x 6½ in. (21 x 16.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised and inscribed: RM 67 Artist’s Studio Number c67-1356 Present Owner Collection of Corrado Rava Provenance Carla Panicali; Corrado Rava Solo Exhibitions William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, June 1979. Comments This is the first collage in which Motherwell refers to his use of packages from Gauloises cigarettes in the title of the work. The pink paint may have been added around 1969–70, when Motherwell was at work on several small paintings in the Summertime in Italy series (see p598–p603). 118
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Motherwell had begun using the Gauloises packages in collages as early as 1956, in Histoire d’un Peintre (c66) and Yellow Envelope (c67). He continued that practice intermittently through the late 1950s, in works such as The Tearingness of Collaging (c69), Collage (c70), Untitled (c73), and Memory of St.-Jean-de-Luz (c87). Starting in 1967, when his friend and Provincetown neighbor B. H. Friedman provided a steady supply of Gauloises packages (see the Comments for Untitled, c185), Motherwell used them with increasing frequency, and often referred to them in his titles. Generally, Motherwell preferred the blue labels from the Gauloises Caporal cigarettes to the white labels from the Disque Bleu line, which he used much less frequently; see Memory of St.-Jean-de-Luz (c87). Motherwell later associated his awareness of the Gauloises packages as a determining factor in his sympathy for the collage medium itself: “I used to reflect occasionally, why is it that I took to collage like a duck to water and then I remembered that I spent the year
c185
’38–’39 in Paris. I stayed with a French family en pension and sometimes after dinner we’d go to the Café des Deux Magots. Picasso was very often at a corner table surrounded by friends and I realized soon that they were writers and Picasso would scan the room looking at everybody, and while scanning the room without looking at what was in front of him—say the coffee cup and saucer, his package of cigarettes, a piece of silver or two, and a napkin—and he would keep moving them, especially on the surface of the table which had a white table cloth, so that the Gauloises Bleues showed vividly and I had never seen a collage but at that moment there was something about the way Picasso left it that really moved my heart irrationally and one day it occurred to me years later, of course I took to it like a duck to water, I had watched the inventor of collage make them at the café table” (see Catherine Tatge, Robert Motherwell and the New York School: Storming the Citadel, 1991; see Filmography).
c185
Untitled 1967 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on board 8½ x 7 in. (21.6 x 17.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67 Present Owner Collection of B. H. Friedman Provenance B. H. Friedman, 1967 Comments This work may originally have been meant as part of a Maritime Collage series; see Maritime Collage No. 3 (c186). It was given to Motherwell’s friend, the writer B. H. Friedman, who in a 1967 letter thanked Motherwell for a “very beautiful maritime collage” (Dedalus Foundation Archives). But there are no works called Maritime Collage No. 1 or No. 2. Friedman, who in 1967 purchased the house next to Motherwell’s Provincetown home and studio, smoked Gauloises cigarettes,
c186
and during the 1960s and 1970s he was the source of many of the Gauloises packages that appear in Motherwell’s collages, including this one. This work also contains a blank mailing label and part of a blue mailing wrapper from the Times Literary Supplement.
c186
Maritime Collage No. 3 1967 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on board 12 x 9 in. (30.5 x 22.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67 Verso: “maritime collage #3” \ For Robert Stevenson \ from \ Robert Motherwell \ 1967
c187
exchanged with Stevenson for a plaster bust of one of Motherwell’s forebears that Stevenson had found in Scotland. There are no numbers 1 and 2 in the Maritime Collage “series,” but Untitled (c185) was probably meant to belong to that series.
c187
Draftsman 1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 12 x 9 in. (30.5 x 22.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67 Verso (on backing board): “Draftsman” Artist’s Studio Number c67-391
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Collection Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
Provenance Robert Stevenson, Cape Cod, Mass., 1967; private collection, 1975; [Christie’s, New York, September 13, 2006, lot 273, illus.]; private collection, 2006
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, 2007; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2007
Comments Robert Stevenson, to whom this work is dedicated, owned the Chillingsworth restaurant in Provincetown, which Motherwell frequented. According to the studio card for this work, it was
Comments This collage takes its title from the blue collage element, a matchbook with an advertisement for training as a draftsman.
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c188
c188
Country Life 1967 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67 Artist’s Studio Number c67-1496 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003 References Volboudt 1973b, p. 84. Comments The title of this work refers to part of an envelope with a mailing label (postmarked August 10, 1967) from Country Life, an English magazine that Motherwell was especially interested in at this time. In the catalogue to his 1972 collage retrospective at the
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Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Motherwell wrote: “Around this time, I began to dream of a country studio— New York swallowed my time and energies—but near to either London or New York, and so subscribed to the British Country Life which carries numerous photographs of country places for let or sale (I ended up in Greenwich, Connecticut in January 1970 after 30 years in New York)” (Motherwell in Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, exh. cat. 1972, p. 76). Motherwell used Country Life mailing labels in three other collages (c180, c205, and c212).
c189
c190
c189
c190
Collage
In Blue and Ochre with Gauloises
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30¼ x 22 in. (76.8 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell/67 Present Owner Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass. Gift of the Artist, 1967:74 Provenance Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1967 Solo Exhibitions Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1996. Comments The collage element in this work is part of a package from Gauloises cigarettes.
1967 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 30⅝ x 22½ in. (77.8 x 57.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell/67 Artist’s Studio Number c67-591 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004; [Christie’s, New York, May 12, 2005, lot 296, illus. (not sold)] Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 45, illus. p. 74. Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2003, cat. no. 13. Comments The title of this collage refers to the torn Gauloises cigarette package that is pasted near the upper right.
c191
c192
c191
c192
c193
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm)
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30 x 22½ in. (76.2 x 57.2 cm)
Ca. 1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30⅝ x 22⅜ in. (77.8 x 56.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell/67
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell/67
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Present Owner Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto
Present Owner Jon Yard Arnason and Eleanor A. Arnason
Artist’s Studio Number c-3827
Provenance Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, 1970 Group Exhibitions Haunch of Venison, New York, 2008, cat. no. 28, color illus. p. 73, erroneously as Beside the Sea with Gauloises.
Provenance H. Harvard Arnason, ca. 1967; Jon Yard Arnason and Eleanor A. Arnason, 1986 Comments This collage, which contains a torn Gauloises cigarette package, was given to the critic and curator H. H. Arnason, who had recently begun to write about Motherwell’s work, and would later write the first monograph on the artist (Arnason 1977b).
c193
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments The dark, spotted areas across the surface of this work are the result of mold that cannot be removed. The work suffered water damage and the subsequent consequences of improper storage after the artist’s death.
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c194
c195
c194
c195
c196
Black Oval with Gauloises
[ Untitled (Black Gesture with Gauloises)]
First Love
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30⅛ x 22¼ in. (76.5 x 56.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67 Artist’s Studio Number c67-1493 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2006 Group Exhibitions Art Gallery, Ball State University, Muncie, Ind., 1971, illus. n.p. Galerie Contemporaine du Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nice, France, 2005, cover color illus., color illus. p. 51.
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1967 Pasted papers and ink on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67 Artist’s Studio Number c67-3300 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments The paper support for this work is a black-and-white proof of a 1967 lithograph, 9: Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 56). The black oval form may have been added around 1970, when Motherwell was working on the I.H. series.
1967 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 30¾ x 22 in. (78.1 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 67 Artist’s Studio Number c67-429 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Harcus Krakow Gallery, Boston, 1980, cat. no. 19. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, November 2002, cat. no. 47, as Untitled (Ochre Calligraphy, Piece of Litho, Black). Comments The collage element in this work is torn from a proof of a 1962 lithograph, The Poet I (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 6). This is the first time that Motherwell incorporated a fragment
c196
of one of his own prints in a collage, a practice that would become a dominant feature of his collages in the 1980s. The title of this collage probably refers to the title of a section in Part 1 of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard’s Either/Or (1843).
c197
c197
c198
Untitled
Torino Collage
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 24 x 19 in. (61 x 48.3 cm)
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30¼ x 22¼ in. (76.8 x 56.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67
Artist’s Studio Number c67-1870
Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner Hempel Jr.
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2007. Comments The collage element in this work is a package for Player’s Navy Cut cigarettes.
Provenance Mr. Gardiner Hempel, 1969; Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner Hempel Jr., 1994 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 37; Caracas, cat. no. 92, illus. n.p.; Bogotá, cat. no. 92; Mexico City, cat. no. 37. Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1974, cat. no. 45, illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Reese Palley Gallery, San Francisco, 1968.
c198
Comments The brown wrapping paper in this collage is from the Museo Civico di Torino, where Motherwell’s 1965 Museum of Modern Art retrospective was shown in October 1966. The label is addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner Hempel; Mr. Hempel was chairman of the board of the San Francisco Art Institute and a prominent collector. The package, postmarked January 20, 1967, was probably used to wrap the Hempels’ copy of the catalogue from the Turin exhibition.
c199
c199
Silvers of Paris 1967 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 30¼ x 22½ in. (76.8 x 57.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1969; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 8, 1979, lot 850, illus.]; private collection, 1979 Group Exhibitions Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Tex., 1969. Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, Mass., 1973, cat. no. 21. Comments This collage was made during the summer of 1967 in Provincetown. The title refers to the beige paper near the center, which is a mailing wrapper (postmarked June 27, 1967) from a shop named Silvers of Paris. collag e s
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c200
c200
c201
The Brown Stripe
Royal Water Music
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 22 x 16½ in. (55.9 x 41.9 cm)
1967–68 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 15 in. (76.2 x 38.1 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 67 Present Owner Unknown Provenance The artist Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 24. Comments The pasted papers in this work are torn from a page of help-wanted ads in an unidentified newspaper. Our reproduction comes from an early black-andwhite photograph of the work (Nelson photo no. 33673). There is no record of this work after it was exhibited at the Whitney Museum in 1968. We do not know whether it still exists in the form illustrated here.
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Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
c201
and customs declaration of the diploma Motherwell received from the Royal Society of Arts in London, acknowledging his election as a Benjamin Franklin Fellow.
c202
c202
Librairie Hachette 1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30¼ x 22¼ in. (76.8 x 56.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell/67
Artist’s Studio Number c67-1234
Verso (on backing board, reattached): “Librarie Hachette” \ Robert Motherwell
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number c67-403
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments The title refers to George Frideric Handel’s Water Music of 1717 (hwv 348–50), which was commissioned by the court of King George I of England—hence, “Royal.” The collage element, which Motherwell added in 1968, is also “royal”: it is the packaging
Comments This collage was made in Provincetown during the summer of 1967. The pasted paper is a wrapper from a package sent to Motherwell by the Librairie Hachette, Paris. Postmarks on the mailing label show that it was sent on July 31 and received in Provincetown on August 2, 1967.
c204
c203
c203
c204
c205
Régie Française
Untitled
Country Life No. 1
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30½ x 22⅜ in. (77.5 x 56.8 cm)
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30¼ x 22¼ in. (76.8 x 56.5 cm)
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell/67
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell 1967
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell/67
Artist’s Studio Number c67-1489
Artist’s Studio Number c67-1483
Artist’s Studio Number c67-404
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; [Christie’s, New York, November 11, 2004, lot 154, illus.]; private collection, 2004; private collection, 2005; private collection, 2007; private collection, 2007
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2006
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments The title of this collage refers to La Régie Française des Tabacs, the French national tobacco company, whose name appears on the Gauloises carton.
Comments The central collage element in this work is a torn Gauloises cigarette package.
Group Exhibitions Marlborough Galleria d’Arte, Rome, 1972, cat. no. 22, illus. n.p.
c205
References Baker 1973, illus. sec. 2, p. 12. Comments The white paper with the green-andwhite label near the center of this collage is a mailing envelope from Country Life magazine. Motherwell used such envelopes in several other collages (see the Comments for c188), but this is the only one that is given a number, as if part of a series.
Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 17. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 8. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 28, illus. p. 76. Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969.
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c206
c206
St. Gallen 1967 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 30¼ x 22 in. (76.8 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67 Verso (on strainer): “st. gallen” 1967 Artist’s Studio Number c67-405 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 31. Galerie im Erker, St. Gall, Switzerland, 1971 (traveling), cat. no. 17, illus. p. 39. References Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 18.
Comments The title of this collage refers to the envelope near the center, which is from Galerie im Erker, St. Gall, Switzerland. In 1967, Motherwell and the gallery were discussing the possibility of doing a livre d’artiste with Richard Huelsenbeck.
c207
c207
In Green, with Two Scarlet Spots 1967/ca. 1973 Acrylic, pasted paper, and crayon on paper 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell/67 Artist’s Studio Number c67-941 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1982 Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 21 (shown in early state). Galerie im Erker, St. Gall, Switzerland, 1971 (traveling), cat. no. 16, illus. p. 53 (shown in early state). David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973 (shown in early state). Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1978.
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c208
Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969 (shown in early state). Comments The pasted paper near the center of this collage is the envelope for a letter sent to Motherwell from the Spanish painter Antonio Saura, postmarked Paris, June 23, 1967 (Nelson photo no. 33671). Sometime around 1973, the crayon lines were added and the collage elements modified by tearing the edges of the envelope to reveal the blue underpainting.
c209
c210
c211
c208
c209
c210
c211
In Green, with Ultramarine and Ochre
In Green with Gauloises
Holland Collage with Gauloises
Untitled
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 31¼ x 22¼ in. (79.4 x 56.5 cm), irreg.
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paperboard 14 x 8½ in. (35.6 x 21.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
Artist’s Studio Number c67-575
Artist’s Studio Number c67-390
Artist’s Studio Number c67-1176
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Jerry and Linda Rubenstein
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jerry and Linda Rubenstein, 2004
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 22. Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969. Comments This work is atypical within Motherwell’s oeuvre for the way in which the blue collage element extends significantly beyond the paper support.
Comments The title of this work refers to the torn Gauloises cigarette package that is used as a collage element.
1967 Pasted papers on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 18. Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969. Comments The title of this work refers to the text “made in holland” that is printed on the rectangular piece of brown paper and to the torn Gauloises cigarette package above it.
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30¼ x 22 in. (76.8 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 67 Artist’s Studio Number c67-1506 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments The striped collage element near the center of this work is part of a paper dress that had been bought by Helen Frankenthaler, and which Motherwell also used in three other collages in 1967 (c212–c214). In a 1975 interview, Motherwell recalled how he came to use fragments of the paper dress, which had been a popular novelty item during the mid-1960s: “I had forgotten that fad. At that time, my wife bought one
collag e s
127
c212
that did not fit at all, she tested it once, then discarded it, never wore it. I picked it up, cut out parts of it, today, they are in some of my most famous collages” (see Polo 1975, p. 16).
c213
c214
Country Life
[ Untitled (Pastel Striped Cloth)]
Yellow and Ochre
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, New York; [Christie’s, New York, May 18, 1979, lot 135, illus.]; private collection, 1979; unknown owner Comments This collage takes its title from part of an envelope at the upper center with a mailing label from the English magazine Country Life, which Motherwell was especially interested in at this time (see the Comments for c188). It also contains part of a Gauloises cigarette package and a piece of a paper dress used by Motherwell in other collages (see the Comments for c211).
collages
c214
c212
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67
128
c213
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left [painted over]: [R Motherwell] Artist’s Studio Number c67-582 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67 Present Owner Carole S. and Dr. Robert H. Freilich Provenance Carole S. and Dr. Robert H. Freilich, 1981
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Marlborough Galleria d’Arte, Rome, 1969 (traveling).
Comments The striped collage element in this work is part of a paper dress that Motherwell also used in other collages (see the Comments for c211).
Comments The striped collage element in this work is part of a paper dress that Motherwell also used in other collages (see the Comments for c211).
c215
c215
c216
[ Untitled (Wednesday 11 October 1967)]
Picayune
1967 Oil, pasted paper, and charcoal on paper 26 x 20 in. (66 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised and inscribed: RM
1967 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on paper 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Artist’s Studio Number c68-1238
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Unknown owner; private collection; private collection, ca. 1989
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 16, 2007, lot 144, illus.]; unknown owner, 2007
Comments The collage element in this work is a calendar block page dated Wednesday, October 11, 1967.
Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, December 2005 (traveling), cat. no. 2. References Griggs 2006, illus. sec. D, p. 3.
c216
Comments The printed collage element in this work is from a package of Picayune cigarettes. The piece of blue-gray paper at the upper center is from the same sheet as the pieces of blue-gray paper used in c217–c219. This work is seen in progress in a photograph of Motherwell’s studio taken by Ugo Mulas in November 1967 (see fig. 112 in volume 1).
c217
c217
[ Untitled (Composition in Grey)] 1967 Acrylic, pasted paper, and graphite on paper 22 x 14 in. (55.9 x 35.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM Artist’s Studio Number c63-498 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments This work is seen in progress in a November 1967 photograph of Motherwell’s studio taken by Ugo Mulas (see fig. 112 in volume 1). Pieces from the same sheet of bluegray paper also appear in c216, c218, and c219.
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129
c218
c219
c218
c219
c220
[ Untitled (In Brown, Red and Light Blue)]
Untitled
Blotting Paper Collage
1967 Acrylic, pasted paper, and charcoal on paper 14½ x 11½ in. (36.8 x 29.2 cm)
1967 Acrylic, pasted paper, and charcoal on paper 37¼ x 23⅜ in. (94.6 x 59.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67
Artist’s Studio Number c67-2853
Artist’s Studio Number c67-1537; c67-5098
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Renate Ponsold Motherwell
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Renate Ponsold Motherwell
Comments The piece of blue-gray paper at the left center of this collage comes from the same sheet as those in c216–c218. It appears in a November 1967 photograph of Motherwell’s studio taken by Ugo Mulas (see fig. 112 in volume 1).
Solo Exhibitions Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 29, illus. p. 77.
1967 Acrylic, pasted paper, charcoal, and graphite on paper 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Artist’s Studio Number c63-497 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments This work is seen in progress in a November 1967 photograph of Motherwell’s studio taken by Ugo Mulas (see fig. 112 in volume 1). Pieces from the same sheet of bluegray paper also appear in c216, c217, and c219.
Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 34, illus. p. 107. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 46, color illus. p. 87; not shown in Washington, D.C.
130
collages
c220
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 139. References Baker-Carr 1975, color illus. p. 41; Arnason 1976, pp. 13, 25; Arnason 1977b, pp. 73, 83, color illus. n.p. (pl. 188); Arnason 1982, pp. 73, 83, color illus. p. 161 (pl. 227); Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 83). Comments This work is contemporaneous with the earliest paintings in the Open series. An early state of it is visible (on a wall, next to In Blue, p398) in a photograph of Motherwell’s studio taken by Ugo Mulas, in November 1967.
c221
c222
c223
c221
c222
Untitled
La Cuisinière
1967 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 11¾ x 9 in. (29.8 x 22.9 cm)
1967/ca. 1973 Pasted paper and crayon on paperboard 39¾ x 27 in. (101 x 68.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67
Verso: For Ernie on \ his 35th \ birthday \ RM
Artist’s Studio Number c67-1278
Artist’s Studio Number c67-1097
Present Owner Kafka Family Collection
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Kafka Family Collection, 1967
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments The collage element in this work is a torn Gauloises cigarette package. The dedication on the verso is to Ernest Kafka, a psychoanalyst friend of Motherwell’s.
Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 39, illus. n.p.; Caracas, cat. no. 94, illus. n.p.; Bogotá, cat. no. 94; Mexico City, cat. no. 39; shown in early state.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2008
Art Center in Hargate, St. Paul’s School, Concord, N.H., 1970, cat. no. 25 (shown in early state). group Exhibitions Reese Palley Gallery, San Francisco, 1968 (shown in early state).
Comments The collage element in this work is a shopping bag from La Cuisinière, a kitchen supply store located at 903 Madison Avenue, New York. The crayon lines were added around 1973.
c223
In White with Blue Rectangle 1967/ca. 1973 Pasted papers and crayon on paper 30¼ x 22 in. (76.8 x 55.9 cm)
Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 19 (shown in early state). University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 19 (shown in early state). David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973 (shown in early state).
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c224
Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969 (in early state). Comments The crayon lines were added to this work around 1973.
c225
c226
c224
c225
c226
Untitled
Beige Figuration with Gauloises
Beige Figuration with Gauloises No. 2
1967 Pasted papers on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
1967 Pasted papers on paper 30 x 22½ in. (76.2 x 57.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell/67
Artist’s Studio Number c67-1485
Artist’s Studio Number c67-583
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
1967 Pasted papers on paper 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67 Present Owner Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto Provenance Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, 1970 Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973.
Solo Exhibitions Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2007.
132
c ollages
c227
c228
c227
c228
c229
Beige Figuration with Gauloises No. 3
Beige Figuration No. 1
Beige Figuration No. 2
1967 Pasted paper on paper 30¼ x 22 in. (76.8 x 55.9 cm)
1967 Pasted paper on paper 30¼ x 22 in. (76.8 x 55.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
Present Owner The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Anonymous gift, 1980.54.2
Present Owner The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Anonymous gift, 1981.78
Provenance Private collection, 1968; Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., 1980
Provenance Private collection, 1968; Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., 1981
Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 27.
Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 28.
1967 Pasted papers on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 67 Artist’s Studio Number c67-584 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 2.
c229
Comments This collage was used as the image on the poster for Motherwell’s 1968 New Collages exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 61).
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133
c230
c230
c231
Beige Figuration No. 3
Beige Figuration No. 4
1967 Pasted paper on paper 30 x 22¼ in. (76.2 x 56.5 cm)
1968 Acrylic, pasted paper, and graphite on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Verso (on backing board, reattached): for met. mus., fall, 1969 Artist’s Studio Number c67-1476 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 20. Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1969, cat. no. 258, illus. p. 234. Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-deVence, France, 1970. 134
collages
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68 Artist’s Studio Number c68-430 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 6. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 3. Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 60.
c231
Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969. Art Galleries, California State University, Long Beach, 1976, color illus. p. 17.
c232
c232
Beige Figuration No. 5 1968 Pasted paper on paper 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 68 Artist’s Studio Number c68-1484 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 7. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 4. David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973. Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969.
c233
c234
c233
c234
c235
Beige Figuration No. 6
Beige Figuration No. 7
In White with Beige No. 1
1968 Acrylic, pasted paper, and charcoal on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm)
1968 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30⅜ x 22 in. (77.2 x 55.9 cm)
Alternative Title: { Beige Figuration } 1968 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68 Artist’s Studio Number c68-1186; c68-1491 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 8.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [painted over]: [RM 68] Recto, upper right: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [painted over]: [RM 68]
Artist’s Studio Number c68-2837
Artist’s Studio Number c68-431
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973.
Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 10.
Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 61.
Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2006, cat. no. 8.
Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969.
Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969.
c235
Art Galleries, California State University, Long Beach, 1976, color illus. p. 17. References Volboudt 1973b, p. 84, as In Beige with White; Engberg and Banach 2003, p. 103, as Beige Figuration. Comments This work was used as the model for an untitled 1970 screen print (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 67), and for a large (105 x 96 inches) tapestry made in 1973 by Modern Master Tapestries, Inc., New York, in an edition of twenty.
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135
c236
c236
c237
In White with Beige No. 2
In White with Beige No. 3
1968 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
Alternative Title: In Beige with White No. 3 1968 Pasted paper on paper 30¼ x 22 in. (76.8 x 55.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right [partially painted over]: RM [68]
c237
Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, June 1969, cat. no. 79, as In Beige, with White, Number 3. Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 123, illus. n.p., as In Beige With White, No. 3.
c238
c238
In White with Beige No. 4 Alternative Title: In Beige with White No. 4 1968 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68
Artist’s Studio Number c68-5224
Artist’s Studio Number c68-432
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 11.
Provenance Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1969
Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969.
Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 12.
Artist’s Studio Number c68-423 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 16, as In Beige, with White No. 3.
136
collages
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 13. Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, 1969 (traveling), cat. no. 13, as In Beige with White, No. 4. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 33, illus. p. 81, as In Beige with White No. 4.
c239
Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969, as In Beige with White #4. Art Galleries, California State University, Long Beach, 1976, color illus. p. 17. References Bruner 1969, p. 1; Caws 1996b, p. 153, as In Beige with White No. 4.
c239
In Beige with Oval Alternative Title: In Beige with White Oval 1968 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68 Artist’s Studio Number c68-422 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 2. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 32, illus. p. 80, as In Beige with White Oval. Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969.
c240
Art Gallery, American Academy of Arts and Letters and National Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, 1970, cat. no. 53. References Kramer 1968, illus. sec. D, p. 37; Wasserman 1968, illus. p. 59; Caws 1996b, p. 153, as In Beige with White Oval.
c240
Beige Double Figuration 1968 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 30½ x 22⅛ in. (77.5 x 56.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68 Artist’s Studio Number c68-1492 Present Owner Collection of the Art Fund, Inc., at the Birmingham Museum of Art. Anonymous gift in honor of Gail Andrews Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003; [Christie’s, New York, March 16, 2006, lot 223, illus. (withdrawn)]; Birmingham Museum of Art, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 23. Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969. collag e s
137
c241
c242
c241
c242
c243
In Beige with Two Bands
Lise
1968 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
1968 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
Figuration with Greek Lettering
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68
1968 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm)
Recto, upper right [painted over]: [RM 68]
Artist’s Studio Number c68-428
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 68
Artist’s Studio Number c68-424
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number c68-1187; c68-1490
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments The title of this work refers to Motherwell’s younger daughter, Lise.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 9.
Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 10.
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 15.
Galerie im Erker, St. Gall, Switzerland, 1971 (traveling), cat. no. 21, illus. p. 50.
Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969.
David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973.
138
collages
c243
Comments The Greek lettering cited in the title of this work refers to the Greek script on the rectangular piece of white paper at the center of the composition, which is part of a carton or shipping box for Papastratos, a Greek brand of cigarettes. Motherwell may have acquired it when he traveled with his family to Greece during the summer of 1965.
c244
c244
Chalk Circle 1968 Pasted papers and ink on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM
including the I.H. series of 1970 (see w315–w339). The title of this collage probably refers to Bertolt Brecht’s play The Caucasian Chalk Circle (German: Der Kaukasische Kreidekreis), which was performed at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in New York City in the spring of 1966.
c245
c246
c245
c246
Figuration on Blue
In Beige, Ultramarine, and Green
1968 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 30¼ x 22 in. (76.8 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 68
1968/after 1983 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 29¾ x 21½ in. (75.6 x 54.6 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number c68-427
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised and inscribed: RM 68
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number c68-1291; c68-3592; c68-3668
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Comments The central collage element in this work is a torn fragment of a blackand-white proof of Motherwell’s 1967 lithograph 9: Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 56), to which a black gestural form has been added. The same print would be used in the Basque Suite series of prints (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 79–88), and in a related group of paintings on paper,
Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 11.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Artist’s Studio Number c68-425
Galerie im Erker, St. Gall, Switzerland, 1971 (traveling), cat. no. 22, illus. p. 42.
Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 4 (shown in early state). Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, 1969 (traveling), cat. no. 2 (shown in early state). Galerie im Erker, St. Gall, Switzerland, 1971 (traveling), cat. no. 20, color illus. p. 32 (in exhibition); shown in early state. collag e s
139
c247
Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969 (shown in early state). References Andreae 1968, illus. p. 14 (in early state); Kramer 1968, sec. D, p. 37; Mellow 1969, illus. p. 56 (in early state); Kramer 1973a, p. 344. Comments The title refers to an early state of this work, in which the horizontal form at the bottom was painted green. In the earliest state of this collage (reproduced in Andreae 1968), the central white element had not yet been added. The painted white area at the bottom was added after 1983; that area was still green when a studio inventory photograph was taken in 1983.
140
collages
c248
c249
c247
c248
c249
Untitled
Open with Figuration
French Collage
1968/ca. 1973 Acrylic, pasted papers, and crayon on paper 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
1968 Pasted papers on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm)
1968 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 6 x 8⅛ in. (15.2 x 20.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 68
Artist’s Studio Number c68-592
Verso: 1968 \ R. Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 68 Artist’s Studio Number c68-1325 Present Owner Private collection, Milwaukee Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Milwaukee, 2007
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007
Artist’s Studio Number c68-1178 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973.
Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 21.
Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 14.
Group Exhibitions Russell Bowman Art Advisory, Chicago, 2007.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 31, illus. p. 79.
William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, May 1979.
Comments The crayon lines were added to this work around 1973.
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 14, color illus. p. 5, as Open with Figure.
Comments The title of this work refers to the label from a watercolor block made by Sennelier, Paris; it is probably the same block that Motherwell used for a series of paintings on paper (w272–w288).
c250
c251
c250
c251
c252
[ Untitled (Chateau Cheval Blanc)]
Untitled
Art Bulletin Collage with Cross
1968 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm)
1968 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm)
1968 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right of painted area, incised and inscribed: RM 68 Artist’s Studio Number c60-593 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments One of the pasted papers in this collage is a label from a bottle of Chateau Cheval Blanc wine.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right of painted area, incised: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Robert Motherwell \ 68
Present Owner Kafka Family Collection
Verso (on strainer, reattached): “art bulletin collage, with cross” 1968 \ R. Motherwell
Provenance Kafka Family Collection, ca. 1968
Artist’s Studio Number c68-588
Comments Two of the pasted papers in this work are from a bottle of 1947 Volnay Clos des Ducs wine.
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 1. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 1.
c252
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 35, color illus. p. 40 (pl. 12), illus. p. 83. Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969. References Wasserman 1968, p. 59; Lebeer 1971, illus. p. 11; Baker 1973, sec. 2, p. 12; Caws 1996b, p. 159. Comments This work incorporates a page from an article by Jan van der Meulen, “Recent Literature on the Chronology of Chartres Cathedral,” Art Bulletin 49, no. 2 (June 1967): p. 153. The piece of bright red paper is from the same sheet used in three other collages (c253, c254, and c258). In 1967 Motherwell also did a series of paintings on paper in which he used pages from this same issue of the Art Bulletin as the support (see w246–w249).
Galerie im Erker, St. Gall, Switzerland, 1971 (traveling), cat. no. 19, color illus. p. 32 (in exhibition), illus. p. 34.
collag e s
141
c253
c253
Spoleto 1968 Acrylic, pasted paper, and graphite on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Robert Motherwell \ 68 Verso (on strainer, reattached) [partially crossed out]: “spoleto” \ 1968 R. Motherwell \ “[illegible]” 1968 Artist’s Studio Number c68-590 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 26, as Spoleto. Collage. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 9, as Festival.
142
collages
Galerie im Erker, St. Gall, Switzerland, 1971 (traveling), cat. no. 24, illus. p. 41. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 36, illus. p. 84. Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, October 2008. Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969, as Spoleto Collage. References Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 44. Comments The piece of bright red paper in this collage has a rectangular U form, typical of the Open series, drawn on it in pencil. (Pieces of the same red paper also appear in c252, c254, and c258.) This collage was used as the basis for a screen print and poster for the 1968 Spoleto Festival of the Two Worlds (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 60).
c254
c254
Bowes & Bowes with Green 1968/ca. 1973 Acrylic, pasted papers, crayon, and graphite on board 30½ x 22⅜ in. (77.5 x 56.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Robert Motherwell \ 68 Artist’s Studio Number c68-1521 Present Owner Gert W. Munthe, Oslo Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Gert W. Munthe, Oslo, 2009 Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973 (shown in early state). Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 3. Group Exhibitions Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, 2004, cat. no. 9, cover color illus. (detail).
Comments The large collage element in this work is part of a mailing wrapper from Bowes & Bowes booksellers in Cambridge, England, postmarked October 30, 1967. The small piece of bright red paper is from the same sheet as the red papers in c252, c253, and c258. The vertical lines were added around 1973.
c255
c256
c255
c256
c257
Provincetown: Stanley’s View
Orange Collage with Green
In Green with Gauloises
1968 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 33¼ x 30¼ in. (84.5 x 76.8 cm)
1968 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 30¾ x 22 in. (78.1 x 55.9 cm)
1968 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, center (on collage element): RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68 Artist’s Studio Number c68-1482; p68-1482
Present Owner Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Stanley Kunitz, 1968; Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, Mass., 2003
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
References Goodyear 2003, p. 109. Comments The title of this work refers to the poet Stanley Kunitz (1905–2006), to whom it was given as a birthday present and to whom it is inscribed on the piece of white paper at the center; Kunitz’s birthday was July 29.
Comments An earlier state of this work, reminiscent of the 1968 Beside the Sea series (w254–w261) and the Study in Watercolor series (w262–w267), is visible in the pentimenti. The green paper collage element has a serrated edge that suggests it was part of a paper shopping bag.
c257
Comments The title of this work refers to part of a Gauloises cigarette carton that is used as a collage element, set next to a piece of beige paper with the rectangular U form typical of the Open series drawn on it in pencil.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Robert Motherwell \ 68 Present Owner Collection of Constance and David Clapp Provenance Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, 1970; Constance and David Clapp Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 15. Marlborough Galleria d’Arte, Rome, 1969 (traveling). David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973. Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969.
collag e s
143
c258
c258
In Ochre with Gauloises 1968 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Robert Motherwell \ 1968 Artist’s Studio Number c68-585b Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2008 Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 116; Caws 1996b, pp. 123, 159.
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collages
Comments The small piece of bright red pasted paper in this collage is from the same sheet as the papers in c252–c254.
c259
c260
c259
c260
In Ochre with Gauloises
Untitled
1968 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
1968 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30¾ x 22 in. (78.1 x 55.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Robert Motherwell/1968
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Robert Motherwell \ 68
Artist’s Studio Number c68-585
Present Owner Private collection, Belgium
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Private collection; unknown owner, ca. 1985; [Christie’s, New York, May 10, 2006, lot 216, illus.]; private collection, Belgium, 2006
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 14. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 30, illus. p. 78. Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969.
Solo Exhibitions Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, 1992, color illus. p. 28.
c261
c261
c262
In Yellow Ochre with Two Blues
In Ochre with Cobalt
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 34, illus. p. 82.
c263
c263
In Ochre with Scarlet Spot
Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, June 2009.
1968 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 68
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Robert Motherwell \ 68
Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Robert Motherwell \ 68
Verso (on top horizontal strainer): in yellow ochre with two blues
Artist’s Studio Number c68-594
Artist’s Studio Number c68-589
Artist’s Studio Number c68-587
Present Owner Collection Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
References Wasserman 1968, p. 59; Caws 1996b, p. 159; Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 43.
1968 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm)
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
1968 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
c262
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2007
Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 20.
Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 16.
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1973, cat. no. 20.
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 18.
Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 27.
Galerie im Erker, St. Gall, Switzerland, 1971 (traveling), cat. no. 23, color illus. p. 32 (in exhibition).
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 3. Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, June 2009. Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969, erroneously as In Ochre with Scarlet Spots. References Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 42.
collag e s
145
c264
c264
Open, Bolton Landing 1969 Pasted papers on paper 25⅛ x 38⅝ in. (63.8 x 98.1 cm)
in Bolton Landing, in upstate New York, near Lake George. This is the only Open image made entirely of paper, with no paint or drawing.
c265
Untitled 1969 Pasted papers on Upson board 44½ x 29 in. (113 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 69
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R. Motherwell
Artist’s Studio Number c69-609
Artist’s Studio Number c64-3800
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 37, illus. p. 85.
Comments Previously dated 1964 (Engberg and Banach 2003, p. 102), this collage was done in Provincetown during the summer of 1969 and used as a maquette for the Juilliard School poster (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 64), which was published that October. The small piece of sheet music at the center of the composition comes from Beethoven’s String Quartet no. 16 in F major, op. 135, in which the composer famously wrote “Muss es sein? Es muss sein! Es muss
Comments This collage was a study for Black 4 in Motherwell’s livre d’artiste, A la pintura (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 115). It also served as a model for Open No. 121: Bolton Landing Elegy, 1969 (p504). The sculptor David Smith lived
146
collages
c265
sein!” (Must it be? It must be! It must be!) in the manuscript of the last movement. In a 1969 interview Motherwell told Arthur Cohen that he had wanted to use music by the American composer Charles Ives for this poster, but that the Juilliard School suggested the Beethoven score instead (see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). This is the first collage in which Motherwell used sheet music.
c266
c266
Tree of My Window 1969–70 Acrylic and pasted paper on Upson board 44 x 28½ in. (111.8 x 72.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: R. Motherwell 69 Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “tree of my window” (robert frost) Artist’s Studio Number p69-1233 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1988
Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, color illus. n.p. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 17, illus. p. 17. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1985 (traveling), cat. no. 76, color illus. p. 6 (fig. 5). References Arnason 1976, p. 20, illus. p. 14; Arnason 1977b, p. 80, color illus. n.p. (pl. 213); Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Arnason 1982, p. 80, illus. p. 79 (pl. 70); Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 174; Swift 1987, sec. A, p. 5; Tucker 1987, sec. 2, p. 8; Zimmer 1987, illus. sec. 23, p. 34; Pleynet 1989b, p. 57, color illus. p. 117; Caws 1996b, pp. 109, 159, illus. p. 108; Caws 2003, pp. 107, 108, illus. p. 107 (ill. 70).
Comments This collage was started in 1969, around the same time that Motherwell worked on the collage for the Juilliard School poster (c265). It contains the same kind of brown paper with an opening onto the same small piece of sheet music from Beethoven’s String Quartet no. 16 in F major, op. 135. It is also the same atypical size. The paint in this collage was probably added after Motherwell began to settle into his Greenwich studio in the spring of 1970; it is one of the first works that he completed there. The title refers to an especially pensive poem by Robert Frost, “Tree at My Window.”
c267
[ Untitled (Green, White, and Blue with Black Gesture)] Alternative Title: {Untitled (Gesture)} 1970 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 29¾ x 21½ in. (75.6 x 54.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R Motherwell 70 Verso: R. Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number c70-612 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007
collag e s
147
c267
Solo Exhibitions Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, December 2005 (traveling), cat. no. 7, as Untitled (Gesture). Comments The collage elements in this work are not immediately apparent. They include several different kinds of paper that were pasted into the center of the composition and painted blue, prior to the addition of the black gestural form.
c268
Gauloises 1970 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas paper 11¾ x 8¾ in. (29.8 x 22.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R Motherwell 70 Verso: For dear Bernard Reis \ on his 75th birthday \ from his friend \ Bob Motherwell \ May 1970 Present Owner Mr. Igal Ahouvi Provenance Bernard Reis, New York, 1970; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, May 17, 1979, lot 535, illus.]; private collection, Boston, 1979; private collection; John H. Surovek Gallery, Inc., Palm Beach, Fla., 1982; private collection, 1983; private collection, 1993; [Christie’s, New York, November 19, 1997, lot 215, illus.]; Crane Kalman Gallery, London, 1997; Igal Ahouvi, 2006
148
collages
c268
Group Exhibitions Crane Kalman Gallery at Art 30 Basel, Switzerland, 1999 (traveling), cat. no. 47, color illus. p. 46. Comments The title of this work refers to the torn Gauloises package that is used as a collage element. The verso inscription is to Bernard Reis, a friend of Motherwell’s since the early 1940s and his longtime accountant.
c269
c269
Lightolier 1970 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 11¾ x 8⅞ in. (29.8 x 22.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 70 Artist’s Studio Number c70-228 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Nathalie Obadia, Paris, 2006; private collection, 2007 Comments The title of this work refers to the blue Lightolier brand travel lamp package that is used as one of the collage elements.
c270
c271
c272
c270
c271
c272
c273
Untitled
Pinkness
Untitled
Gauloises with Red and Green
1970 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper mounted on board 16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5 cm)
1970 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5 cm)
1970–71 Acrylic and pasted paper on board 44 x 28¾ in. (111.8 x 73 cm)
1971 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 20 x 15½ in. (50.8 x 39.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 70
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM 71
Verso (on backing board): “Pinkness”
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: Motherwell \ 70
Artist’s Studio Number c70-230
Recto, upper left [painted over]: [Motherwell \ 71]
Present Owner Samuel Asher Brock 2006 Trust
Present Owner Lilly Annabelle Brock 2003 Trust
Present Owner Phyllis and Stuart G. Moldaw
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Samuel Asher Brock 2006 Trust, 2006
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Lilly Annabelle Brock 2003 Trust, 2006
Provenance Unknown owner; private collection, before 1992; Phyllis and Stuart G. Moldaw, 1995
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 70 Artist’s Studio Number c70-1508
References Baron and Peck 2005, color illus. p. 85 (fig. 5.15).
Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 51, illus. p. 77. David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973. Comments The sole collage element in this work is the irregularly shaped piece of paper at the upper right, which has been painted a pinkish beige.
Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Galef Provenance Tibor de Nagy Gallery, 1973; Andrew Crispo Gallery, Inc.; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, February 22, 1986, lot 90, illus.]; unknown owner, 1986; [Sotheby’s, New York, October 4, 1990, lot 102, illus. (not sold)]; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 4, 1993, lot 303, illus.]; Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Galef, 1993 Solo Exhibitions Tibor de Nagy Gallery, Houston, 1974. Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Tex., 1975.
collag e s
149
c273
Comments This work, dated 1971, anticipates the collages that Motherwell would develop in 1972, which contain a Gauloises cigarette package silhouetted against a monochromatic ground. For more on this extended series of works, see the Comments for Gauloises with Scarlet No. 1 (c290).
David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973.
c275
Suchard on Orange No. 1
Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979.
Suchard on Orange No. 2
1971–72 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on Upson board 41 x 32¼ in. (104.1 x 81.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Present Owner Unknown Provenance Galerie Lawrence Rubin AG, Zurich, 1988; [Christie’s, New York, November 19, 1997, lot 230, illus. (not sold)]; [Christie’s, New York, November 14, 2001, lot 155, illus.]; Oak Brook Bank, 2001; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 11, 2006, lot 211, illus.]; unknown owner, 2006; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 15, 2007, lot 270, illus.]; unknown owner, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 25.
collages
c275
c274
Artist’s Studio Number c71-1005
150
c274
References Morgan 1997, p. 113, erroneously as Suchard on Orange with Blue. Comments This is the first numbered work in a series whose title refers to the blue Suchard Bittra Swiss chocolate wrapper near the center of the composition. The first three numbered works in this series (see also c275 and c276) are visible in their early states in Michael Blackwood’s documentary Robert Motherwell: Summer of 1971. Numbers 4 to 7 in the series were done in 1973 (c406–c409). The compositional format of the works in this series echoes both the 1960 collage The French Line (c124) and the Open series, and anticipates the 1972 German Line collages (c352–c363).
1971–72 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on Upson board 41 x 32½ in. (104.1 x 82.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: Motherwell 72 Present Owner Marilyn and Charles Baillie Provenance Private collection, 1973; Marilyn and Charles Baillie, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 21. David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973. References Franzke 1994, p. 11, color illus. p. 12 (fig. 13). Comments This work is visible in an early state in Michael Blackwood’s documentary Robert Motherwell: Summer of 1971 (see Filmography).
c276
c276
Suchard on Orange No. 3 1971–72 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on Upson board 40½ x 32 in. (102.9 x 81.3 cm)
Comments This work is visible in an early state in Michael Blackwood’s documentary Robert Motherwell, which was filmed during the summer of 1971 (see Filmography).
c277
c277
Matte Medium 1972/ca. 1989 Acrylic, charcoal, graphite, and pasted canvas on canvas board 37½ x 25 in. (95.3 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 72
Present Owner Fisher Collection, New York
Artist’s Studio Number c72-1236
Provenance Private collection, ca. 1973; Fisher Collection, New York, 1993
Present Owner Private collection
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1993, cat. no. 2, erroneously as The German Line #3 (or Suchard On Orange #3). Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, June 1993, cat. no. 7, erroneously as The German Line No. 3 (or Suchard on Orange No. 3).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Hackett|Mill, San Francisco, 2002; private collection, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 39, illus. p. 87; shown in early state. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977 (shown in early state).
Group Exhibitions Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, 2003, cover color illus. (detail), color illus. p. 9. References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 118 (in early state); Caws 1996b, p. 161, illus. p. 163; Caws 2003, p. 170, color illus. p. 170 (ill. 121). Comments The canvas collage element near the lower right center of this work contains three vertical lines drawn in charcoal. Each line has a notation written under it in the artist’s hand: “Krylon”; “Krylon + matte medium”; and “matte medium.” These are notations about the different Krylon brand fixatives Motherwell was testing on the charcoal lines. The blues at the top and bottom of the composition were added before November 1989, when the work was consigned to Knoedler & Company.
Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 43, color illus. p. 51.
collag e s
151
c278
c279
c280
c278
c279
c280
c281
Untitled
Muss Es Sein? No. 1
Muss Es Sein? No. 2
L’Art Vivant
1972 Acrylic and pasted paper on Upson board 45 x 29½ in. (114.3 x 74.9 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted paper on board 43¾ x 28¾ in. (111.1 x 73 cm)
1972 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on board 43¾ x 28¾ in. (111.1 x 73 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 40 x 27 in. (101.6 x 68.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: Motherwell
Present Owner Collection of Andrew and Christine Hall
Present Owner Collection of Robert W. Johnson IV
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72 Artist’s Studio Number c71-1202 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004 Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
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collages
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72 Present Owner Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Stacy Roback Provenance Private collection, 1979; Dr. and Mrs. Stacy Roback Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973. Comments The title of this collage comes from the sheet music fragment, which is from Beethoven’s String Quartet no. 16 in F major, op. 135, in which the composer famously wrote, “Muss es sein? Es muss sein! Es muss sein!” (Must it be? It must be! It must be!). This music first appeared in Untitled (c265).
Provenance David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973; private collection, 1973; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 14, 1991, lot 310, illus.]; Andrew and Christine Hall, 1991 Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973. References Arnason 1976, p. 25, illus. p. 14; Arnason 1977b, pp. 83, 84, color illus. n.p. (pl. 238); Arnason 1982, pp. 83–84, illus. p. 82 (pl. 75).
Provenance Galerie Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland, 1974; Estudio Actual, 1975; Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York, 2002; private collection, 2003; Robert W. Johnson IV, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 38, illus. p. 86. Group Exhibitions Galerie Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland, 1974, cat. no. 1, color illus. frontispiece. Estudio Actual, Caracas, Venezuela, 1975.
c281
c282
CDS Gallery, New York, 1993.
c282
c283
CDS Gallery, New York, 1994.
Untitled
Sih
CDS Gallery, New York, 1995.
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 9⅝ x 6½ in. (24.4 x 16.5 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
CDS Gallery, New York, 1997. CDS Gallery, New York, 1999. References Pleynet 1991, p. 19; Caws 1996b, p. 161; Pleynet 1998, p. 93. Comments The title of this collage refers to the torn mailing envelope from the French art publication Chroniques de l’art vivant. Motherwell was featured in the magazine’s July–August 1971 issue, which published an interview with him conducted by Irmeline Lebeer (see Lebeer 1971).
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: Robert Motherwell \ 72
Comments This collage was created in St. Gall, Switzerland, early in 1972. Its title refers to the large blue collage element, which is from a pad of German drawing paper with the letters “sih” visible on the left.
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Present Owner Erker-Galerie, Ltd.
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Erker-Galerie, Ltd., 1972
Provenance Erker-Galerie, Ltd., 1972; private collection; Posner Gallery, Inc.; Pascal de Sarthe Fine Art, ca. 1990; Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, LLC, 2001; MB Financial Bank; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 16, 2007, lot 205, illus.]; unknown owner, 2007
Comments This collage was created early in 1972 in St. Gall, Switzerland, where Motherwell went to sign several editions of prints he had created there the previous June. The dedication incised into the paint at the lower left is to Jürg Janett, then a co-owner of the Galerie im Erker in St. Gall.
c283
Group Exhibitions Pascal de Sarthe Gallery, Los Angeles, 1992.
collag e s
153
c287
c284
c285
c286
c288
c284
c285
c286
c287
Chocmel and Gauloises
Chocmel
Mercurey
Untitled
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 19¾ x 15¾ in. (50.2 x 40 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas 21½ x 18½ in. (54.6 x 47 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas board 18 x 14 in. (45.7 x 35.6 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on particleboard 12¼ x 12 in. (31.1 x 30.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: Motherwell \ 72
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: Motherwell \ 72 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Erker-Galerie, Ltd., 1972; private collection; Posner Gallery, Inc.; Pascal de Sarthe Fine Art, ca. 1989; Knoedler & Company, 1991; private collection, 1997 Comments This collage was created in St. Gall, Switzerland, early in 1972. Its title comes from the wrapper for Chocmel, a Swiss chocolate candy, which is placed above the torn Gauloises package.
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collages
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: Motherwell \ 72 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Erker-Galerie, Ltd., 1972; private collection; unknown owner; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 15, 2008, lot 177, illus.]; private collection, 2008 Group Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, 1993. Comments This collage was created in St. Gall, Switzerland, early in 1972. The collage element is a wrapper for Chocmel, a Swiss chocolate candy.
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Erker-Galerie, Ltd., 1972; private collection; Pascal de Sarthe Fine Art, ca. 1996; private collection; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 18, 1998, lot 254, illus.]; private collection, 1998 Comments This collage was created in St. Gall, Switzerland, early in 1972. Its title refers to the label from a bottle of Mercurey, a French Burgundy wine, near the center.
Verso: Robert Motherwell \ St Gall \ 1972 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, ca. 1972; private collection; Martin and Mimi Lipton, 1995; private collection, 1998; private collection, ca. 2007 Comments This collage was created in St. Gall, Switzerland, early in 1972. The collage element at its center is part of a Gauloises cigarette package.
c289
c288
c289
Untitled
Gauloises with Scarlet
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on particleboard 12¼ x 12 in. (31.1 x 30.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Verso: Robert Motherwell \ St Gall \ 1972 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, ca. 1972; private collection; Martin and Mimi Lipton, 1995; private collection, 1998; private collection, ca. 2007 Comments This collage was created in St. Gall, Switzerland, early in 1972. The collage element at its center is part of a Gauloises cigarette package.
Group Exhibitions CDS Gallery, New York, October 1982.
c290
1972/1982 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas 14 x 10 in. (35.6 x 25.4 cm)
References Zimmer 1987, sec. 23, p. 34; Caws 1996b, illus. p. 160, color illus. n.p.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM
Comments This collage was the first work in the Gauloises with Scarlet series, in which the titles vary somewhat; they are sometimes given as Scarlet with Gauloises, Gauloises on Scarlet, and so forth. Subsequent works in the series were given numbers; see the Comments for Gauloises with Scarlet No. 1 (c290). Around October 1982, Motherwell painted the red ground in a bit closer to the Gauloises package.
1972/1982 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Verso: Robert Motherwell \ 11 Feb 1972 Artist’s Studio Number c72-289 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1985 (traveling); shown in Greenwich only.
Gauloises with Scarlet No. 1
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72 Verso: Robert Motherwell \ 19 June 1972 #1 Artist’s Studio Number c72-240 Present Owner Marilyn and Charles Baillie Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 13, 2003, lot 188, illus.]; Chad Leat, New York, 2003; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 15,
collag e s
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c290
2007, lot 268, illus.]; Marilyn and Charles Baillie, 2007 Group Exhibitions Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery at Hunter College, New York, 2003, color illus. p. 27, color illus. p. 45 (in exhibition). References Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 230, in progress). Comments When Motherwell began his Gauloises with Scarlet collages (sometimes titled Scarlet with Gauloises, Gauloises on Scarlet, and so forth), he had already been using Gauloises cigarette packages in his collages since 1956 (see c66) and had included them in a number of his 1967 collages (see the Comments for c184). The first of the Gauloises works in which the blue Gauloises package is set on a red ground was done in February 1972 (c289); in June, Motherwell followed it with a series of twenty-four numbered works in which the torn Gauloises packages were set on painted red grounds. Throughout
156
collages
that summer, he did other collages with Gauloises wrappers set on gray and blue grounds, which continued the numbering of the Gauloises with Scarlet series, beginning with no. 26 (c315). These were followed by several series of Gauloises collages on variously colored grounds, including blue, blue and green, yellow, and red over yellow. The numbering of the red Gauloises series was sometimes contradictory and confusing. This is largely because, starting with the exhibition of these works at the Gertrude Kasle Gallery in December 1972, some of them were exhibited with numbers different from those originally assigned by Motherwell. In the following entries for the works in the series, we have tried to reestablish the correct numbering sequences, but this has not always been possible, since the versos of some works could not be seen. The composition of Gauloises with Scarlet No. 1 was slightly modified around October 1982, when Motherwell painted the red ground in a bit closer to the Gauloises package.
c291
(The ochre color visible in the incised lines and as a “halo” around the Gauloises package in this and other works in the series is the color of the Upson board support showing through.) Four related works were modified in a similar manner around the same time: Gauloises with Scarlet (c289); Scarlet with Gauloises No. 4 (c293); Gauloises on Scarlet No. 6 (c295); and Gauloises on Scarlet over Yellow No. 3 (c333). Motherwell’s theme-and-variation approach to this series reflects his increased involvement with print making during the early 1970s.
c292
c291
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 2 1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72 Verso: Robert Motherwell \ 19 June 1972 #2 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1972; unknown owner, ca. 1977; Diane de Harter, Florida, 1991; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 16, 2007, lot 137, illus.]; unknown owner, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1972, cat. no. 10, erroneously as Scarlet and Gauloises No. 24. Dart Gallery, Chicago, 1976, cat. no. 8, erroneously as Scarlet with Gauloises No. 15.
c293
c294
c295
c292
c293
c294
c295
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 3
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 4
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 5
Gauloises on Scarlet No. 6
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15⅜ in. (49.5 x 39.1 cm)
1972/1982 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM \ 72
Alternative Title: Scarlet with Gauloises No. 6 1972/1982 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Present Owner Private collection. Courtesy Locks Gallery, Philadelphia
Artist’s Studio Number c72-242
Present Owner Private collection
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Private collection, 1973; private collection, 1987
Artist’s Studio Number c72-241
Provenance David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1972; private collection Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004 Group Exhibitions National Academy of Design, New York, 1973. Comments The composition of this work was slightly modified around October 1982, when Motherwell painted the red ground in a bit closer to the Gauloises package.
Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1972. References Zell and Burstein 1988, color illus. p. 56.
Present Owner Collection of Aaron Milrad Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Aaron Milrad, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 30, illus. p. 24; shown in early state, erroneously as Gauloises with Scarlet No. 24. John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1973, cat. no. 18 (shown in early state).
collag e s
157
c296
Images Gallery, Toledo, Ohio, 1974 (shown in early state), as Scarlet with Gauloises #6. Group Exhibitions Acquavella Contemporary Art, New York, 1975 (shown in early state). References Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 229, in early state, as Gauloises with Scarlet No. 6); Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 119 (in early state, as Gauloises with Scarlet No. 6); Caws 2003, pp. 56, 169, color illus. p. 57 (ill. 41). Comments The composition of this work was slightly modified around October 1982, when Motherwell painted the red ground in a bit closer to the Gauloises package.
c296
Scarlet with Gauloises Blue No. 7 1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised [partially obscured by framing mat]: RM \ [72] Present Owner Unknown Provenance The artist Solo Exhibitions Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 41, illus. p. 89. References Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Bulletin 1972, p. 89, as In Scarlet with Gauloises; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Calendar 1972, n.p., as In Scarlet with Gauloises; Supplément à la Gazette des Beaux Arts 1973, p. 19, as In Scarlet with Gauloises.
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collages
c297
Comments Our reproduction comes from an early color slide of this work. We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
c298
c297
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 8 1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15⅜ in. (49.5 x 39.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM \ 72 Present Owner Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto Provenance Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, 1973 Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973.
c299
c300
c301
c298
c299
c300
c301
Gauloises on Scarlet No. 9
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 10
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 11
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 12
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
1972–74 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19¾ x 15¾ in. (50.2 x 40 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72
Present Owner Stephens, Inc.
Present Owner Permanent collection of the Wriston Art Gallery, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM 72 Present Owner Collection of Robert F. and Patricia Ross Weis Provenance Private collection, New York, 1972; [Christie’s, New York, November 18, 1981, lot 171, illus.]; Robert F. and Patricia Ross Weis, 1981
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 72 Present Owner Family of Mary A. Pengra Provenance Mary A. Pengra, ca. 1972; Family of Mary A. Pengra, ca. 1998 Comments According to the present owner of this work, it is inscribed on the verso as number 10 in the Gauloises with Scarlet series and dated June 27, 1972; but we do not know whether this inscription is in Motherwell’s hand. In the early 1970s, Motherwell traded this work for his early painting Descent from the Cross (see ew.XIII in volume 1), which was then owned by his first cousin Mary Pengra. According to a letter from a close relative, “He did not want that figurative painting out there as part of the official legacy” (Dedalus Foundation Archives).
Provenance Private collection, 1973; Mr. and Mrs. Frederick A. Embry, 1975; private collection, 1978; Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York, 1980; Stephens, Inc., 1982 Solo Exhibitions Tibor de Nagy Gallery, Houston, 1974. Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Tex., 1975. Douglas Drake Gallery, Kansas City, Mo., 1978.
Provenance Private collection, 1974; Wriston Art Gallery, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis., 1980 Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1972, erroneously as Scarlet and Gauloises No. 25.
Group Exhibitions Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, 1988, color illus. p. 87, as Scarlet with Gauloises. References Melcher 1978, p. 3. collag e s
159
c302
c303
c302
c303
c304
Gauloises with Scarlet No. 13
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 14
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 15
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15⅜ in. (49.5 x 39.1 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72
Artist’s Studio Number c72-236
Present Owner Private collection of Barbara and Gene Spector
Verso: Robert Motherwell \ #15 \ 29 June 1972
Present Owner Collection of Lynn K. Altman Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Lynn K. Altman, 1999 References Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 228, as Gauloises on Scarlet No. 13).
Provenance David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1972; private collection, 1973; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, October 19, 1973, lot 104, illus.]; Greenberg Gallery, Saint Louis, 1973; Barbara and Gene Spector, 1982 Solo Exhibitions Washington University Gallery of Art, Saint Louis, 1995, cat. no. 12, as Scarlet with Gauloise #14. Group Exhibitions Washburn Gallery, New York, 1980, illus. n.p., as Scarlet with Gauloise.
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collages
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Gertrude Kasle, 1973; [Christie’s, New York, November 19, 1992, lot 291, illus. (not sold)]; private collection, 1992 Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1972. Group Exhibitions Meadow Brook Art Gallery, Oakland University, Rochester, Mich., 1976, cat. no. 31, erroneously as Scarlet with Gauloise #16.
c304
c305
c306
c307
c305
c306
c307
c308
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 16
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 17
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 18
Gauloises with Scarlet No. 19
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM 72
Present Owner Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto
Present Owner Private collection
Verso: Robert Motherwell \ 30 June 1972 \ #19
Provenance Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, 1974
Provenance Rose and Charles F. Gibbs, M.D., 1974; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, May 9, 1984, lot 186, illus.]; Marisa del Re Gallery, Inc., 1984; Pascal de Sarthe Fine Art, ca. 1987; private collection, ca. 1988
Verso not seen [“titled and dated 30 June 1972 on the reverse,” per Sotheby Parke Bernet 1981]
Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1974, cat. no. 17.
Present Owner Unknown Provenance Parker Street 470 Gallery, Boston, 1973; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, May 12, 1981, lot 43, illus.]; Knoedler & Company, 1981; private collection, 1984; unknown owner, ca. 1984
Artist’s Studio Number c72-234; c72-5193 Present Owner Private collection, Rome Provenance Private collection, 1978; Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, and Greenberg Gallery, Saint Louis, 1979; John C. Stoller & Co., Minnesota, 1980; Darwin and Geri Reedy, Dellwood, Minn., 1980; [Christie’s, New York, May 4, 1989, lot 203, illus.]; private collection, Beverly Hills, Calif., 1989; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles; private collection, New York; private collection, Rome, 2006
collag e s
161
c308
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 5. Rosenbaum Contemporary, Gallery Center, Boca Raton, Fla., 2006. Group Exhibitions Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1979.
c309
c310
c309
c310
c311
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 20
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 22
Gauloises on Scarlet No. 23
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15⅜ in. (49.5 x 39.1 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72
Alternative Title: Scarlet with Gauloises Blue No. 23 1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Collection of Marsha and Jeffrey Miro
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM \ 72
Provenance Private collection, 1973; unknown owner
Provenance David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1972; Marsha and Jeffrey Miro, 1972
Present Owner Unknown
Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973.
Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1972.
Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white photograph of this work taken around 1973 (studio inventory photo no. ph 28-8).
References Volboudt 1973b, illus. p. 83.
Provenance André Emmerich Gallery, 1974; private collection, 1974; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 31. John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1973, cat. no. 19. Galerie André Emmerich, Zurich, 1974, cover color illus., as Scarlet with Gauloises Blue #23.
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collages
c311
c312
References Staber 1974–75, color illus. p. 116.
c312
c313
Scarlet with Gauloises No. 23
Gauloises on Scarlet No. 24
Comments The number 23 was given to two works in the Gauloises with Scarlet series (see c312). Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1974 Galerie André Emmerich exhibition catalogue.
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
Alternative Title: Scarlet with Gauloises No. 24 1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised [partially obscured by framing mat]: RM 7[2] Present Owner Unknown Provenance David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1972; private collection, 1973; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973. Comments The number 23 was given to two works in the Gauloises with Scarlet series (see c311). Our reproduction comes from a black-and-white photograph of this work taken around 1973 (studio inventory photo no. ph 28-9).
c313
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM \ 72 Artist’s Studio Number c72-239 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 1999 Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 29. References Art in Embassies 1980, illus. n.p., as Scarlet with Gauloises No. 24.
collag e s
163
c314
c315
c316
c316
c314
c315
Scarlet with Gauloises
Gauloises on Grey No. 26
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 20 x 15¾ in. (50.8 x 40 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19 x 15½ in. (48.3 x 39.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM 72
Recto, lower right, incised: 72
Verso: Robert Motherwell \ #26 \ 9 July 1972
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number c72-231
Provenance Private collection, 1973; unknown owner
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection; Robert Borlenghi, Beverly Hills, Calif., 1980; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 13, 1980, lot 62, illus.]; private collection, 1980
Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Mark L. Brock, Concord, Mass. Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mr. and Mrs. Mark L. Brock, Concord, Mass., 2007 Solo Exhibitions Current Editions, Seattle, 1973. Knoedler & Company, New York, 1974, cat. no. 18.
164
collages
References Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 231). Comments This is the first work in the Gauloises on Grey series; the numbering continues that of the Gauloises with Scarlet series.
Gauloises on Grey No. 27 1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM 72
Solo Exhibitions Tibor de Nagy Gallery, Houston, 1974. Comments Our reproduction comes from an early color slide of this work.
c317
c317
Gauloises on Grey No. 28 1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19⅞ x 15⅞ in. (50.5 x 40.3 cm)
Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1974, illus. p. 56. References Virginia Museum Bulletin 1974, cover illus.
c318
c318
c319
Gauloises on Grey No. 29
Grey with Gauloises Blue No. 30
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 23½ x 9¾ in. (59.7 x 24.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM
Verso: Robert Motherwell \ #28 \ 9 July 1972
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number c72-232
Provenance The artist
Present Owner Private collection
Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white photograph of this work taken around 1973 (studio inventory photo no. ph 32-11). We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, New York, 2005; [Christie’s, New York, November 14, 2007, lot 151, illus.]; private collection, 2007
c319
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 29¼ x 11½ in. (74.3 x 29.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1975 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 42, illus. p. 90.
Solo Exhibitions Current Editions, Seattle, 1973.
collag e s
165
c320
c320
Gauloises on Grey No. 1 1972/ca. 1983 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on Upson board 30 x 12 in. (76.2 x 30.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72 Artist’s Studio Number c72-2983 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 33 (shown in early state). Current Editions, Seattle, 1973 (shown in early state). Galerie André Emmerich, Zurich, 1974 (shown in early state).
166
collages
Comments This work was given the number 1 in the Gauloises on Grey series, but other works in that series continue the numbering from the Gauloises with Scarlet series. The red and white paint and the graphite lines near the collage element were added sometime around November 1983 (see also c337 and c343).
c321
c322
c321
c322
Ultramarine with Gauloises No. 1
Ultramarine with Gauloises No. 2
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 29¼ x 11⅝ in. (74.3 x 29.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72
Present Owner Collection of Dr. Robert L. Josephson
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Dr. Robert L. Josephson, 1973
Provenance Private collection, 1973; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, October 20, 1977, lot 228C, illus.]; unknown owner, 1977 Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973. Comments Our reproduction of this work comes from a black-and-white illustration in the 1977 Sotheby Parke Bernet auction catalogue.
c323
c323
Gauloises on Green and Ultramarine No. 1 1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19⅞ x 15⅞ in. (50.5 x 40.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM \ 72 Artist’s Studio Number c72-235 Present Owner Alexis C. Manice Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York, 2004; private collection, 2004; [Sotheby’s, New York, September 10, 2008, lot 133, illus. (not sold)]; [Doyle, New York, May 19, 2009, lot 160, illus.]; Alexis C. Manice, 2009 Group Exhibitions Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York, 2005.
References Caws 2003, pp. 105, 106, 118, 122, 134. Comments As with the other series of Gauloises collages from this period, the wording in the titles of the Gauloises on Green and Ultramarine series sometimes varies (see, for example, Gauloises on Green with Ultramarine No. 3, c326).
c324
c325
c324
c325
Gauloises on Green and Ultramarine No. 2
Gauloises on Green and Ultramarine No. 3
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 20 x 15⅞ in. (50.8 x 40.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 23 July 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM 72
Artist’s Studio Number c72-233 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection; Miriam Shiell Fine Art, 2002; private collection, 2002 References Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 232).
Artist’s Studio Number c72-243 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Knoedler & Company, 2005; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2006; private collection, 2007 Group Exhibitions Buecker & Harpsichords, New York, 1976. References Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 233).
collag e s
167
c326
Comments The number 3 in the Gauloises on Green with Ultramarine series was assigned to two works, this one and c326, which was given the slightly different title Gauloises on Green with Ultramarine No. 3.
c327
c328
Gauloises on Green with Ultramarine No. 3
Gauloises on Green with Ultramarine No. 4
Untitled
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 20 x 15⅞ in. (50.8 x 40.3 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM 7 \ 2
Artist’s Studio Number c72-238
Artist’s Studio Number c72-237
Present Owner Collection of John Daly, Dublin
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Private collection, New York, 1972; private collection, 1981; Caroline Hirsch
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; John Daly, Dublin, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005
References Greenberg Gallery 1989, color illus. p. 29.
Comments The number 3 in the Gauloises on Green with Ultramarine series was assigned to two works, this one and c325, which was given the slightly different title Gauloises on Green and Ultramarine No. 3. collages
c328
c326
Group Exhibitions Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin, November 2005.
168
c327
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72 Present Owner Private collection of Caroline Hirsch
c329
c329
Gauloises on Yellow No. 1 1972/1983 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 15 in. (76.2 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72 Artist’s Studio Number c72-245 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. [26 or 28] (shown in early state), as Gauloises on Yellow.
title and seen in photographs of that time (studio inventory photo no. ph 58-6); the blues were added in 1983. Both this work and Gauloises on Yellow No. 2 (c330) were shown without numbers at Princeton in 1973; we are not sure which number in the catalogue was assigned to this work.
c330
c330
Gauloises on Yellow No. 2 1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 29¼ x 14½ in. (74.3 x 36.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 72 Artist’s Studio Number 7655
taken around 1973 (studio inventory photo no. ph 58-5). We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here. Both this work and Gauloises on Yellow No. 1 (c329) were shown without numbers at Princeton in 1973; we are not sure which number in the catalogue was assigned to this work.
Present Owner Unknown Provenance The artist Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. [26 or 28], as Gauloises on Yellow. John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1973, cat. no. 17.
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1973, cat. no. 16 (shown in early state).
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1975.
Comments The painted area surrounding the Gauloises package in this collage was originally all yellow, as reflected in the
Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1976. Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white photograph of this work collag e s
169
c331
c332
c331
c332
c333
Gauloises on Scarlet over Yellow No. 1
Gauloises on Scarlet over Yellow No. 2
Gauloises on Scarlet over Yellow No. 3
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 24 x 10 in. (61 x 25.4 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 29½ x 14¼ in. (74.9 x 36.2 cm)
1972/1982 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 15 in. (76.2 x 38.1 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number c72-244
Provenance Private collection, 1975
Present Owner Private collection
Solo Exhibitions Current Editions, Seattle, 1973.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 14, 2003, lot 154, illus.]; Evelyn Aimis Fine Art, 2003; private collection, 2004; private collection, 2004
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM 72 Present Owner Private collection, Palm Beach, Fla. Provenance Private collection, 1979; [Sotheby’s, New York, February 19, 1988, lot 165, illus.]; private collection, Palm Beach, Fla., 1988 Solo Exhibitions Current Editions, Seattle, 1973. Group Exhibitions Galerie Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland, 1976, cat. no. 57, as Scarlet with Gauloises.
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collages
Comments The composition of this work was slightly modified around October 1982, when Motherwell painted the red ground in a bit closer to the Gauloises package. The title Gauloises on Scarlet over Yellow No. 3 was also given to c334.
c333
c334
c335
c336
c334
c335
c336
c337
Gauloises on Scarlet over Yellow No. 3
Gauloises on Scarlet over Yellow No. 4
[ Untitled (Red, Grey)]
Gauloises on Blue and Green No. 1
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 15 in. (76.2 x 38.1 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 15 in. (76.2 x 38.1 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM 72
Present Owner Seattle Art Museum. Bequest of Margery S. Friedlander
Artist’s Studio Number c72-2674
Provenance Margery S. Friedlander; Seattle Art Museum, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Current Editions, Seattle, 1973. Comments The title Gauloises on Scarlet over Yellow No. 3 was given both to this work and to c333.
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003
1972 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas board 30 x 15 in. (76.2 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72 Verso: Robert Motherwell \ 30 June 1972 Artist’s Studio Number c72-462 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
1972/ca. 1983 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 29¼ x 11¾ in. (74.3 x 29.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 72 Artist’s Studio Number c72-246 Present Owner Unknown Provenance The artist Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 36 (shown in early state). John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1973, cat. no. 14 (shown in early state). Images Gallery, Toledo, Ohio, 1974 (shown in early state).
collag e s
171
c337
Comments The ochre, red, and white passages in the area immediately surrounding the Gauloises package in this work were probably added around 1983, as was the case with c320 and c343. We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
c338
c339
c340
Gauloises on Blue and Green No. 2
Green with Gauloises
Gauloises with Green
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 23½ x 9¾ in. (59.7 x 24.8 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 23⅜ x 9⅝ in. (59.4 x 24.4 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 23½ x 9¾ in. (59.7 x 24.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72
Present Owner Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University Collection. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Armand J. Castellani, 1981
Present Owner Audrey and James C. Foster
Artist’s Studio Number c72-249
Provenance Hanford Yang, 1973; Audrey and James C. Foster, 2002
Present Owner Private collection
Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 34, illus. p. 73. Current Editions, Seattle, 1973.
c ollages
c340
c338
Provenance Virginia and Bagley Wright, 1973; [Christie’s, New York, May 23, 1978, lot 60, illus.]; Dr. and Mrs. Armand J. Castellani, 1978; Castellani Art Museum, Niagara University, New York, 1981
172
c339
Provenance Private collection, ca. 1984
c341
c342
c341
c342
c343
Gauloises on Blue No. 1
Ultramarine with Gauloises
Painting with Gauloises Bleu
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 23½ x 10 in. (59.7 x 25.4 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 24 x 10 in. (61 x 25.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72
Alternative Title: Gauloises and Sienna 1972/ca. 1983 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 12 in. (76.2 x 30.5 cm)
Recto, lower right [painted over]: [RM \ 72]
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Gift of Mrs. Efrem Kurtz
Provenance Unknown owner; [Sotheby’s, New York, February 27, 1990, lot 89, illus. (not sold)]; private collection, 1990
Provenance Private collection, 1973; Mrs. Efrem Kurtz, ca. 1974; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2000 Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 35. Current Editions, Seattle, 1973. Tibor de Nagy Gallery, Houston, 1974.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised and inscribed: RM \ 72
c343
Comments This work was consigned to the Lawrence Rubin Gallery in 1972 with the title Gauloises and Sienna. It was reworked in 1983, when the ground was repainted in ochre and accents of white and red were added near the collage element (see also c320 and c337). Motherwell gave the work its present title just before he sent it to the Galería Joan Prats exhibition in 1991.
Artist’s Studio Number c72-247 Present Owner Private collection of George and Jo Elyn Nyman, Birmingham, Mich. Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; George and Jo Elyn Nyman, Birmingham, Mich., 2002 Solo Exhibitions Galería Joan Prats, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland, 1991, cat. no. 2 (sec. “Paintings”), color illus. n.p.
Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Tex., 1975.
collag e s
173
c344
c345
c346
c347
c344
c345
c346
c347
Green with Gauloises
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
1972/1983 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 23⅞ x 10 in. (60.6 x 25.4 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 24 x 10 in. (61 x 25.4 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 24 x 10 in. (61 x 25.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM
Alternative Title: {Untitled (In Brown with Gauloises and the Figure 4)} 1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 24 x 10 in. (61 x 25.4 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number c72-248
Artist’s Studio Number c72-1092
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM
Artist’s Studio Number c72-1094
Present Owner Collection of Ray Ellen and Allan Yarkin
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number c72-1093
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Collection of Judge Jonathan T. Colby, Miami
Present Owner Collection Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Ray Ellen and Allan Yarkin, 2004 Comments This work originally had large areas of green, remnants of which are still visible underneath the ochres that were added in 1983. Despite the repainting, the title remained unchanged.
174
collages
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jonathan T. Colby, Miami, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2006, cat. no. 23, as Untitled (In Brown with Gauloises and the Figure 4).
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2007
c348
c349
c348
c349
HB on Yellow
HB on Blue
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 29½ x 14½ in. (74.9 x 36.8 cm)
Alternative Title: HB on Yellow 1972/ca. 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 29½ x 14½ in. (74.9 x 36.8 cm)
Comments The collage element in this work is a torn package from HB cigarettes, a German brand. The work originally had a yellow ground and was called HB on Yellow (studio inventory photo no. ph 58-7). It was overpainted in blue and retitled around 1974, between the times it was shown in Princeton and at the Janie C. Lee Gallery. The original yellow ground is visible in the incisions.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72 Present Owner Private collection, Boston Provenance Joseph Helman Gallery; private collection, Boston, ca. 1972 Comments The yellow in the title refers to an earlier stage of this work; traces of the original yellow ground are visible beneath the incised areas. The HB title appears to have been erroneously assigned to this work, which in fact contains a Gauloises package.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72 Recto, lower right, incised [painted over]: [RM 72] Artist’s Studio Number c72-982 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1989; private collection; private collection
c350
c350
HB on Scarlet 1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 30 x 15 in. (76.2 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Bruce Owen, 1973; private collection Solo Exhibitions John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1973, cat. no. 15. Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1974, cat. no. 47, illus. n.p. (detail).
Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 27 (shown in early state), as HB on Yellow. Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1976. Galería Joan Prats, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland, 1991, cat. no. 3 (sec. “Paintings”), color illus. n.p.
collag e s
175
c351
c351
c352
Untitled
German Line No. 1
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 14½ x 11½ in. (36.8 x 29.2 cm)
1972 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas board 30 x 12 in. (76.2 x 30.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 72 Verso: For Heidi + Claus ColsmanFreyberger \ Merry Xmas 1972 \ from their friend \ Robert Motherwell Present Owner Private collection, Germany
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM \ 23 July 72 Artist’s Studio Number c72-250
Provenance Private collection, Germany, 1972
Present Owner Collection of Skip Paul and Van Fletcher, Beverly Hills, Calif.
Comments The dedication on the verso is to Heidi and Claus Colsman-Freyberger, who worked for Motherwell at the time.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Skip Paul and Van Fletcher, Beverly Hills, Calif., 2006 Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 23. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 2, color illus. p. 5.
176
collages
c352
Comments The collage element in this work, from which the title derives, is a torn package from a German brand of cigarettes, Ernte 23. The title German Line recalls the compositional similarities between this work and an earlier collage, The French Line (c124). There are irregularities in the numbering of the German Line series (c352–c363): the numbers 1, 2, and 3 were each given to two works (this work was given the same title as c353). The German Line collages became the model for a series of collaged lithographs, the 1973 Summer Light series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 142–47).
c353
c353
German Line No. 1 1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30¼ x 15 in. (76.8 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Present Owner Collection of Mr. Jorge Eljuri Provenance Mr. and Mrs. George Berman; [Christie’s, New York, November 20, 1998, lot 796, illus.]; Jorge Eljuri, 1998 Comments This work was given the same title as c352.
c354
c355
c354
c355
c356
German Line No. 2
German Line No. 2
German Line No. 3
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 12 in. (76.2 x 30.5 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 15 in. (76.2 x 38.1 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 29½ x 14½ in. (74.9 x 36.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised [partially obscured by framing mat]: RM \ 7[2]
Present Owner Collection of Alan and Grace Kass
Present Owner Catharine and Peter G. Kreitler
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised [partially obscured by framing mat]: RM 7[2] Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Private collection, 1973; Jack Glenn Gallery, Corona del Mar, Calif.; Catharine and Peter G. Kreitler, 1974
Provenance Virginia and Bagley Wright, 1973; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, October 16, 1981, lot 204, illus.]; unknown owner, 1981
Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 22.
Solo Exhibitions John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1973, cat. no. 21a.
Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 24, illus. p. 28.
Comments This work was given the same title as c355.
Comments This work was given the same title as c354.
Current Editions, Seattle, 1973.
Provenance Private collection, 1974; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 11, 1986, lot 215, illus.]; Alan and Grace Kass, 1986
c356
Comments This work was given the same title as c357. Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1981 Sotheby Parke Bernet auction catalogue.
collag e s
177
c357
c358
c359
c360
c357
c358
c359
c360
German Line No. 3
German Line No. 4
German Line No. 5
German Line No. 6
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 15 in. (76.2 x 38.1 cm)
1972/ca. 1983 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas board 30 x 15⅛ in. (76.2 x 38.4 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 29½ x 11¾ in. (74.9 x 29.8 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 15 in. (76.2 x 38.1 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 23 July 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 23 July 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number c72-946
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number c72-671
Provenance Private collection, 1972; Mr. and Mrs. Martin Stein, 1972; Leslie Stein Selcow, 1988; private collection, 2004; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 12, 2009, lot 188, illus.]; private collection, 2009
Present Owner Private collection, California
Provenance Unknown owner, ca. 1973; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 3, 1988, lot 166A, illus.]; unknown owner, 1988
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, November 2002, cat. no. 7. Comments This work was given the same title as c356.
178
c ollages
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, California, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Current Editions, Seattle, 1973 (shown in early state). Comments The gray brushstrokes around the central collage elements in this work were added around 1983, when the colors of the lower horizontal bands were also modified. Around the same time, Motherwell painted over vertical lines that had been incised in the orange ground.
Solo Exhibitions Current Editions, Seattle, 1973. Comments Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1988 Sotheby’s auction catalogue.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
c361
c362
c363
c364
c361
c362
c363
c364
German Line No. 7
German Line No. 8
German Line with Blue
Harvest 23 with Ultramarine
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 29½ x 11½ in. (74.9 x 29.2 cm)
1972 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas board 29¼ x 11⅝ in. (74.3 x 29.5 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 29½ x 11¾ in. (74.9 x 29.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 23 July 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 72
Alternative Title: Harvest 23 in Deep Blue 1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 12 in. (76.2 x 30.5 cm)
Present Owner Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto
Present Owner Private collection, New York
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM
Provenance Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, 1973
Provenance David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1972; private collection, 1973; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, October 19, 1973, lot 103, illus.]; private collection, New York, 1973; private collection, New York
Recto, lower right [painted over]: [RM 74]
Present Owner Unknown Provenance Lee V. Eastman; unknown owner Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white photograph of this work taken around 1973 (studio inventory photo no. ph 29-10).
Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973. Comments The crumpled paper near the upper left corner of this work contains a price tag from a hardware store.
Verso (on strainer) [crossed out]: “harvest 23, [in deep blue] with ultramarine” Artist’s Studio Number c70-251 Present Owner Collection of Skip Paul and Van Fletcher, Beverly Hills, Calif. Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Skip Paul and Van Fletcher, Beverly Hills, Calif., 2006
collag e s
179
c365
Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1975, as Harvest 23 in Deep Blue. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 4, color illus. p. 14. Comments The collage element in this work is from the same German brand of cigarettes used in the German Line collages of 1972, Ernte 23. Ernte in German means “harvest,” and inspired the title of this work. See also Tobacco Harvest (c380).
c366
c367
Pall Mall
Pall Mall on Blue
La Crémaillère
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 29¼ x 11⅝ in. (74.3 x 29.5 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 29¾ x 11¾ in. (75.6 x 29.8 cm)
1972 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas 19¼ x 16 in. (48.9 x 40.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: 72 \ Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 72 Present Owner Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto Provenance Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, 1973
Comments The title of this collage refers to the torn Pall Mall cigarette package at the upper center.
collages
c367
c365
Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973.
180
c366
Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1974; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 32. Current Editions, Seattle, 1973. Comments The title of this collage refers to the torn Pall Mall cigarette package at the center. Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of the work.
Artist’s Studio Number c72-266 Present Owner Unknown Provenance The artist Solo Exhibitions Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 40, illus. p. 88. Comments The collage element in this work is a matchbook cover from La Crémaillère, a favorite restaurant of Motherwell’s, located in Banksville, New York, close to his home in Greenwich.
c368
Our reproduction comes from an early color slide of this work. We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
c369
c368
c369
W
Untitled
1972 Pasted papers and charcoal on paper 30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
Alternative Title: New Year’s Dawn 1973/ca. 1984 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Robert Motherwell \ 1972
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: 1 Jan 73 \ RM
Present Owner Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto
Verso not seen [“This belongs to Renate \ 1973 \ RM,” per studio card]
Provenance Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, 1973
Verso not seen [“titled ‘New Year’s Dawn’; title has since been crossed out by RM,” per studio card]
Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1973.
Artist’s Studio Number c73-675; c73-3019
Comments The title of this work refers to the piece of torn purple paper near the center, which bears the “W” logo of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
Present Owner Renate Ponsold Motherwell
Comments The collage element in this work is a label from a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne. This collage was first shown in 1976 with the title New Year’s Dawn. Around 1984 Motherwell reworked the areas around the black form and decided to leave the collage untitled (as per the studio card for the work). Our reproduction comes from an early Polaroid photograph of this work.
Provenance Renate Ponsold Motherwell, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1976, as New Year’s Dawn.
collag e s
181
c370
c370
c371
Untitled
In Scarlet and Cognac
1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30¾ x 22½ in. (78.1 x 57.2 cm)
1973 Acrylic and pasted paper on cardboard 23⅞ x 20½ in. (60.6 x 52.1 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: For Heidi + Claus \ 25 Dec 1973 \ R Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: R Motherwell \ 11 Jan 73
Present Owner Private collection, Germany
Verso (on backing board, reattached): “in scarlet and cognac” \ 11 Jan 73 \ Robert Motherwell
Provenance Private collection, Germany, 1973 Comments The date in the dedication on the recto of this collage (“25 December 1973”) is not the date that the work was created but the date that it was inscribed to Heidi and Claus Colsman-Freyberger, who worked for Motherwell at the time.
c372
Birthday 1973 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 24 Jan 73 Artist’s Studio Number c73-641 Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Knoedler & Company, 1974; private collection, 1974; unknown owner
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Waddington Galleries, London, 1975.
Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2005. References Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 194 (pl. 267). collages
Comments The title of this work refers to the wrapping paper from Rémy Martin cognac that dominates the composition.
c372
Artist’s Studio Number c73-1231
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
182
c371
Group Exhibitions Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1974 (traveling), illus. p. 102. Comments The title of this work refers to the date inscribed at the upper left, the day of Motherwell’s fifty-eighth birthday. Our reproduction comes from an early color slide of this work.
c373
c373
Bullseye 1973 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted paper, and crayon on paper mounted on board 32 x 26⅛ in. (81.3 x 66.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised and inscribed: R. Motherwell \ 29 Jan 73 Recto, upper left, incised [painted over]: [R. Motherwell \ 28 Jan 73] Artist’s Studio Number c73-641 Present Owner Pinakothek der Moderne. Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, inv. nr. 14756 Provenance Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, 1982 Solo Exhibitions Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, cover color illus., color illus. p. 65.
References Maier and Steingräber 1983, color illus. p. 388 (fig. 2); Stabenow 1983, p. 82, illus. p. 82; Drudi 1984, illus. p. 105 (in studio), illus. p. 107 (in studio); Drudi 1988b, illus. p. 111 (in studio), illus. p. 113 (in studio); Thierolf 2002, pp. 28, 284–89, color illus. p. 285 (cat. no. 24), illus. p. 286 (fig. 1); Belser Kunst Quartal 2004, cover color illus.; Kultur Szene 2004, illus.; Kultur Szene 2004– 5, illus.
c374
c374
Tibor de Nagy Collage 1973 Oil, pasted papers, wax, and string on board 36 x 47 in. (91.4 x 119.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 3 Feb 73 Verso not seen [“signed, titled, and dated ‘tibor de nagy collage’ (3 Feb 73) R. Motherwell 1973 on the cardboard backing,” per Christie’s 1991] Present Owner Unknown Provenance Tibor de Nagy Gallery, Houston, 1973; Meredith Long & Company, 1977; [Sotheby’s, New York, February 15, 1989, lot 103, illus.]; unknown owner, 1989; [Christie’s, New York, November 13, 1991, lot 158, illus. (not sold)]
Group Exhibitions Waco Creative Art Center, Tex., 1975. References Holmes 1974, sec. 3, p. 18. Comments The collage element in this work is part of the wrapper from a package sent to Motherwell, via the Tibor de Nagy Gallery, by H. Danielsen Eftf. Antikvitetshandel, an antique shop in Copenhagen. Tibor de Nagy (1908– 1993) was a Hungarian-born American art dealer who had galleries in New York and Houston. Motherwell had a solo show at the Houston gallery in 1974, where this collage was first shown.
Solo Exhibitions Tibor de Nagy Gallery, Houston, 1974. Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Tex., 1975. collag e s
183
c375
c375
[ Untitled (Gauloises, Red)] 1973 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas board 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm)
its upper left. After it was reoriented 180 degrees, Motherwell re-signed the work at the lower left. The original inscription is still partially visible at the lower right side of the work, where it can be read upside down.
c376
c376
Green Gauloises 1973 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on cardboard 16½ x 14 in. (41.9 x 35.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 73
Recto, lower right (upside down) [painted over]: [R. Motherwell \ 73]
Present Owner Private collection, Connecticut
Artist’s Studio Number c73-1018
Provenance John McKendry, 1973; unknown owner; Edys Hunter, ca. 1982; Greenberg Gallery, Saint Louis, 1987; private collection, New York, 1988; private collection, Connecticut
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2003. Comments This work was originally executed upside down from its current orientation, and was then signed at what was
184
collages
Comments This is the only collage in which Motherwell used a green package from Gauloises Caporal Doux cigarettes. Motherwell originally inscribed this work as a gift to John McKendry (1933–1975), the curator of prints and photography at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who organized
Motherwell’s 1972 A la pintura exhibition at the museum. In the fall of 1985, Motherwell painted over the dedication at the request of his friend Edys Hunter, who then owned the work.
c377
c377
Gordon’s 1967/1973 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas board 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM 67/73
Comments The title of this collage refers to the label from a bottle of Gordon’s vodka at the center. The collage was begun in 1967; the red ground and the vertical lines were added in 1973. Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1988 Sotheby’s auction catalogue.
c378
c378
Ives’ Hawthorne 1973/ca. 1987 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 28 x 17⅞ in. (71.1 x 45.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 73
Artist’s Studio Number c67/73-5194
Artist’s Studio Number c73-1021
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Ellen and Howard C. Katz, Carefree, Ariz. (courtesy of Neal Meltzer Fine Art, New York)
Provenance Dart Gallery, Inc., New York, 1977; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, February 27, 1980, lot 116, illus.]; unknown owner, 1980; [Phillips de Pury & Co., New York, May 13, 1987, lot 90, illus.]; unknown owner, 1987; [Sotheby’s, New York, October 8, 1988, lot 101, illus.]; unknown owner, 1988 Solo Exhibitions Dart Gallery, Chicago, 1976, cat. no. 9.
Comments The title of this work refers to the second movement of Charles Ives’s Piano Sonata no. 2, Concord, Mass., 1840– 60, which is titled “Hawthorne.” A page of sheet music from Ives’s sonata is at the center of the collage, above a label from a bottle of Mumm’s champagne, and partially covered by an unidentified Italian text written in a cursive script. Motherwell probably added the Italian text around 1987, when the work was returned to him from consignment at the Janie C. Lee Gallery.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Ellen and Howard C. Katz, Carefree, Ariz., 2007 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1978, in early state. Rosenbaum Contemporary, Gallery Center, Boca Raton, Fla., 2004, as Charles Ives’ Hawthorne. References Crossley 1978, sec. E, p. 15, illus. sec. E, p. 15 (in early state). collag e s
185
c379
c380
c379
c380
c381
[ Untitled (Champagne)]
Tobacco Harvest
Berggruen Fils Collage
1973 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas board 28 x 18 in. (71.1 x 45.7 cm)
1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm)
1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 18 in. (76.2 x 45.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 73
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 73
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM \ 73
Artist’s Studio Number c73-1020
Artist’s Studio Number c73-1085; c73-2526
Artist’s Studio Number c73-1015
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Private collection, 1979
Comments The collage element in this work is a label from a bottle of Dom Pérignon champagne.
Group Exhibitions Galerie Klüser 2, Munich, 2007.
Comments The title of this work refers to the piece of an envelope with a mailing label from the John Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco addressed to Motherwell. The other collage elements are a label from a bottle of Mumm’s champagne and a piece of paper that is mostly painted over. Motherwell made the Berggruen Collage (c179) in 1967, using a mailing wrapper for catalogues from
186
collages
Comments The brightly colored pasted paper at the lower center of this work is a package from Ernte 23 cigarettes, a German brand. Ernte in German means “harvest,” hence the title of this work. See also Harvest 23 with Ultramarine (c364).
c381
his 1961 exhibition at Heinz Berggruen’s gallery in Paris. In 1973 he began working with the John Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco, which was run by Heinz Berggruen’s son—a circumstance to which the title of this collage alludes.
c382
c383
c384
c382
c383
c384
Two Reds
Parisian Collage
N.R.F. Collage No. 4
1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on cardboard 27 x 18 in. (68.6 x 45.7 cm)
1973 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas board 28 x 18 in. (71.1 x 45.7 cm)
1973 Oil, acrylic, pasted paper, and charcoal on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993.
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised [painted over]: [RM 73]
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM \ 73
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 73
Artist’s Studio Number c73-1083; c73-2427
Artist’s Studio Number c73-1237
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Museum purchase, the Friends of Art Endowment Fund
References Arnason 1977b, p. 83, color illus. n.p. (pl. 239); Hughes 1977, p. 51, color illus. p. 51; Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Arnason 1982, pp. 11, 83, illus. p. 82 (pl. 76).
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1977; private collection, 1977; private collection, 1977; private collection, ca. 1979 Comments This collage includes a label from a roll of V. A. Claessens Belgian artist’s canvas.
Provenance Private collection, 1980; private collection, 1980 Comments The title of this work refers to the red package from Parisienne Super cigarettes, a Swiss brand, at the lower right.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993 Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, color illus. n.p. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 22. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 59 (brochure); cat. no. 62 (catalogue).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 84.
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1994.
Comments This is the fifth collage in which Motherwell used a piece of mailing wrapper from the French periodical La Nouvelle Revue française (N.R.F.), and the fourth in the numbered N.R.F. collage series. The first three collages in the series were created in the spring of 1960, and were given the numbers 1 to 3 (see c104–c106); the fourth one, created in 1963–64 (c143), was untitled and unnumbered. The remaining piece of the mailing wrapper that Motherwell used in this collage had been splattered with blue oil paint.
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c385
c385
Collage in Ochre with Blue and Red 1973/1990 Acrylic, crayon, and pasted paper on cardboard 25½ x 29 in. (64.8 x 73.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised and inscribed: R Motherwell \ 73 Artist’s Studio Number c73-638 Present Owner Lillian Heidenberg Fine Art and Miriam Shiell Fine Art Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Lillian Heidenberg Fine Art and Miriam Shiell Fine Art, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 44, illus. n.p. Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2006, cat. no. 5.
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collages
References Windrow 1992, color illus. p. 6.
c386
Comments The white paper at the right center of this work is a fragment of one of the paintings that Motherwell had done in 1967 on pages torn from the March 1967 issue of the Art Bulletin (see also w246–w249). The right side of this work was originally painted red. Motherwell added the blue paint to that area in 1990, along with the black brushstroke on the torn magazine page; but the basic structure of the composition remained unchanged.
Alternative Title: Läkerol Collage 1973 Pasted papers and lithograph on paper 36 x 18 in. (91.4 x 45.7 cm)
Läkerol with Black Stripe
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 73 Artist’s Studio Number c73-680 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1976; private collection, 1977; [Christie’s, New York, May 6, 1982, lot 143, illus.]; Marisa del Re Gallery, Inc., 1982; Greenberg Gallery, Saint Louis, 1982; Continental Insurance Corporation, 1983; [Christie’s, New York, May 8, 1996, lot 263, illus.]; unknown owner, 1996 References Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p.
c386
Comments The title of this work refers to the image of the Läkerol pastilles package that is visible beneath the black vertical form. In March 1973 Motherwell traveled to Los Angeles to work for a month on several editions of lithographs at Gemini G.E.L. (see Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 142–52, 162–67). This picture is one of five collages he made during this period as maquettes for planned (but unrealized) editions of lithographs (see also c387–c390). This and the other four unique collages he made at the time utilize some of the same elements that would be featured in the collaged lithographs that he created at Gemini. The image of the Läkerol package is actually a lithographic facsimile of a package for the Swedish pastilles, which was produced by Gemini G.E.L. The red ground in this work is not painted, as would be typical in Motherwell’s collages, but instead printed onto the paper support. The prints and collages Motherwell did at this time marked his first collaboration with Kenneth Tyler, who was
c387
then at Gemini G.E.L. Their friendship and close working relationship would develop after 1974, when Tyler opened his own print studio, Tyler Graphics Ltd., in Bedford, New York, just a few miles away from Motherwell’s Greenwich studio. Around this time, Tyler began to supervise the production of lithographic facsimiles of a number of the labels that Motherwell regularly used in his collages.
c388
c389
c387
c388
c389
[ Untitled (Läkerol on Red, Blue, White)]
[ Untitled (Läkerol on Blue, Green, Beige)]
[ Untitled (Grand Vin on Red)]
1973 Pasted papers and lithograph on paper 36 x 18 in. (91.4 x 45.7 cm)
1973 Pasted papers and lithograph on paper 36 x 18 in. (91.4 x 45.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 73
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 73
Artist’s Studio Number c73-678
Artist’s Studio Number c73-679
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments This work is one of five collages Motherwell created in March 1973 at Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, as maquettes for planned (but unrealized) editions of lithographs (see the Comments for c386).
Comments This work is one of five collages Motherwell created in March 1973 at Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, as maquettes for planned (but unrealized) editions of lithographs (see the Comments for c386).
1973 Pasted paper and lithograph on paper 37⅞ x 20 in. (96.2 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 73 Artist’s Studio Number c73-676 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1975. Comments This work is one of five collages Motherwell created in March 1973 at Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, as maquettes for planned (but unrealized) editions of lithographs (see the Comments for c386). The Chateau Latour label in this collage is a lithographic facsimile.
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c390
c390
c391
[ Untitled (Ernte on Orange)]
Guardian No. 4
1973 Pasted papers and lithograph on paper 37⅞ x 19⅞ in. (96.2 x 50.5 cm)
1966/1973 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on Upson board 22 x 14 in. (55.9 x 35.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 73 Artist’s Studio Number c73-677
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 1966–73
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection, Cologne, Germany
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Private collection, Cologne, Germany, 1977
Comments This work is one of five collages Motherwell created in March 1973 at Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, as maquettes for planned (but unrealized) editions of lithographs (see the Comments for c386). The Ernte 23 cigarette label in this collage is a lithographic facsimile.
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collages
Solo Exhibitions Galerie André Emmerich, Zurich, 1974. Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 70. References Müller 2004, illus. sec. A, p. 8 (detail, as The Guardian).
c391
Comments Motherwell began the Guardian series in 1966 (see the Comments for Guardian No. 1, c170), but many of the Guardian collages were later reworked. This collage was revised in 1973, when Motherwell added the ochre paint and the Ernte 23 cigarette package, and added the later date to the inscription.
c392
c392
July 1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 20 x 14¾ in. (50.8 x 37.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell \ 14 July 73 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1974; unknown owner Comments The title of this work refers to the date inscribed on the recto. Our reproduction comes from a black-and-white photograph taken around 1973 (studio inventory photo no. ph 39-11).
c393
c393
Côte d’Azur 1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 22 x 11¼ in. (55.9 x 28.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 24 July 73 Artist’s Studio Number c73-1955
Line (c124) and his later German Line series (c352–c363). The most prominent collage element is a blue Gauloises Caporal package. On the verso of The French Line, Motherwell had described four things to which the title of that work referred; the last of these was “Côte d’Azure [sic] (coast-line),” from which this work takes its title.
c394
c394
c395
La Belle Epoque
Basque Collage
1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 23⅞ x 11⅞ in. (60.6 x 30.2 cm)
Alternative Title: St.-Jean-de-Luz 1973 Acrylic and pasted paper on Upson board 23¾ x 12 in. (60.3 x 30.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell 73 Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection, Cologne
Provenance Private collection, ca. 1973
Provenance Private collection, Cologne, ca. 1978
Comments The title of this collage refers to the black label from a bottle of La Belle Epoque champagne at the upper center. Below it is a fragment of a 1973 etching and aquatint, Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 138).
Solo Exhibitions Tirca Karlis Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1973. Group Exhibitions Josef-Haubrich-Kunsthalle Köln, Cologne, Germany, 2000, cat. no. 64. References Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p. Comments The composition of this work recalls Motherwell’s 1960 collage The French
c395
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 73 Recto, lower left, incised [painted over]: [RM] Artist’s Studio Number c73-1014 Present Owner Private collection, Mallorca Provenance Private collection, 1989; private collection, Mallorca, Spain, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1978, as St.-Jean-de-Luz. Galería Joan Prats, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland, 1991, cat. no. 1 (sec. “Paintings”), color illus. n.p.
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c396
Comments The label at the center of this collage is from Pays Basque Irouléguy wine made by the Cave Coopérative d’Irouléguy. It is possible that the wine label dates from Motherwell’s 1958 sojourn in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France; this work was sent to the Janie C. Lee Gallery in 1978 as St.-Jean-de-Luz. Motherwell had retitled the work Basque Collage by the time it was sold in 1989.
c396
c397
Southern Collage
Bordeaux Summer
1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 24 x 12 in. (61 x 30.5 cm)
1973 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on board 37 x 27 in. (94 x 68.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 73
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 12 Aug 73
Artist’s Studio Number c73-955 Present Owner Collection of David and Susan Goode Provenance Unknown owner, 1981; David and Susan Goode, 1999 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1978. References Crossley 1978, sec. E, p. 15. Comments The title of this work refers to one of the collage elements, a Confederate one-dollar bill issued by the state of Florida in 1863.
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collages
c397
Artist’s Studio Number c73-681 Present Owner Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Mo. Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection. Gift of the R. C. Kemper Charitable Trust and Foundation, 1995.53 Provenance R. C. Kemper Charitable Trust and Foundation, 1990; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Mo., 1995 Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, May 2000.
References Drudi 1984, illus. p. 106 (in studio); Drudi 1988b, illus. p. 112 (in studio). Comments The brown pasted paper in the upper left of this work is a torn fragment of an aquatint, Untitled, 1973 (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 138). The Chateau Latour wine label at the center is a lithographic reproduction similar to those used in several other collages from this period (see c389 and c417) and in the group of Paulliac prints from the 1973 Summer Light series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 148–51).
c398
c398
Stravinsky 1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right (on collage element): RM \ Summer 73 Present Owner The JPMorgan Chase Collection Provenance Private collection, 1975; private collection, 1975; private collection; JPMorgan Chase Collection, 1983 Solo Exhibitions Montclair Art Museum, N.J., 1989, erroneously as Stravinsky (Next to Final State). Group Exhibitions Bruce Museum of Arts and Science, Greenwich, Conn., 2004, cat. no. 7, color illus. p. 15. References Arnason 1977b, pp. 83–84, 90, color illus. n.p. (pl. 240); Arnason 1982, pp. 83–84, 94, illus. p. 82 (pl. 77).
Comments The collage elements in this work include a lithographic reproduction of sheet music from Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) and a Gauloises cigarette package. Arnason (1977b and 1982) reproduced the final state of this work with a caption erroneously indicating that the image represents the next-to-final state.
c399
c399
Gemini 1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on paperboard 47⅞ x 36 in. (121.6 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 1 Nov 1973
Comments This collage takes its title from the brown wrapping paper and mailing label torn from a package sent to Motherwell by Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles. Motherwell worked on several print editions at Gemini in March 1973. This work shares strong compositional similarities with Birthday (c372), created earlier that year.
Present Owner Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest, 1981 Provenance Knoedler & Company, 1974; Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1974; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1981 Solo Exhibitions Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1991, cat. no. 14, as Gemini (1 Nov 73).
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c400
c400
Greenwich Harbor 1973–74 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 10 Nov 73 Recto, upper left [painted over]: [R. Motherwell \ 10 Nov 73] Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1974 Solo Exhibitions Galerie André Emmerich, Zurich, 1974. Comments In the 1973 version of this work the bright blues and reds in the lower part had not yet been added (studio inventory photo no. ph 39-5). When Motherwell reworked this collage in 1974, he left standing his earlier date.
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collages
The pasted paper near the center of this work is a brown wrapper from a package of Arches watercolor paper. The title refers to the resemblance of the painted forms to the topography of the harbor of Greenwich, Connecticut, on the Long Island Sound.
c401
c401
Sand and Sea Alternative Title: Stamps 1973/ca. 1977 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 36 x 48 in. (91.4 x 121.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 12 Nov 73 Recto, upper left [painted over]: [R. Motherwell \ 13 Nov 73] Artist’s Studio Number c73-1230; c73-3642 Present Owner Denver Art Museum Collection. For a full list of donors, see the entry for p22. Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Denver Art Museum, 1994 Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, as Stamps. Denver Art Museum, 1995, illus. n.p.
Group Exhibitions Acquavella Contemporary Art, New York, 1974, as Stamps. Cape Museum of Fine Arts, Dennis, Mass., 1991, erroneously as Sea and Sand. References Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 244, as Stamps); Caws 1996b, illus. p. 135; Paglia 1996, p. 56; Tieken 2000, illus. n.p.; Caws 2003, illus. p. 29 (ill. 22). Comments This work was begun in 1973, when an early state with an ochre ground was photographed (Clements photo no. 78-625). It may have been already finished when first shown at the Acquavella gallery in December 1974 under its early title, Stamps. In any case, the blue paint had been added by the time it was photographed again on April 11, 1977 (Sloman photo no. 635). Motherwell later (by 1991) changed the title to Sand and Sea.
c402
c402
Poe No. 1 Alternative Title: [Edgar Allan Poe Series (Poe No. 1)] 1973/1985 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 36 x 48 in. (91.4 x 121.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 19 Nov 73 Artist’s Studio Number c73-1451 Present Owner The Columbus Museum, Ga. Museum purchase made possible by Evelyn Crowley; Kathleen M. Hohlstein; Janet Bowers Hollis, in memory of Howell Hollis; Dora E. Jackson; Polly C. Miller, in honor of her mother,
Betty Corn; Mr. and Mrs. Richard I. Norman; Jill Chancey Phillips; Maxine R. Schiffman; Kathelen V. Spencer; Teresa Pike Tomlinson, in memory of Hellen Gregory Pike; Mr. and Mrs. Joe Windsor; special assistance from the Ella E. Kirven Charitable Lead Trust for Acquisitions; and a gift of the Dedalus Foundation, New York 2003.13.4
p. 39, as Edgar Allan Poe Series (Poe No. 1).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Columbus Museum, Ga., 2000
References Gilcrease Museum exh. cat. 2006, color illus. p. 15 (fig. 19).
Solo Exhibitions William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 64 (brochure), as Poe No. 1 (19 Nov. 1973); cat. no. 67 (catalogue); shown in early state.
Comments An early version of Poe No. 1 was created in 1973 and exhibited at the William Benton Museum in 1979. That state of the work served as the model for the 1978 monotype and collage print Abyss, 1978 (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 228). In 1985 Motherwell
Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1989, cat. no. 12, color illus.
Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 46, color illus. p. 173, as Edgar Allan Poe Series (Poe #1). Columbus Museum, Ga., 2000, color illus. n.p., as Edgar Allen Poe Series (Poe #1).
revised the work, adding the torn piece of a black-and-white print at the center of the picture. The four collages in the Poe series were all begun in November 1973 (see also c403–c405). Two additional unnumbered works followed: Edgar Allan Poe Series (The House of Usher) of 1974 (c464), and Edgar Allan Poe Series (Poe’s Music) of 1975 (c510). The Poe series pays homage to the author Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), of whom Motherwell said in a 1971 interview with Paul Cummings: “Well, I think modern art is the Symbolist movement. And in that sense it was started by an American—Edgar Allan Poe” (see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography).
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c403
c404
c403
c404
c405
Poe No. 2
Poe No. 3
Poe No. 4
1973 Acrylic and pasted paper on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 36 x 48 in. (91.4 x 121.9 cm)
1973 Acrylic and pasted paper on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 19 Nov 1973
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 20 Nov 73
Artist’s Studio Number c73-978
Present Owner Unknown
Inscriptions Recto, lower left [partially obscured by framing mat]: R. Motherwell \ 23 Nov 7[3]
Present Owner Private collection, Frankfurt Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Frankfurt, 2001
Provenance Private collection, 1978; unknown owner, 1989; [Sotheby’s, New York, February 15, 1989, lot 82, illus.]; unknown owner, 1989
Solo Exhibitions Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, 2001, cat. no. 1, color illus. p. 21.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1974, cat. no. 8.
Present Owner Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest, 1981 Provenance Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1974; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1981 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1974, cat. no. 7.
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collages
c405
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1991, cat. no. 8. Comments This collage was the model for Motherwell’s 1973 painting Bête Noire (p757).
c406
c406
Suchard on Orange No. 4 Alternative Title: Orange Suchard Bittra No. 4 1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 16 Nov 73 Present Owner Des Moines Art Center Permanent Collections. Purchased with funds from the Edmundson Art Foundation, Inc., and the National Endowment for the Arts, 1974.16 Provenance Blum-Helman Gallery, 1974; Des Moines Art Center, 1974 Group Exhibitions Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 1976, illus. n.p., as Orange Suchard Bittra #4. Admiral’s House, vice presidential residence, Washington, D.C., 1977.
c407
c408
International Communication Agency, Washington, D.C., 1981 (circulating).
c407
c408
Suchard on Orange No. 5
Suchard on Orange No. 6
Waterloo Municipal Galleries, Iowa, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 28, color illus. n.p.
1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
1973 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 22 Nov 73
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 17 Dec 1973
Artist’s Studio Number c73-1452
Recto, upper left [painted over]: [R. Motherwell \ 17 Dec 1973]
Present Owner Collection of the McNay Art Museum. Museum purchase with the Alvin Whitley Fund and gift of the Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. John Mahedy
University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, 1991, as Orange Suchard Bittra, #4. Comments The Suchard on Orange series began with three works in 1971 (see c274– c276). The title refers to the Suchard Bittra chocolate wrapper that was used as a collage element in each work. Motherwell revisited the series in 1973 and created four new works, marked by a greater austerity than the 1971 collages. This work was originally sold to the Blum-Helman Gallery in 1974 as Suchard on Orange No. 4, but the Des Moines Art Center acquired it later that same year as Orange Suchard Bittra No. 4, and the work has sometimes been exhibited under that title. We have restored the work’s original title to maintain the integrity of the series.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Tex., 1996 Group Exhibitions Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 124, color illus. n.p., erroneously as Suchard in Orange, No. 5. References McNay Art Museum 2001, color illus. p. 221.
Provenance John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1974; Shaindy Fenton, Fort Worth, 1975; Dr. and Mrs. Harold J. Joseph; [Christie’s, New York, May 11, 1983, lot 149, illus.]; Mr. and Mrs. David Anderson, Buffalo, 1983; Mr. and Mrs. John Mahedy, ca. 1995 Solo Exhibitions Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1974, cat. no. 50, cover color illus. Group Exhibitions David Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, 1991. Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1995. collag e s
197
c409
c409
Suchard on Orange No. 7 1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Comments Our reproduction comes from an early color slide of this work.
c410
c410
Gift 1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 47 x 35⅛ in. (119.4 x 89.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 23 Nov 73
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 28 Nov 73
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number c73-993
Provenance Knoedler & Company, 1974; private collection, 1975; unknown owner
Present Owner Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Gift of Margaret and Angus Wurtele and the Dedalus Foundation, 1995
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1974, cat. no. 14. Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Tex., 1975. Douglas Drake Gallery, Kansas City, Mo., 1978. References Herrera 1974, p. 112; Kramer 1974a, p. 21.
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collages
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1974, cat. no. 11. Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1989, cat. no. 13, color illus. p. 40.
Galería Joan Prats, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland, 1991, cat. no. 4 (sec. “Paintings”), color illus. n.p., as A gift. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1996, cat. no. 31. Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 47, color illus. p. 175. Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño, Mexico City, 2008, color illus. p. 39. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., 2009, cat. no. 32. References Caws 1996b, pp. 116, 129, 139, 140, illus. p. 137, color illus. n.p.; Caws 2003, pp. 28, 41, 69, 134, color illus. p. 68 (ill. 45).
c411
c412
c411
c412
c413
The Paper Guitar
Figuration in Beige
The Emmerich Collage
1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 47¾ x 36 in. (121.3 x 91.4 cm)
1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: R Motherwell \ 3 Dec 73
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 7 Dec 73
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 13 Dec. 73
Present Owner Margot Stein, New York
Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “figuration in beige”
Artist’s Studio Number c73-3119
Provenance Private collection, New York, 1974; [Christie’s, New York, November 3, 1987, lot 46, illus. (not sold)]; Margot Stein, New York, 2007
Artist’s Studio Number c73-999
Present Owner Collection of the McNay Art Museum. Museum purchase with the Helen and Everett H. Jones Purchase Fund and gift of the Dedalus Foundation
Group Exhibitions Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., February 1993, illus. p. 68.
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004
c413
References Staber 1974–75, color illus. p. 117. Comments The collage element in this work is part of a mailing wrapper for a package sent to the Galerie André Emmerich, Zurich, by the Suchard chocolate company. On the package, written by hand, is the phrase “for Motherwell,” suggesting that this package was used to send Motherwell the wrappers he used in the Suchard on Orange series of collages (see c274–c276 and c406–c409). Motherwell exhibited with the Galerie André Emmerich from 1974 to 1978.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Tex., 1996 Solo Exhibitions Galerie André Emmerich, Zurich, 1974, color illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Galerie Brusberg, Hannover, Germany, 1977.
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c414
c414
Autumn 1973–ca. 1977 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 35⅞ x 24 in. (91.1 x 61 cm)
was photographed in its final state on October 20, 1977 (Sloman photo no. 661). A label from Denis, Henry Mounie & Co. cognac, which features an image of a grape leaf, is visible within a circular hole in the piece of tan paper.
c415
c415
M (15 Dec 73) 1973–ca. 1975 Acrylic, pasted cardboard, and pasted paper on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R Motherwell \ 14 Dec. 73
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 15 Dec 73
Artist’s Studio Number c73-948
Artist’s Studio Number c73-989
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Collection of Ventura Garcés, Barcelona
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments Motherwell completed the first version of this work in December 1973, but it was not photographed until March 1977 (Sloman photo no. 503). Sometime before that October, Motherwell altered the work by tearing away the edges of the beige paper collage element, revealing the underlying Upson board support. The work
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Provenance Ventura Garcés, Barcelona, 1992 Solo Exhibitions Galería Joan Prats, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland, 1991, cat. no. 5 (sec. “Paintings”), cover color illus. (detail), color illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo, 1976, cat. no. 10, color illus. n.p.
Comments This work was begun in 1973 and photographed in an early state in January 1974. Motherwell later revised it, adding the blue paint, and studio photos show that the work was complete by April 1975 (Sloman photo no. 250). The title refers to the rectangle of packing cardboard, which has three slots cut in it, suggesting the letter M.
c416
c417
c416
c417
c418
Untitled
Latour Collage
Duet
1973 Pasted papers and lithograph on paper 38 x 26 in. (96.5 x 66 cm)
1973 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 41½ x 27½ in. (105.4 x 69.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right (on collage element): RM \ 73
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 1973
1973 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22 x 11 in. (55.9 x 27.9 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number c73-911 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments In 1977 this collage was used as the maquette for an unpublished lithograph, only a single proof of which is known to have survived (Dedalus Foundation Archives); that proof does not appear in Engberg and Banach 2003. The composition of this collage recalls a 1943 work, Collage in Black and Green (c9), which is said to have been “accidentally destroyed” (Arnason 1982, p. 30). Motherwell returned to this motif in 1976 (see c568 and c575).
Artist’s Studio Number c73-710 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1975. Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1976. Comments The central collage element in this work is a lithographic reproduction of a label from a bottle of Chateau Latour wine. It is similar to those used in several other collages (see c389 and c397) and in the group of Paulliac prints from the 1973 Summer Light series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 148–51).
c418
black-and-white photograph taken of this work around 1973 (studio inventory photo no. ph 39-12). We do not know whether this work still exists in the form reproduced here.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 73 Artist’s Studio Number c73-1963 Present Owner Unknown Provenance The artist Solo Exhibitions Tirca Karlis Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1973. Comments The title of this work refers to the top from a package of Schimmelpenninck Duet cigars that is used as a collage element. This work anticipates the Cabaret series of 1974 (see c442–c453). Our reproduction comes from a
collag e s
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c419
c419
Summer Sea with Debris 1973–74 Acrylic, pasted cardboard, and pasted paper on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
The work was probably revised in 1974 and was photographed in its present state in September 1975 (Sloman photo no. 249). After Motherwell added the varied blues, he titled the work Summer Sea with Debris.
c420
c420
New Year’s Dawn No. 2 1974 Acrylic, pasted paper, and graphite on paper 31 x 22½ in. (78.7 x 57.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 25 Dec 73
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised and inscribed: 1 Jan 74 \ RM
Artist’s Studio Number c73-972
Recto, lower right [painted over]: [illegible]
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Private collection, 1982; Mark Borghi Fine Art, Inc., 2007; private collection, 2007
Provenance Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Gosman, 1975; [Christie’s, New York, November 10, 1982, lot 33, illus.]; Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Lubin, 1982; private collection, before 2003; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 11, 2005, lot 167, illus.]; private collection, 2005
Comments The first state of this work was completed in December 1973, per the recto signature. In this state, the main paper collage element was pasted onto a field of brushy yellow ochre paint (visible in color slides taken of Motherwell’s studio during the late spring of 1974).
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Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1975, cat. no. 6.
References Colby 1975, sec. F, p. 2, as New Year’s Dawn. Comments Motherwell gave the title New Year’s Dawn to a (now untitled) collage done at the beginning of 1973 (see c369), which explains the number 2 given to this collage. The pasted element in this work is a label from a bottle of Pol Latour & Cie champagne.
c421
c421
c422
Arches
By Volume
1974 Pasted papers on paper 35½ x 18½ in. (90.2 x 47 cm)
1974 Acrylic, pasted cardboard, and pasted paper on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 17 Jan 74 Artist’s Studio Number c74-686 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 References Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 243); Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 186 (pl. 259). Comments This collage takes its name from the torn pieces of an Arches watercolor paper package that Motherwell used in it.
c422
Comments The title of this collage comes from the central collage element, which is a fragment of a wine carton.
c423
Heidi and Claus 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 19 Jan 74
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 27 Jan 74
Artist’s Studio Number c74-1004
Present Owner Private collection, Germany
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Private collection, Germany, 1974
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1974, cat. no. 2.
Solo Exhibitions Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1985 (traveling), cat. no. 77.
Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 46, illus. p. 110.
Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 64. References Tucker 1987, sec. 2, p. 8, erroneously as By Volumn; Zimmer 1987, sec. 23, p. 34.
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 27. Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1974, color illus. p. 55.
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c423
References Kramer 1974a, p. 21, illus. p. 21; Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 250), illus. n.p. (pl. 251); Carmean 1978, p. 117, illus. p. 117 (fig. 20); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 189 (pl. 262). Comments This collage is named for Heidi and Claus Colsman-Freyberger, who worked for Motherwell between 1972 and 1976. The mailing label at the lower left center, from Peter A. Juley & Son, is addressed to Heidi ColsmanFreyberger. According to her, this was the first of the many 72 x 36–inch collages that Motherwell did during the 1970s.
c424
The Juley Collage 1974–75 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and charcoal on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 74 Artist’s Studio Number c74-987 Present Owner Pinakothek der Moderne. Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, inv. nr. 14751 Provenance Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, 1982 Solo Exhibitions Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 71. Group Exhibitions Institut Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt, Germany, 2000, cat. no. 26, color illus. p. 33.
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c424
References Arnason 1976, p. 25; Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pl. 257, in early state); Arnason 1982, p. 87, illus. p. 86 (pl. 91, in early state); Maier and Steingräber 1983, color illus. p. 389 (fig. 3); Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen and Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte 1983, illus. p. 246 (fig. 7); Stabenow 1983, p. 82; Drudi 1984, illus. p. 105 (in studio), illus. p. 107 (in studio); Drudi 1988b, illus. p. 111 (in studio), illus. p. 113 (in studio); Schulz-Hoffmann et al. 1995, pp. 235–36, color illus. p. 235; Thierolf 2002, pp. 28, 278, 296–301, color illus. p. 297 (cat. no. 26), illus. p. 298 (fig. 4); Gauer 2004, illus., erroneously as The July Collage. Comments The title of this collage refers to a torn piece of a brown paper package with a mailing label from the photographers Peter A. Juley & Son addressed to Motherwell. Another of these packages is used in The Photographer (c489). Motherwell set the composition of this collage in 1974, and an early
version was first photographed in April 1975 (Sloman photo no. 26). Sometime after that, he added the small area of black paint near the lower left corner.
c425
c426
c425
c426
c427
Ambiguity of Space
Royal Fireworks Music
Beckett’s Space
1974 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
1974 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and china marker on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
1974 Acrylic and pasted paper on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell \ 2 Feb 74
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 9 Feb 74
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 9 Feb 74
Present Owner Schorr Family Collection on loan to Princeton University Art Museum Provenance Schorr Family Collection, 1974 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1974, cat. no. 4. References Kramer 1974a, p. 21; Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 251); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 189 (pl. 262). Comments The collage element in the lower center of this work is a piece of brown wrapping paper with a label from V. A. Claessens Belgian artist’s canvas.
Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. James R. Patton Jr. Provenance Paul Haim, 1974; Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1974; private collection; Mr. and Mrs. James R. Patton Jr., 1980 Group Exhibitions Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1978. Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2001, cat. no. 13, color illus. p. 55. Comments The title of this collage refers to George Frideric Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks of 1749 (hwv 351).
c427
Comments This collage, whose title refers to the writer Samuel Beckett (1906–1989), evokes the sparseness of Beckett’s prose and dramatic works.
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Knoedler & Company, 1974; unknown owner, 1974; private collection Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1974, cat. no. 3. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 37. References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 251), color illus. n.p. (pl. 252); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 189 (pl. 262, as Samuel Beckett’s Space).
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c428
c428
Beckett’s Space No. 2 1974 Acrylic and pasted paper on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 20 April 74 Artist’s Studio Number c74-1559 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 47, illus. p. 110. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, as Beckett Space No. 2. Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1977. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 29, illus. p. 19.
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Centro Cultural de la Caixa de Pensions, Barcelona, 1980 (traveling), cat. no. 10; Madrid, cat. no. 10, color illus. n.p. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 32. Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2005. References Lucie-Smith 1978b, p. 23; Bonet 1980, illus. p. 16; Rubio 1980, color illus. p. 21.
c429
c430
c429
c430
The Adriatic
Rites of Spring
1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: R Motherwell \ 10 Feb 74
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: 13 Feb 74 \ R Motherwell
Present Owner Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection. Promised gift of the Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum
Verso not seen [“untitled and dated Feb 13 \ 74 on the back,” per present owner]
Provenance Virginia and Bagley Wright, 1974
Provenance Paul Haim, 1974; private collection, France
Solo Exhibitions Galerie André Emmerich, Zurich, 1974. Comments The collage element at the center of this work is a customs label from the city of Rijeka in Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia). A number of Motherwell’s works had been shown in Rijeka in January 1962 as part of a U.S. Information Agency traveling exhibition, Vanguard American Painting.
Present Owner Private collection, France
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1974, cat. no. 5. Comments The title of this work, done on the eve of Saint Valentine’s Day, refers to Igor Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) of 1913.
c431
c431
The Baltic Sea Bride No. 1 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 8 March 74 Present Owner Collection of Andrea and John Stark Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Samuel M. Kootz, 1974; [Christie’s, New York, November 12, 1980, lot 20, illus.]; private collection, 1980; Andrea and John Stark, ca. 1993 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1974, cat. no. 1. References Arnason 1976, p. 25; Arnason 1977b, p. 84, color illus. n.p. (pl. 241); Arnason 1982, p. 84, illus. p. 83 (pl. 78).
Comments The title of this series refers to Motherwell’s fourth wife, Renate Ponsold, whose father was from Reval, Estonia, on the Baltic Sea. The sheet music fragment is from Mozart’s Das Bandel (k. 441), in which his wife Costanze sings to him: “Liebes Mandel, wo ist’s Bandel?” (Dear little husband, where is the ribbon?). This music is also used in The Baltic Sea Bride No. 3 (c433), The Baltic Sea Marriage (c436), and several other works.
c432
c432
The Baltic Sea Bride No. 2 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 20 March 74 Present Owner Collection of Frederic C. Hamilton Provenance Knoedler & Company, 1974; Klebenov Gallery, Boston, 1974; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 9, 1982, lot 13, illus.]; Marjorie Leshaw, 1982; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 13, 2004, lot 205, illus.]; Frederic C. Hamilton, 2004
Comments The collage element in this work is an envelope from the French periodical Chroniques de l’art vivant, postmarked August 26, 1971. Motherwell was featured in the magazine’s July–August 1971 issue in an interview with Irmeline Lebeer (see Lebeer 1971). The Baltic Sea Bride No. 4 (c434) and The Baltic Sea Bride No. 5 (c435) also use envelopes from Chroniques de l’art vivant, as do L’Art Vivant (c281) and 13, Quai Montebello (c438).
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1974, cat. no. 10. References Herrera 1974, p. 113.
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c433
c433
The Baltic Sea Bride No. 3 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 23 March 74 Artist’s Studio Number c74-980 Present Owner National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Gift of Lawrence Rubin, 1993.66.2 Provenance Lawrence Rubin, 1988; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1993 Solo Exhibitions Montclair Art Museum, N.J., November 1989. Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, June 1993, cat. no. 8.
c434
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1995.
c434
References Arnason 1976, p. 25; Arnason 1977b, p. 84, color illus. n.p. (pl. 242); Arnason 1982, p. 84, color illus. p. 85 (pl. 86, in studio).
1974 Acrylic and pasted paper on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Comments The sheet music in this collage is from Mozart’s Das Bandel: “Liebes Mandel, wo ist’s Bandel?” (k. 441), the same musical source as for c431 and c436. A Suchard Bittra wrapper is placed under the music.
The Baltic Sea Bride No. 4
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ March 74 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1975; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 5, 1987, lot 122H, illus.]; unknown owner, 1987; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 7, 1990, lot 187, illus.]; private collection, 1990
Group Exhibitions Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 147, illus. p. 89. Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 125, color illus. n.p. Davenport Art Gallery, Iowa, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 59, color illus. p. 68. References Hess 1974, illus. p. 68, as Baltic Sea Bride; Tallmer 1977, illus. p. 16. Comments The collage element in this work is an envelope from the French periodical Chroniques de l’art vivant.
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c435
c435
The Baltic Sea Bride No. 5 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Comments The collage element in this work is an envelope from the French periodical Chroniques de l’art vivant.
c436
c436
The Baltic Sea Marriage 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ March 74
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 16 March 74
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number c74-1235
Provenance Private collection, 1974; private collection, 1978; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., London, December 2, 1982, lot 367, illus.]; private collection, 1982; Klabal Gallery, Inc., 1989; unknown owner
Present Owner Renate Ponsold Motherwell
Solo Exhibitions Galerie André Emmerich, Zurich, 1974. Group Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, 1983, color illus. n.p.
Provenance Renate Ponsold Motherwell, 1992 Solo Exhibitions Waddington Galleries, London, 1975. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. References Maloon 1978, illus. p. 21. Comments The sheet music in this collage is from Mozart’s Das Bandel: “Liebes Mandel, wo ist’s Bandel?” (k. 441); see the
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Comments for The Baltic Sea Bride No. 1 (c431). Our reproduction comes from an early color photograph of this work.
c437
c437
Yes I Will Yes Alternative Title: La Belle France 1974/ca. 1988 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on Upson board 35⅞ x 24 in. (91.1 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 12 March 74 Verso [crossed out]: “[La Belle France]” Artist’s Studio Number c74-2808 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1975 (shown in early state), as La Belle France. Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1976 (shown in early state), as La Belle France.
Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1978 (shown in early state), as La Belle France. Comments Motherwell completed the first version of this collage in 1974, when it had a single pasted element, a printed brown paper wrapper for a bottle of muscadet wine. The collage was shown in that form, under the title La Belle France, in three exhibitions between 1975 and 1978. It remained on consignment at the Janie C. Lee Gallery until January 1987, when it was returned to the artist. By that time, the original printed design on the collage element had almost completely faded, so Motherwell revised the work by adding a white sheet of paper with written text, and renamed it accordingly. The words “yes I will Yes” conclude Molly Bloom’s soliloquy at the end of James Joyce’s Ulysses.
c438
c438
13, Quai Montebello 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
that is pasted onto the brown envelope from Chroniques de l’art vivant. Charbonnel is located at 13, Quai de Montebello in Paris.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 74 Present Owner Robert and Colleen Haas Provenance Knoedler & Company, 1974; private collection, 1976; Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1976; private collection, 1976; Robert and Colleen Haas, 1976 Group Exhibitions Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1975. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1977, cat. no. 39. Comments The title of this collage refers to the flattened-out yellow-and-white box from Charbonnel lithographic crayons
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c439
c439
In Gray with White Shape Alternative Title: Collage 1974 Acrylic, pasted cardboard, and pasted papers on board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 74 Present Owner Collection of Timoteus R. Pohl, Vermont Provenance Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, 1975; private collection; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 5, 1994, lot 126, illus.]; Timoteus R. Pohl, Vermont, 1994 Solo Exhibitions Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, 1975, as Untitled. References Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pls. 248, 268, in studio), referred to in text and in illus. as Collage; Arnason 1982, p. 87, color illus. p. 191 (pl. 264, in studio).
c440
c440
Collage (21 April 74) 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 71¾ x 35⅞ in. (182.2 x 91.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 21 April 74 Present Owner Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest, 1981 Provenance Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1974; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1981
Solo Exhibitions Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1991, cat. no. 16. References Arnason 1976, color illus. p. 17 (in studio); Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 253, in studio).
c441
Unglückliche Liebe 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 25 April 74 Artist’s Studio Number c75-1560 Present Owner Private collection of Alain De Pauw, Vevey, Switzerland Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Alain De Pauw, Vevey, Switzerland, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 73, color illus. p. 45, as Unglueckliche Liebe. collag e s
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c442
c441
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 140, as Unglueckliche Liebe. References Art International 1974, cover color illus.; Arnason 1976, color illus. p. 17 (in studio); Arnason 1977b, p. 86, as Unglueckliche Liebe, color illus. n.p. (pls. 253, in studio, 265); Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Arnason 1982, p. 87, illus. p. 84 (pl. 85); Ashton 1983, p. 43, color illus. p. 45, referred to in text and in illus. as Unglueckliche Liebe; Brenson 1983b, sec. 2, p. 35; Hughes 1983, p. 70, color illus. p. 68; Inje 1984, p. 13; Richard 1984, sec. D, p. 12, as Unglueckliche Liebe; Wilson 1984, sec. Calendar, p. 75, illus. sec. Calendar, p. 75, referred to in text and in illus. as Unglueckliche Liebe; Gaugh 1985, color illus. p. 73; National Museum of Contemporary Art exh. cat. 1988, color 214
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illus. p. 645 (fig. 4, as Unglueckliche Liebe); Polcari 1991, p. 308. Comments The title of this collage refers to the fragment of sheet music near the center, which is from Mozart’s song “Unglückliche Liebe” (Unfortunate Love; k. 520).
c442
Cabaret Collage Alternative Title: Cabaret No. 1 1974/1990 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22 x 10⅜ in. (55.9 x 26.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 74 Artist’s Studio Number c74-3326 Present Owner Private collection, New York Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, New York, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 45, color illus. p. 58.
Comments The basic composition of this collage was set in 1974, when it was titled Cabaret No. 1. That early version of the work was used as a maquette for a tapestry (edition of 8) produced around 1978 by Modern Master Tapestries, Inc. Motherwell revised the collage in 1990, adding the ochre and white paint around the central collage elements, and retitled it Cabaret Collage. The sheet music at the center of this collage is from Mozart’s Das Bandel: “Liebes Mandel, wo ist’s Bandel?” (k. 441); it is also used in the Baltic Sea Bride series (see c431 and c433) and in a number of other collages.
c443
c444
c445
c446
c443
c444
c445
c446
Cabaret No. 2
Cabaret No. 3
Cabaret No. 4
Cabaret No. 5
1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22 x 10¼ in. (55.9 x 26 cm)
1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22 x 10⅜ in. (55.9 x 26.4 cm)
1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22 x 10¼ in. (55.9 x 26 cm)
1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22 x 10⅜ in. (55.9 x 26.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 74
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 74
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 74
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 74
Present Owner Collection Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
Artist’s Studio Number c74-489
Present Owner Hannelore B. Schulhof Collection, New York
Artist’s Studio Number c74-491
Provenance Private collection, 1974; private collection of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Williams, 1974; Jacobson Howard Gallery, 2007; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Images Gallery, Toledo, Ohio, 1974. Comments The sheet music fragment in this collage is from Mozart’s Das Bandel: “Liebes Mandel, wo ist’s Bandel?” (k. 441).
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Waddington Galleries, London, 1975. Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1974. Comments The sheet music fragment in this collage is from Mozart’s Das Bandel: “Liebes Mandel, wo ist’s Bandel?” (k. 441).
Provenance Hannelore B. Schulhof Collection, New York, 1976 Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, summer 1975. Comments This collage was used as a model for an early state of the large 1981 painting, Music over Music (p1042). The sheet music fragment is from Mozart’s Das Bandel: “Liebes Mandel, wo ist’s Bandel?” (k. 441).
Present Owner Sidney and Madeline Forbes Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Sidney and Madeline Forbes, 2004 Comments The fragment of a newspaper page in this collage is from the Times (London), September 29, 1965, which featured an article on Motherwell’s retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, published on the same day the exhibition opened. Motherwell used another piece from this same newspaper in an untitled collage (c455).
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c447
c447
c448
Cabaret No. 6
Cabaret No. 7
1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22 x 10¼ in. (55.9 x 26 cm)
1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22¼ x 10⅜ in. (56.5 x 26.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 74
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 74
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number c74-507
Provenance John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1974; private collection, 1975; private collection, 1976; unknown owner
Present Owner Sidney and Madeline Forbes
Solo Exhibitions Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1974, cat. no. 57, illus. n.p. Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Tex., 1975. Comments The main collage element in this work is a tag from Levi’s jeans. Our reproduction comes from an early black-andwhite photograph of the work.
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Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Sidney and Madeline Forbes, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Waddington Galleries, London, 1975. Comments The collage element at the center of this work is a ticket from a bullfight at the Plaza de Toros de BayonneBiarritz, France, dated August 3, 1958, a souvenir from Motherwell’s honeymoon trip with Helen Frankenthaler. It was this bullfight that inspired his
c448
Iberia and Bull paintings in 1958 (see the Comments for Iberia No. 2, p177). Motherwell used another bullfight ticket in Cabaret No. 12 (c453).
c449
Cabaret No. 8 1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22 x 10¼ in. (55.9 x 26 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 74 Artist’s Studio Number c74-2675 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, 2005; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2007; private collection, 2007
c449
c450
c451
c452
Solo Exhibitions Galerie André Emmerich, Zurich, 1974.
c450
c451
c452
Cabaret No. 9
Cabaret No. 10
Cabaret No. 11
Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2006, cat. no. 4.
1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22 x 10⅜ in. (55.9 x 26.4 cm)
1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22 x 10⅜ in. (55.9 x 26.4 cm)
1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22 x 10¼ in. (55.9 x 26 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 74
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 74
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 74
Artist’s Studio Number c74-488
Artist’s Studio Number c74-490
Present Owner Collection of Elvire and Lucien I. Levy
Present Owner Sidney and Madeline Forbes
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Elvire and Lucien I. Levy, 1980
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Sidney and Madeline Forbes, 2004
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004
Solo Exhibitions Galerie André Emmerich, Zurich, 1974.
Comments The collage element at the center of this work is part of a label from a box of Reeves sketching charcoal.
Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1975.
Group Exhibitions Galerie Brusberg, Hannover, Germany, 1977. Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 127, color illus. n.p. Fred, London, 2009. Comments The pasted element near the center of this collage is from a package of No. 5 Sigari Toscanelli, an Italian brand of cigars.
Comments This work incorporates a visitor’s ticket from the Palacio de Oriente (the Royal Palace in Madrid), most likely a souvenir from Motherwell’s 1958 honeymoon trip with Helen Frankenthaler.
Group Exhibitions Galerie Brusberg, Hannover, Germany, 1977. Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 128, color illus. n.p. Comments The sheet music in this work, as in many of the other Cabaret collages, is from Mozart’s Das Bandel: “Liebes Mandel, wo ist’s Bandel?” (k. 441).
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c453
c453
Cabaret No. 12 1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22 x 10¼ in. (55.9 x 26 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 74 Present Owner Unknown Provenance John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1974; private collection, 1976; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1974, cat. no. 58, illus. n.p. Comments The collage element at the lower center of this work is a ticket from a bullfight at the Plaza de Toros de BayonneBiarritz, France, dated August 3, 1958, a souvenir from Motherwell’s honeymoon trip with Helen Frankenthaler. It was this bullfight that inspired his Iberia and Bull series of paintings in 218
collages
1958 (see the Comments for Iberia No. 2, p177). Motherwell used another of these tickets in the collage Cabaret No. 7 (c448). Our reproduction of the work comes from the 1974 Otis Art Institute exhibition catalogue.
c454
c454
Suchard 1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, ink, and china marker on paper 31 x 16 in. (78.7 x 40.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 21 March 74 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1974; Brett Mitchell Collection, Cleveland; Dorothy D. and Samuel S. Kates; [Wolf ’s, Cleveland, May 20, 1995, lot 322, illus.]; unknown owner, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1974, cat. no. 49, illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Cleveland Museum of Art, 1986, illus. n.p. (fig. 28).
Comments The word Suchard inscribed by Motherwell on the horizontal piece of white paper below the left center of this collage element refers to the Suchard Bittra brand chocolate wrappers that he incorporated into many of his collages in 1973, particularly the Suchard on Orange series (c274–c276 and c406–c409).
c455
c456
c455
c456
Untitled
Untitled
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 35½ x 19 in. (90.2 x 48.3 cm), irreg.
1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, graphite, and china marker on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
prints at this time, and an envelope addressed to Motherwell from the Museo de Arte Moderno, Chapultepec Park, Mexico City. Motherwell had a retrospective exhibition there in 1975.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 74 Present Owner Collection of Cynthia and David Comsky Provenance Cynthia and David Comsky, 1974 Comments The pasted piece of newspaper in this collage is from the Times (London), September 29, 1965, which featured an article on Motherwell’s retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, published on the day the exhibition opened. Motherwell used another piece from this newspaper in Cabaret No. 5 (c446).
c457
c457
Untitled 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised [painted over]: [RM]
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 14 May 74
Recto, lower right: R Motherwell \ 12 May 74
Present Owner Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest, 1981
Present Owner Private collection, Cologne Provenance Private collection, 1976; Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf; [Christie’s, London, October 24, 1996, lot 89, illus.]; private collection, Cologne, Germany, 1996 Solo Exhibitions Galerie André Emmerich, Zurich, 1974. Comments The collage elements in this work include wrapping paper from Dain/ Schiff, the publishers of Motherwell’s
Provenance Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1974; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1981 Solo Exhibitions Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1991, cat. no. 15. References Arnason 1976, color illus. p. 17 (in studio); Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 253, in studio). collag e s
219
c458
c458
c459
In White and Blue on Grey
Collage (17 May 74)
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Alternative Title: Untitled 1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and china marker on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 16 May 74 Present Owner Willem Peppler, Switzerland Provenance Knoedler & Company, 1974; private collection; Willem Peppler, Switzerland, 1983 References Arnason 1976, color illus. p. 17 (in studio); Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 253, in studio).
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Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell \ 17 May 74 Present Owner Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1977
Provenance Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1974; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1981 Solo Exhibitions Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1991, cat. no. 1, erroneously as Collage (19 May 74). Group Exhibitions Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1977. References Arnason 1976, color illus. p. 17 (in studio); Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pls. 253, in studio, 255), referred
to in text and in illus. as Untitled; Arnason 1982, p. 87, illus. p. 86 (pl. 88). Comments The brown paper at the lower center of this collage is a mailing wrapper from the French periodical Chroniques de l’art vivant.
c459
c460
Pierre Berès 1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and china marker on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 18 May 74 Present Owner Sprengel Museum, Hannover Provenance Bernhard Sprengel, 1977; Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany, 1979 Solo Exhibitions Galerie André Emmerich, Zurich, 1974, color illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Galerie Brusberg, Hannover, Germany, 1977. Institut Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt, Germany, 2000, cat. no. 6, color illus. p. 17. Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany, 2000 (traveling), cat. no. 300, color illus. p. 68.
References Pleynet 1975, p. 9; Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pl. 256); Catoir 1980, illus. p. 282 (fig. 1); Arnason 1982, p. 87, illus. p. 86 (pl. 89); Moeller et al. 1985, color illus. p. 421 (pl. 405); Pleynet 1991, p. 19; Pleynet 1998, p. 93. Comments This collage contains wrapping paper with a mailing label from Pierre Berès, a publisher in Paris, addressed to Arthur A. Cohen, Motherwell’s friend and coeditor of the Documents of 20th-Century Art series from 1967 to 1980.
c460
c461
Collage with German Music and Canvas 1974 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and china marker on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
c461
Comments The “German Music” referred to in the title of this collage is the sheet music for Mozart’s “Die ihr des unermeßlichen Weltalls Schöpfer ehrt” (You Who Honor the Creator of the Measureless Universe), from Eine kleine deutsche Kantate (k. 619).
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 20 May 74 Present Owner Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Y. Haller Provenance Private collection, 1975; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 9, 1989, lot 181, illus.]; Dr. and Mrs. Y. Haller, 1989; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 18, 1998, lot 233, illus. (not sold)] References Arnason 1976, color illus. p. 17 (in studio, in progress); Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pls. 253, in studio, in progress, 254); Arnason 1982, p. 87, illus. p. 86 (pl. 87); Collins 1984, p. 96, illus. p. 96 (fig. 4); Gilbert 1998, p. 5; Haxall 2009, p. 128.
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c462
c462
c463
In Yellow Ochre with Pink
M
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm)
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R Motherwell \ 24 May 74
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 12 June 74
Present Owner Columbia Museum of Art. Gift of Robert Y. Turner
Artist’s Studio Number c74-979
Provenance Knoedler & Company, 1974; Robert Y. Turner; Columbia Museum of Art, S.C., 2000 References Arnason 1977b, p. 84, color illus. n.p. (pl. 245); Arnason 1982, p. 84, illus. p. 83 (pl. 80). Comments The sheet music in this collage is from Mozart’s Das Bandel: “Liebes Mandel, wo ist’s Bandel?” (k. 441).
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Present Owner Collection of Mitchell Shaheen
c463
Comments The title of this collage refers to an “M” (tourist class) luggage label from the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (the French Line) that is affixed to the brown envelope near the lower center. Next to it is a label from V. A. Claessens Belgian artist’s canvas. Motherwell had sailed on the French Line to Europe in 1960 (see the Comments for The French Line, c124).
c464
c464
Edgar Allan Poe Series (The House of Usher) Alternative Title: French Door II 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 18 July 74 Artist’s Studio Number c74-975; p74-975
Provenance Mitchell Shaheen, 1981
Present Owner Collection of Gerald S. Lippes & Jody B. Ulrich
Group Exhibitions Cleveland Museum of Art, 1986, illus. n.p. (fig. 27).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Gerald S. Lippes & Jody B. Ulrich, 2002
References Arnason 1976, color illus. p. 17 (in studio, in early state); Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pls. 253, in studio, in progress, 268, in studio).
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, January 1975, cat. no. 4, as French Door, II. References Kramer 1975, p. 21, as French Door II.
c465
Comments This work was first exhibited in 1975 at Knoedler & Company as French Door II. In 1985 Motherwell consigned the work to Knoedler a second time and renamed it Edgar Allan Poe Series (The House of Usher), without making any changes to the work itself. The new title referred to his 1973 works Poe No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 (c402–c405), which were composed of black-andwhite collage elements on ochre grounds.
c465
The Irregular Heart 1974 Acrylic, pasted cardboard, pasted papers, and clear plastic tape on Upson board 25½ x 19½ in. (64.8 x 49.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 20 July 74 Verso (on backing board): “the irregular heart” \ 20 July 74 \ Robert Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number c74-1958 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
c466
to Motherwell’s summer home in Provincetown. In 1974, Motherwell suffered from an irregular heartbeat and that fall underwent a series of abdominal and heart operations.
c466
Untitled 1974 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 74 Recto, lower left: For Claus \ 27 July 74 Present Owner Private collection, Germany Provenance Private collection, Germany, 1974 Comments The collage element in this work is a label from a bottle of 1971 Ayler Kupp Auslese wine. The recto dedication is to Claus Colsman-Freyberger, who was Motherwell’s studio assistant at the time.
Solo Exhibitions Waddington Galleries, London, 1975. Comments This collage includes pieces torn from a package of medicine sent by airmail from a Greenwich pharmacy
collag e s
223
c467
c468
c467
c468
c469
Summertime with Blue
Celtic Air
The Times in Mexico
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 24¾ in. (76.2 x 62.9 cm)
Alternative Title: {In Pink and Grey with Oval} 1974/1979 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 28 July 74 Present Owner Gertrude Kasle Provenance Gertrude Kasle, 1974; [Christie’s, New York, November 19, 1992, lot 285, illus. (not sold)] Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1975, cat. no. 16. Group Exhibitions Meadow Brook Art Gallery, Oakland University, Rochester, Mich., 1976, cat. no. 33.
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Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: Motherwell \ 74 Present Owner Collection Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 79 Recto, upper left (upside down) [painted over]: [Motherwell \ Aug 74]
Provenance Private collection, 1975; Robin and George Dalsheimer, 1988; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2007
Artist’s Studio Number c74-1936; c79-3696
Group Exhibitions Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York, 2007.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Glen and Lynn Tobias, 2007
Comments The title of this work refers both to a type of music and to the collage element near the center, which is from a package of Celtique cigarettes, a French brand.
Present Owner Glen and Lynn Tobias
Solo Exhibitions Waddington Galleries, London, 1975 (shown in early state), as The ‘Times’ in Mexico.
c469
Comments The central white collage element in this work was torn from the Times (London). An earlier state of this work was oriented with what is now the top at the bottom (i.e., rotated 180 degrees). In that position it was signed and dated 1974 at the lower right corner (Sloman photo no. 10). In 1979, Motherwell turned the work upside down and extended the lower gray painted area to the edges of the support, covering over the original signature. He then re-signed it in what is now the upper left corner. But the basic composition remained the same.
c470
c471
c470
c471
c472
The Times in Mexico II
All Hallow’s Eve
Geneva Collage
1974–75 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1974–75 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm)
Alternative Title: The Geneva Mail 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ Aug 74
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 20 Aug 74
Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “the ‘times’ in mexico, ii” 1974
Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “all hallow’s eve”
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 21 Aug 74
Artist’s Studio Number c74-1447
Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. Robert Liberman
Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “the geneva mail” 1974
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Robert Liberman, 1977
Present Owner Knoedler & Company
Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1975 (in early state).
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Shoenberg, 1975; [Christie’s, New York, November 13, 2008, lot 158, illus. (not sold)]; Knoedler & Company, 2008
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1978 Comments This work was photographed in an early state in 1975 (Sloman photo no. 11). Sometime after that, Motherwell painted the upper gray collage element black.
Dart Gallery, Chicago, 1976, cat. no. 7. References Rothschild 1978a, illus. p. 48 (in studio). Comments An early version of this work was exhibited at the David Mirvish Gallery in April 1975. Motherwell later added black paint to the lower half, over the original orange ground.
c472
References Ellenzweig 1975, color illus. p. 21; Lipman and Franc 1976, p. 184, color illus. p. 185; Arnason 1977b, pp. 84, 86, color illus. n.p. (pl. 247); Arnason 1982, pp. 84, 87, illus. p. 83 (pl. 81). Comments One of the pasted elements in this collage is wrapping paper from a package sent from Geneva to the writer B. H. Friedman. The title of this collage was inscribed as The Geneva Mail, and it was first consigned to Knoedler & Company under that title. It was renamed Geneva Collage by the time it was shown at Knoedler & Company in January 1975.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, January 1975, cat. no. 6.
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c473
c473
French Door V 1974/1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 28 Aug 74 Artist’s Studio Number c74-1009 Present Owner Collection of the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio. Museum purchase and gift of the Dedalus Foundation 1994 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, 1994 Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1975 (shown in early state). Group Exhibitions Butler Trumbull County Branch Museum, Howland, Ohio, 1996. 226
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References Staber 1974–75, p. 121; Rothschild 1978a, illus. p. 48 (in studio); Raynor 1994, illus. sec. 13, p. 18 (in studio); Sweetkind 1997, illus. p. 125. Comments This is the sole remaining numbered work in the French Door series. The titles of three other numbered works in the series were changed (see c464, c474, and c476). The David Mirvish Gallery exhibited an early version of this work in spring 1975 (studio inventory no. ph 61-1). It was returned to the artist at the end of May 1975, and sometime after that he added black paint in the lower half of the work, over the original orange ground. It was photographed in its final state sometime around 1977.
c474
c474
Silver Music Alternative Titles: French Door VI; Finnegans Wake No. 6 1974/1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell 74 Present Owner Fayez Sarofim Collection Provenance Meredith Long & Company, 1976; Fayez Sarofim, 1984 Solo Exhibitions Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, 1975 (shown in early state), as Finnegan’s Wake #6. Knoedler & Company, New York, 1976, cat. no. 2. References Glenn 1982a, color illus. p. 108.
Comments A black-and-white photograph of the earliest known version of this work shows it to have had a two-toned ground, with a darker tone in the upper portion (studio inventory photo no. ph 61-4). This early version, originally titled French Door VI and dated August 29, 1974, was consigned to Knoedler & Company in 1974 and returned to the artist in January 1975. Motherwell subsequently revised the colors of the ground and exhibited the new version at the Ace Gallery in July–August 1975 under the title Finnegans Wake No. 6. Sometime after the work was returned from the Ace Gallery in October 1975, Motherwell again revised it, repainting the entire ground a single blue-gray hue and adding the blue paper collage element and sheet music from Mozart’s “Sehnsucht nach dem Frühlinge” (Longing for the Springtime; k. 596). The collage was then retitled Silver Music and sent to Knoedler, where it was sold in January 1976.
c475
c475
Finnegans Wake No. 1 1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, and china marker on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 74
revisions were done, but the work was complete by the time it was exhibited at the Ace Gallery in 1975. Motherwell gave three numbered collages titles that refer directly to James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake (see also c474 and c476); the irregular numbering sequence included only numbers 1, 6, and 7.
c476
c476
Finnegans Wake VII, with Green Alternative Title: French Door VII 1974–75/1976/1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Present Owner Unknown
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: 74 \ R Motherwell
Provenance Private collection, 1975; private collection; unknown owner
Verso [circled ]: [N.F.S. \ RM]
Solo Exhibitions Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, 1975.
Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Museum purchase, the Friends of Art Endowment Fund
Comments An early version of this work appears in a 1974 black-and-white photograph (studio inventory photo no. ph 61-2); it has a two-toned ground and is signed and dated “1 Sept 74.” Motherwell later revised the work, extending the dark forms in the top section to the entire ground, and adding two white lines in china marker; he then re-signed the work. It is not certain when these final
Artist’s Studio Number c74-2809
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993 Solo Exhibitions Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, 1975 (shown in early state), as Finnegan’s Wake #7. Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1978 (shown in early state).
Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Mass., 1983 (traveling) (shown in early state). Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1994. The Modern at Sundance Square, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1998. Group Exhibitions Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, 1982, color illus. p. 78; shown in early state. Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, N.Y., 1991. References Forman 1983, p. 13; Tyson 1993a, p. 1; Caws 2003, color illus. p. 141 (ill. 91). Comments This collage was begun in 1974 as French Door VII, and studio photographs show that Motherwell extensively reworked the colors of the ground numerous times before it was first shown under the title Finnegans
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c477
Wake VII at the Ace Gallery in July– August 1975; that version had dark painted tones over most of the left side of the work and at the lower right corner. Sometime after the collage was returned from the Ace Gallery in October 1975, Motherwell repainted the ground light blue, added a green rectangular form on the left side of the picture, and placed a label from E. Coudray, a French perfumer, at the center of the green painted area. The work was then shown at the Janie C. Lee Gallery in March–April 1978 as Finnegans Wake VII, with Green, and it remained on consignment to the gallery until 1983, when it was lent to an exhibition in Provincetown. In 1984 Motherwell revised the work again, adding black over much of the green.
c477
Blue Music 1974–77 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 74 Artist’s Studio Number c74-957 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1988 Solo Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1979, cat. no. 8. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 82. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1985 (traveling), cat. no. 78. References Forman 1979, p. 13, illus. p. 13; Motherwell in Forman 1979, p. 13; Arnason 1982, p. 87, color illus. p. 189
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c478
(pl. 263); Drudi 1984, illus. p. 105 (in studio), illus. p. 107; Tucker 1987, sec. 2, p. 8; Drudi 1988b, illus. p. 111 (in studio), illus. p. 113 (in studio); Pleynet 1989b, p. 57, color illus. p. 59; Jennings 1991, p. 19; Museum Morsbroich exh. cat. 2004, color illus. p. 91. Comments Motherwell began this work in 1974 (studio inventory photo no. ph 61-5). Both the sheet music—from Mozart’s “An die Hoffnung” (To Hope; k. 390/ 340c)—and the signature and date at the upper right were added later, sometime between April 1975, when the work appears in its intermediate state in a studio photograph, and October 1977, when it was photographed in its final state (Sloman photo no. 485).
c478
Collage with German Sheet Music 1974–77 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 74 Artist’s Studio Number c74-1181 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Unknown owner, ca. 1980 References Drudi 1984, illus. p. 104 (in studio); Drudi 1988b, illus. p. 110 (in studio); Raynor 1994, illus. sec. 13, p. 18 (in studio). Comments A black-and-white photograph of the earliest known version of this work was taken around September 1974 (studio inventory photo no. ph 61-8). In it, the
c479
work had a two-toned ground, with a darker tone in the upper portion. The sheet music is from a revised edition of Mozart’s “Des kleinen Friedrichs Geburtstag” (For the Birthday of Little Prince Friedrich; k. 529), in which Daniel Jäger’s poem “Arete” was used; the first words of that poem are visible here. It is unclear when the sheet music was added; a photograph of the work in its final state was taken around 1977. Our reproduction comes from an early color photograph of this work.
c480
c481
c479
c480
c481
{ Title unknown}
Blue and White on Orange No. 1
Blue and White on Orange No. 2
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 24 x 12 in. (61 x 30.5 cm)
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 24 x 11¾ in. (61 x 29.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 3 Sept 74
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 74
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number c74-492
Artist’s Studio Number c74-258
Provenance The artist
Present Owner Private collection, New York
Comments This collage is known only from an 8 x 10–inch color transparency taken in Motherwell’s Greenwich studio on November 11, 1974 (Sloman photo no. 19). We do not know whether this collage ever left the studio, or whether it still exists in the form illustrated here.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, New York, 2006
Present Owner Collection Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 31 Aug 74
Comments Motherwell made a number of collages with the restricted means of blue and white collage elements on an orange ground, but several of them were painted over. Only this work and one other collage (c481) were given titles and numbers in what he called the Blue and White on Orange series.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2005 Group Exhibitions Broadbent, London, 2009.
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c482
c483
c484
c482
c483
c484
Untitled
Untitled
Hartley in Germany
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 12 in. (76.2 x 30.5 cm)
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 12 in. (76.2 x 30.5 cm)
1974 Acrylic, pasted cardboard, and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM/Sept \ 74
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ Sept 74
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 5 Sept 74
Artist’s Studio Number c74-2434
Present Owner Mary Tyler Moore and Dr. F. Robert Levine
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner J. Verme Collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; J. Verme, 2007
Provenance Unknown owner, ca. 1976; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, October 1, 1985, lot 166, illus. (not sold)]; private collection, ca. 1985; André Emmerich Gallery, 1987; Mary Tyler Moore and Dr. F. Robert Levine, 1994 Group Exhibitions André Emmerich Gallery, New York, 1975.
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collages
Provenance Meredith Long & Company, 1976; private collection, 1979; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, January 1975, cat. no. 14. References Kramer 1975, p. 21; Ratcliff 1975, illus. p. 35; Schjeldahl 1975, p. 24. Comments The printed collage element in the lower left part of this work is part of a cardboard box for shipping nine-ounce jars of William P. Hartley brand jam. Our reproduction comes from an early color slide of this work.
c485
c486
c485
c486
c487
Untitled
Untitled
In Ultramarine with Scarlet II
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm)
1974 Acrylic, pasted paper, and china marker on canvas board 30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm)
1974 Acrylic, pasted paper, and china marker on canvas board 30 x 24¾ in. (76.2 x 62.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 18 Sept 74
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: Motherwell \ Sept 74
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: Motherwell \ 74
Present Owner Private collection, Seoul
Present Owner Unknown
Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “in ultramarine with scarlet ii”
Provenance Corporate Collection of USX, 1975; [Christie’s, New York, May 8, 1990, lot 152, illus. (not sold)]; [Christie’s, New York, May 2, 1991, lot 163, illus.]; private collection, Seoul, 1991
Provenance Private collection, 1975; unknown owner
Present Owner Private collection, Switzerland
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, January 1975, cat. no. 3.
Comments Motherwell may have meant for this work to be titled In Ultramarine with Scarlet I, but it remains untitled. See the Comments for c487.
Group Exhibitions Acquavella Contemporary Art, New York, 1974.
c487
however, an untitled 1974 work with a similar structure (c486) that may have been intended as part of a series along with this work.
Provenance Private collection, 1976; private collection, Switzerland, 1976 Group Exhibitions Galerie Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland, 1976, cat. no. 58, color illus. n.p. Comments Although this collage is given the number II, there are no other known numbered works with the title In Ultramarine with Scarlet. There is,
collag e s
231
c488
c488
c489
Ferienzeit
The Photographer
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm)
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: Motherwell \ 74
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM \ 74
Present Owner Weiss Family Collection Provenance Private collection, 1974; private collection, 1976; Weiss Family Collection, 1976 Solo Exhibitions Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, 1992, color illus. p. 29. Comments The title of this collage refers to the word Ferienzeit (German for “vacation”) that appears as part of the postmark on the pasted envelope, which is from Galerie André Emmerich, Zurich.
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collages
c489
Comments The title of this collage is related to the torn piece of a package near the center, which contains a label from the photographers Peter A. Juley & Son. A similar package was used earlier in 1974 in The Juley Collage (c424). Our reproduction comes from an early color photograph of this work.
c490
Zig-Zag 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 12 in. (76.2 x 30.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 74
Present Owner Private collection, New York
Artist’s Studio Number c74-500; c74-5459
Provenance Private collection, New York, 1977
Present Owner Private collection
Solo Exhibitions Waddington Galleries, London, 1975.
Provenance Private collection
Washington University Gallery of Art, Saint Louis, 1995, cat. no. 15.
Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1975.
Group Exhibitions Gruenebaum Gallery, New York, 1976, cat. no. 4, color illus. p. 17.
B. R. Kornblatt Gallery, Baltimore, 1976.
References Brown 1976, p. 18; Perrone 1976b, p. 73; Russell 1976a, sec. C, p. 16.
Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, December 2005 (traveling), cat. no. 9. Comments The title of this collage refers to the package from Zig-Zag Little Cigars at the center.
c490
c491
c491
c492
Grey Chablis
In Darkest Stepaside
1974 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas board 30 x 12 in. (76.2 x 30.5 cm)
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 24¾ in. (76.2 x 62.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM 74
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: Motherwell \ 74
Artist’s Studio Number c74-252; c74-264; c74-3778 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2006 Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1975. Comments The title of this collage refers to the label from a bottle of Chablis 1er Cru wine (Les Fourchaumes) pasted in the lower right corner.
Present Owner Private collection. Courtesy of Locks Gallery, Philadelphia Provenance Private collection, 1977; Ralph and Peggy Burnet, 1987; [Christie’s, New York, May 17, 2001, lot 195, illus. (not sold)]; [Christie’s, New York, September 9, 2008, lot 197, illus.]; private collection, 2008 Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1975. B. R. Kornblatt Gallery, Baltimore, 1976. Comments The title of this work comes from dialogue spoken by Leopold Bloom in
c492
James Joyce’s Ulysses: “bloom Keep to the right, right, right. If there is a fingerpost planted by the Touring Club at Stepaside who procured that public boon? I who lost my way and contributed to the columns of the Irish Cyclist the letter headed, In darkest Stepaside. Keep, keep, keep to the right. Rags and bones, at midnight. A fence more likely. First place murderer makes for. Wash off his sins of the world” (London: Bodley Head, 1968), p. 568. The Irish village of Stepaside is considered a suburb of Dublin.
c493
Black Refracts Heat 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 74 Verso (on top horizontal strainer) [partially crossed out]: “black refracts heat” [illegible] nov 1974. 48 x 36" Artist’s Studio Number c74-1454 Present Owner Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Gift of Margaret and Angus Wurtele and the Dedalus Foundation, 1995 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, January 1975, cat. no. 11. Waddington Galleries, London, 1975.
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233
c493
William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 68 (brochure); cat. no. 72 (catalogue), illus. p. 16, color illus. p. 90 (in exhibition). Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1981, cat. no. 9. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 68, illus. p. 102. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 72. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1996, cat. no. 32. Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. XI.1, color illus. p. 185 (pl. 128); shown in New York only. Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño, Mexico City, 2008, color illus. p. 52.
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collages
Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., 2009, cat. no. 33. Group Exhibitions Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 126, illus. n.p. References Kramer 1975, p. 21; Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pl. 271); Arnason 1982, p. 87, illus. p. 195 (pl. 268); Richard 1984, sec. D, p. 13; Russell 1984, sec. C, p. 22; Kimball 1985, p. 33; Caws 2003, p. 136. Comments This work served as the basis for a poster for the 48th International PEN Congress, held in New York City in 1986 (not included in Engberg and Banach 2003). The title comes from a phrase spoken by Leopold Bloom in James Joyce’s Ulysses: “bloom
(Hurriedly.) Not so loud my name. Whatever do you think me? Don’t give me away. Walls have hears. How do you do? It’s ages since I. You’re looking splendid. Absolutely it. Seasonable weather we are having this time of year. Black refracts heat. Short cut home here. Interesting quarter. Rescue of fallen women Magdalen asylum. I am the secretary” (London: Bodley Head, 1968), p. 573.
c494
Princeton Collage 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ Dec 74 Artist’s Studio Number c74-1000 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2002; [Christie’s, New York, May 12, 2005, lot 311, illus.]; private collection, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 2 (cover color illus. in brochure).
c494
References Arnason 1977b, p. 84, color illus. n.p. (pl. 246); Arnason 1982, p. 84, illus. p. 83 (pl. 79). Comments This collage includes wrapping paper from a package sent to Motherwell by the Art Museum, Princeton University, postmarked June 20, 1974. Motherwell had a solo exhibition there in January– February 1973. At the upper right edge of the brown wrapping paper are two one-dollar U.S. postage stamps commemorating the playwright Eugene O’Neill (1888–1953), on whom Motherwell wrote his undergraduate thesis at Stanford.
c495
Collage with Music and Canvas No. 2 1974 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and charcoal on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 74 \ 29 December Artist’s Studio Number c74Present Owner Colección Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, conaculta/inba Provenance Colección Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, conaculta/inba, Mexico City, 1975
Solo Exhibitions Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 38, illus. n.p., as Collage con música y lienzo (Collage with Music and Canvas). Comments There is no number 1 in the Collage with Music and Canvas series; but a related work, Collage with German Music and Canvas (c461), may have been conceived as such. The sheet music fragment in this work is a lithographic reproduction (made by Tyler Graphics Ltd.) of part of the score of Igor Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps.
c495
c496
Stravinsky Spring 1974/1975 Acrylic, pasted cardboard, and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 24 in. (121.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ Dec 74 Artist’s Studio Number c74-1006 Present Owner Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles Provenance Private collection, Switzerland; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 9, 1983, lot 82, illus.]; Frederick R. Weisman, 1983; Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles collag e s
235
c496
Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979. References Winter 1982, color illus. p. 76; Hunter and Jacobus 1985, pp. 278, 279, 378, color illus. p. 279 (fig. 500); Hunter, Jacobus, and Wheeler 2004, p. 278, color illus. p. 279 (fig. 500); Frederick R. Weisman Philanthropic Foundation 2007, p. 245, color illus. p. 170 (installation view), color illus. p. 244, as Stravinsky: Spring. Comments The sheet music fragment in this work is a lithographic reproduction of part of the score of Igor Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps, turned upside down. The Läkerol pastilles box at the lower center is also a lithographic reproduction. This collage was begun in 1974 and photographed in an early state that year. Motherwell added the black areas sometime after it was returned to him from consignment at Knoedler & Company in January 1975.
236
c ollages
c497
c497
The Dutch Hat 1974 Acrylic, pasted papers, oil stick, and graphite on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 74 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1976; Knoedler & Company, 1981; private collection, 1981 Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1975. Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1976. References Moser 1976, sec. 2, p. 6; Rothschild 1978a, illus. p. 48 (in studio); Drohojowska 1988, p. 109. Comments An early version of this work, composed of three papers pasted on a light red ground, was photographed on November 11, 1974 (Sloman photo
no. 16). Motherwell later repainted the ground black, and added the black gestural marks in the upper rectangular form and the three vertical lines in the lower rectangle. It is unclear whether these revisions were done before the work was sent to the David Mirvish Gallery in January 1975, or sometime after it was returned to the artist in late May of that year. The work was in its final form by the time it was consigned to the Watson de Nagy Company in October 1975.
c498
c498
Metaphor and Movement 1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 8 Dec 74 Artist’s Studio Number c74-5202 Present Owner Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. George B. and Jenny R. Mathews Fund, 1977 Provenance Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1977 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, January 1975, cat. no. 1. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 69 (brochure); cat. no. 71 (catalogue), illus. p. 44 (in exhibition), color illus. p. 107 (in exhibition), illus. p. 115.
c499
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 69, color illus. p. 103. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 81. References Duffy 1984, illus. p. 60; Fowler 1984, illus. sec. A, p. 15; Regan 1984, illus. sec. Review, p. 12; Richard 1984, sec. D, p. 13; Wallach 1984b, illus. pt. 2, p. 5; Polcari 1991, p. 308; Waldman 1992, p. 221, illus. p. 221 (pl. 290); Caws 1996b, pp. 141, 142, illus. p. 143; Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, illus. p. 83 (fig. 1); Caws 2003, pp. 117, 125, illus. p. 117 (ill. 77).
c500
c499
c500
Sacre du Printemps
Corsican Collage
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
1974 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: For Heidi + Claus
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ Dec 74
Recto, lower left: Motherwell \ 1974
Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “corsican collage” 48 x 36
Present Owner Private collection, Germany Provenance Private collection, Germany, 1974 Comments The title of this collage refers to Igor Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps. Attached to the verso of the collage is a page torn from an advertisement for the Hawkes Pocket Scores edition of Stravinsky’s composition, from which the fragment of sheet music is taken. The dedication inscribed on the recto is to Heidi and Claus Colsman-Freyberger, who worked for Motherwell at the time.
for c501). This part of the package reads: “Maison fondée en 1838 \ manufacture corse de tabacs france” (Firm established 1838 \ corsican tobacco factory france). Bastos cigarettes were made from tobacco grown on Corsica and were manufactured just south of Bastia, the island’s largest city.
Present Owner Columbia Museum of Art. Collection of Robert Y. Turner Provenance Robert Y. Turner, 1975; Columbia Museum of Art, S.C., 2006 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, January 1975, cat. no. 9. Comments The blue printed element on the right side of this collage is an enlargement produced by Tyler Graphics Ltd. of part of a package of Bastos cigarettes, a Corsican brand (see the Comments
collag e s
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c502
c501
c501
Bastos 1974 Oil and pasted paper on paper 62 x 40 in. (157.5 x 101.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Artist’s Studio Number c75-1252 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 15, 2008, lot 164, illus. (not sold)] Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1976. Century Club, New York, 1987.
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collages
References Cohen 1977, color illus. p. 232 (installation view); Rothschild 1978a, illus. p. 49 (installation view). Comments This collage, along with Corsican Collage (c500) and Bastos (c502), is among the first works by Motherwell in which he used a lithographic enlargement of a printed object as a collage element. The enlargement in this case is a five-color lithograph made by Tyler Graphics Ltd. of a package of Bastos cigarettes, a Corsican brand. The writer Arthur Cohen had brought the package used as a model back from Europe as a gift to Motherwell. This collage was the maquette for the 1975 lithograph Bastos, printed by Tyler Graphics Ltd. (Engberg and
Banach 2003, no. 169), and can be dated in relation to Motherwell’s work on the lithograph, which began in September 1974 (the edition was printed in late January 1975). This collage was consigned to Knoedler & Company on January 2, 1975. On the consignment form to Knoedler, it is dated 1974.
c502
Bastos 1974–75 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas mounted on board 65 x 40 in. (165.1 x 101.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 75 Artist’s Studio Number c74-1960 Present Owner Private collection, New York Provenance Kenneth E. Tyler, ca. 1975; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 18, 2000, lot 394, illus.]; private collection, New York, 2000
c503
Comments This work, an alternate maquette for the 1975 lithograph Bastos (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 169), was started shortly after the first large Bastos collage (c501) and finished at the beginning of 1975. In this collage, Motherwell once again uses a greatly enlarged reproduction of the cigarette package, but the version used in this work is slightly different from those used in c501 and in the print edition.
c503
Dublin Collage 1975/ca. 1983 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas mounted on Masonite 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1976, cat. no. 8 (shown in early state). Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Mass., 1983 (traveling) (shown in early state).
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 75
Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, 2001, cat. no. 43, color illus. p. 65.
Artist’s Studio Number c75-2213; c75-2668
Group Exhibitions Fine Arts Center Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1976, illus. p. 8; shown in early state.
Present Owner Private collection, United Kingdom Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, 2001; Waddington Galleries, London, 2002; private collection, United Kingdom, 2008
Knoedler & Company, New York, 1977, cat. no. 16 (in early state). Waddington Galleries, London, 2009. References Arnason 1977b, illus. p. 84 (pl. 51, in early state); Advocate Summer Guide 1983b, p. 3; Forman 1983, p. 13; Digby
and Digby 1985, illus. p. 177 (fig. 80, in early state). Comments Motherwell set the composition for this work in 1975, using as the collage element a lithographic enlargement of the packaging for a bar of McClinton’s Barilla Soap, made in Dublin. (This is thought to be the same brand of soap that Leopold Bloom famously buys at Sweny’s chemists in Dublin, in Joyce’s Ulysses, and carries in his pocket throughout the day, whence the title of this collage.) Motherwell added the blue paint sometime after August 1983, when the work was returned to him following its exhibition in Provincetown that summer.
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c504
c504
Papeteries 1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on monotype 45½ x 33⅝ in. (115.6 x 85.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R Motherwell \ 75 Artist’s Studio Number c75-1226 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
References Arnason 1977b, illus. p. 85 (pl. 52); Warnod 1977. Comments The title of this work refers to the oversize lithographic reproduction of a packaging label for Arjomari-Prioux paper at the lower center. ArjomariPrioux is a French brand born of the 1954 merger between Arches, Rives, and two other manufacturers of fine papers. Motherwell’s use of a monotype as the ground for this collage is related to his recent installation of an etching press in his Greenwich studio.
c505
c505
Prelude 1974/1975 Acrylic, pasted papers, crayon, and china marker on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 13 May 74 Artist’s Studio Number c74-996 Present Owner Unknown
Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, illus. n.p.
Provenance Private collection, 1978; unknown owner
Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 41, illus. p. 22.
Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1975 (shown in early state).
Annandale Galleries, Sydney, Australia, 2005. Group Exhibitions Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, May 2008, cat. no. 2.
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collages
Comments An early version of this collage was completed and signed in 1974, and exhibited at the David Mirvish Gallery the following April. Following that show, the work was returned to Motherwell,
who subsequently revised it, adding the sheet music from Mozart’s Arietta “Dans un bois solitaire” (In a Lonely Wood; k. 308/295b), the small white paper element above it, and the gestural black painted form in the lower half of the ground. The date of these revisions is not known, but they were probably done in 1975. The collage was photographed in its final state in 1977. Our reproduction comes from an early color photograph of this work.
c506
c506
Das Kinderspiel 1975 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell 75 Artist’s Studio Number c75-3636 Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Museum purchase, the Friends of Art Endowment Fund Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993 Solo Exhibitions Dart Gallery, Chicago, 1976, cat. no. 5.
The Modern at Sundance Square, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1998. References Museo Rufino Tamayo exh. cat. 1991, illus. p. 90 (in studio); Tyson 1993a, color illus. p. 1; Tyson 1998, sec. F, p. 7, illus. sec. F, p. 1; Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano exh. cat. 2006, illus. p. 26 (in studio), illus. p. 28 (in studio). Comments This collage takes its title from the sheet music near the center, which is from Mozart’s “Das Kinderspiel” (Children’s Game; k. 598).
c507
Lebensreise 1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R Motherwell 75 Artist’s Studio Number c75-2669 Present Owner Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Gift of Margaret and Angus Wurtele and the Dedalus Foundation, 1995
c507
Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño, Mexico City, 2008, color illus. p. 55. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., 2009, cat. no. 36. Group Exhibitions Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, Conn., 1986, erroneously as Ledensreise. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 2005. Comments The title of this work refers to the sheet music, which is from Mozart’s Lebensreise (“Wenn den langen Weg”) (Life’s Journey [When the Long Way]; k. 468).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1995
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1976, cat. no. 6.
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1994.
B. R. Kornblatt Gallery, Baltimore, 1976. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1996, cat. no. 33.
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c508
c508
c509
Schoenberg
Dann Net–Zen Freu
1975 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1975 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and china marker on Upson board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 75
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ Jan 75
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Collection of Geri and Don Thayer
Provenance André Emmerich Gallery, 1975; private collection, 1975
Provenance Geri and Don Thayer, 1976
Comments The title of this work refers to the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951); the sheet music near the center of this collage is the last page of the study score of Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony no. 1 for 15 solo instruments, op. 9 (1906).
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Group Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, September 2008. References Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 268, in studio, in progress); Kramer 1977a, color illus. p. 17 (in studio, in progress). Comments The sheet music at the center of this work is from Mozart’s Eine kleine deutsche Kantate (k. 619). Music from the same composition is also used in Collage with German Music and Canvas
c509
(c461) and in Edgar Allan Poe Series (Poe’s Music) (c510). The title of this collage is adapted from visible lyrics in the cantata: “dann netzen Freudenzähren nur die Wangen” (then only tears of joy will wet my cheeks).
c510
c510
Edgar Allan Poe Series (Poe’s Music) Alternative Titles: Shadows; Das Menschen 1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 26 Jan 75 Artist’s Studio Number c75-1453 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 1996 Solo Exhibitions Waddington Galleries, London, 1975, as Shadows. Galería Joan Prats, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland, 1991, cat. no. 6 (sec. “Paintings”), color illus. n.p., erroneously as Edgard Allen Poe Series (Poe’s Music).
c511
Group Exhibitions Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 129, illus. n.p., as Das Menschen. Comments This work was first exhibited in 1975 as Shadows; but two years later, it was shown as Das Menschen. In 1985 Motherwell consigned it to Knoedler & Company under its present title, along with another newly retitled work, Edgar Allan Poe Series (The House of Usher) (c464). The phrase “Edgar Allan Poe Series” is a reference to Motherwell’s four numbered Poe series collages (see c402–c405) of 1973, which also were composed of black-and-white collage elements on ochre grounds. The sheet music in this work is from Eine kleine deutsche Kantate by Mozart (k. 619).
c511
Blood and Sand 1975 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ Feb 75 Present Owner Sachiko and Lawrence B. Goodman Provenance André Emmerich Gallery, 1975; private collection, 1977; Sachiko and Lawrence B. Goodman, 1979 References Arnason 1976, p. 25, color illus. p. 22; Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pl. 270); Arnason 1982, p. 87, illus. p. 84 (pl. 82). Comments The title of this work may refer to Sangre y arena (1914), a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (1867–1929) that tells the story of the rise and fall
c512
of a bullfighter in Sevilla. Ibáñez’s novel inspired two films, both called Blood and Sand: a 1922 version that starred Rudolph Valentino, and a 1941 remake starring Tyrone Power.
c512
Scarlet and Black with Ultramarine Stripe 1975 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell 75 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1978 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1976, cat. no. 11. Group Exhibitions Fine Arts Center Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1976, color illus. p. 9. References Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pls. 292, in studio, 303); Cohen 1977, color illus. p. 230 (in studio); Centro
collag e s
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c513
Cultural de la Caixa de Pensions exh. cat. 1980, illus. n.p. (in studio); Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 85 (pl. 86, in studio); Braun-Munk 1991, color illus. p. 73 (installation view).
c513
In Celebration 1975 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 75 Present Owner Stanford Law School. Gift of Richard Lang, AB 1927, JD 1929 Provenance Stanford Law School, 1975 Comments This collage was commissioned in 1975 by the Stanford Law School. A limitededition lithograph based on this collage, with the same title (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 192), was created
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c514
to commemorate the opening of a new Stanford Law School building, the Crown Quadrangle, on September 26–27, 1975. The color and composition of this collage have affinities with Matisse’s paper cutout La Danseuse, ca. 1949 (see fig. 143 in volume 1), which was owned by Motherwell. The reference to Matisse was probably a conscious tribute on Motherwell’s part, since he first saw Matisse’s work at the home of Michael Stein while he was a student at Stanford.
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Leda 1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 48 x 24 in. (121.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ Feb 75 Verso not seen [“titled on the reverse,” per Sotheby’s 1997] Present Owner Private collection, Philadelphia Provenance Private collection, 1977; private collection, 1987; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 20, 1997, lot 109, illus.]; private collection, Philadelphia, 1997 References Arnason 1976, p. 25; Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pls. 292, in
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studio, 294); Kramer 1977a, color illus. p. 17 (in studio, in progress); Centro Cultural de la Caixa de Pensions exh. cat. 1980, illus. n.p. (in studio); Serraller 1980, illus. p. 32 (in studio); Arnason 1982, p. 87, color illus. p. 85 (pl. 86, in studio), color illus. p. 191 (pl. 264, in studio, in progress); Albright-Knox Art Gallery exh. cat. 1983, color illus. p. 109 (cat. no. 77); Ashton 1983, p. 43, color illus. p. 109; Raynor 1994, illus. sec. 13, p. 18 (in studio). Comments This work is signed with the date “Feb 75,” but studio photographs reveal that Motherwell continued to work on it through the fall of that year; it was photographed in its final state in November 1975. The title refers to the curving white vertical form, which suggests a conflation between a swan’s head and a phallus.
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In Memoriam: Wittenborn Collage 1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ March 75 Artist’s Studio Number c75-1215 Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Museum purchase, the Friends of Art Endowment Fund Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993 Solo Exhibitions Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 56, color illus. p. 85, illus. p. 113. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1977. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 42, illus. p. 22. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 70 (brochure); cat. no. 79 (catalogue), color illus. p. 32, color illus. p. 90 (in exhibition). Centro Cultural de la Caixa de Pensions, Barcelona, 1980 (traveling), cat. no. 13. Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1981, cat. no. 7. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 76, color illus. p. 108. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 15. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993.
as In Memoriam Wittenborn; Terenzio 1979, p. 3; Hughes 1983, p. 70, color illus. p. 69; Danieli 1984, illus. p. 1; Inje 1984, illus.; Shere 1984, sec. Calendar, p. 4; National Museum of Contemporary Art exh. cat. 1988, color illus. p. 645 (fig. 5); Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 120; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 115); Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 20 (pl. 15); Focillon and Ceuleers 2008, color illus. n.p., as In Memoriam George Wittenborn. Comments This collage contains wrapping paper from a book sent to Motherwell by Wittenborn and Company on February 18, 1975. The publisher and bookseller George Wittenborn (born in 1905), whose firm Wittenborn, Schultz, Inc., had published the Documents of Modern Art series from 1944 to 1960 (with Motherwell as the editor until 1952), died on October 15, 1974.
References Arnason 1977b, p. 196, color illus. n.p. (pl. 266); Cohen 1977, color illus. p. 231 (in studio); Morrin 1979, p. 13,
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References Greenwich Time 1976a, p. 9; Kramer 1976a, p. 21.
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c518
Black Palette
Swiss Collage
Red R with Orange Stripes
1975 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm)
1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 48 x 24 in. (121.9 x 61 cm)
1975 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas mounted on board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 17 March 75
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ April 75
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 75
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Private collection, Munich
Provenance Gertrude Kasle, 1975; [Christie’s, New York, May 4, 1993, lot 6, illus.]; unknown owner, 1993
Provenance Unknown owner; [Christie’s, New York, November 21, 1996, lot 207, illus.]; private collection, Munich, 1996
Solo Exhibitions Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, 1975.
Solo Exhibitions John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1975.
Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1975, cat. no. 8. References Colby 1975, sec. F, p. 2; Arnason 1977b, p. 84, color illus. n.p. (pls. 249, 268, in studio); Arnason 1982, pp. 84, 87, color illus. p. 191 (pl. 264, in studio).
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Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1976. References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 268, in studio); Cohen 1977, color illus. p. 233 (in studio); Kramer 1977a, color illus. p. 17 (in studio).
Recto, lower right [painted over]: [Motherwell \ May 75] Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1976; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, May 15, 1980, lot 569A, illus.]; private collection and Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1980; private collection, 1982 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1976, cat. no. 13. Group Exhibitions Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1980.
Comments The “Red R” in the title of this work refers to part of the customs label on the mailing wrapper at the center, in which a large, slightly faded capital R is stamped next to the printed text “8029 Zürich 29 \ Hirstaden \ 169.”
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c520
In Black with Folded Paper Fragment
Hartley in London
1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell \ 2 May 75 Present Owner Private collection, Vancouver Provenance Private collection, 1975; private collection, Vancouver, 1978 Solo Exhibitions Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, 1975.
1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 48 x 24 in. (121.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ April 1975 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, May 5, 1986, lot 19, illus.]; unknown owner, 1986 Solo Exhibitions B. R. Kornblatt Gallery, Baltimore, 1976. Group Exhibitions Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 130, color illus. n.p. References Arnason 1977a, p. 536, color illus. p. 517 (pl. 221); Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pls. 268, in studio,
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269); Cohen 1977, color illus. p. 233 (in studio); Kramer 1977a, color illus. p. 17 (in studio); Arnason 1982, p. 87, color illus. p. 191 (pl. 264, in studio); Arnason 1986, p. 406, illus. p. 407 (fig. 602). Comments Motherwell had also used a cardboard box from William P. Hartley, Ltd., jam in his collage Hartley in Germany (c484). Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1986 Sotheby Parke Bernet auction catalogue.
c521
c521
Cambridge Collage 1975 Acrylic, pasted cardboard, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 47¼ x 23¼ in. (120 x 59.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ May 75 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Veith Turske, Cologne, Germany, 1978; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, May 9, 1984, lot 54, illus. (not sold)]; unknown owner Group Exhibitions Galerie Isernhagen, Germany, 1979. Turske & Turske, Zurich, 1985, color illus. n.p. References Winter 1982, color illus. p. 77. Comments One of the collage elements in the lower part of this work is a cardboard mailing box sent to Motherwell by Bowes & Bowes, the Cambridge booksellers, postmarked July 15, 1974. collag e s
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In Black and Blue with Torn Elements
The Balkan Lute
Alternative Title: In Black with Blue and Torn Paper 1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 24 in. (121.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ May 75 Artist’s Studio Number c75-976; c75-1007 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1978; private collection, 2006 References Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pl. 272), referred to in text and in illus. as In Black with Blue and Torn Paper; Arnason 1982, p. 87, illus. p. 84 (pl. 83, as In Black with Blue and Torn Paper); Goldberger 1990, color illus. p. 202 (installation view). 248
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Alternative Title: In Blue and Beige 1974/1975 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and china marker on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised [painted over]: [74 \ Motherwell] Recto, lower left: Motherwell \ May 75 Present Owner Collection of Bud Yorkin Provenance Private collection, 1980; Bud Yorkin, 1980 Solo Exhibitions Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, 1975 (shown in early state), as In Blue and Beige. Group Exhibitions Galerie Brusberg, Hannover, Germany, 1977.
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References Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pls. 292, in studio, 296); Centro Cultural de la Caixa de Pensions exh. cat. 1980, illus. n.p. (in studio); Serraller 1980, illus. p. 32 (in studio); Arnason 1982, p. 87, color illus. p. 85 (pl. 86, in studio).
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Comments An early version of this work, titled In Blue and Beige and dated May 27, 1974, was exhibited at the Ace Gallery from July to August 1975 (studio inventory photo no. ph 57-11). After the work was returned to Motherwell, he repainted the ground red, retitled it, and added the signature and the “May 75” date at the lower left (Sloman photo no. 339). The final version was photographed in November 1975 (Sloman photo no. 345).
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 3 May 75
The Endless Instant Alternative Title: Untitled 1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 24 in. (121.9 x 61 cm)
Verso not seen [“on the frame, upper middle 1975 \ The Endless Instant,” per present owner] Artist’s Studio Number c75-984 Present Owner Private collection, Lausanne Provenance Private collection, Lausanne, Switzerland, ca. 1980 Solo Exhibitions William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 71 (brochure); cat. no. 78 (catalogue), illus. p. 50 (in exhibition), color illus. p. 90 (in exhibition), illus. p. 149.
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Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., August 1978, cat. no. 15, as Untitled. Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1999, cat. no. 58. References Kramer 1977a, color illus. p. 17 (in studio, in progress); Raynor 1979, sec. 23, p. 14; Catoir 1980, p. 283, illus. p. 285 (fig. 10); Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 191 (pl. 264, in studio, in progress), color illus. p. 193 (pl. 266); Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p. Comments The title of this collage refers to the title of a 1952 poem by Octavio Paz, “¿No hay salida?” (The Endless Instant), which begins: “Oigo correr entre bultos adormilados y ceñudos un inceasante río. / Es la catarata negra y blanca, las voces, las risas, los gemidos del / mundo confuso, despeñándose” (I hear an incessant / river running between dimly discerned, looming / forms, drowsy and frowning. / It is the
black and white cataract, the voices, / the laughter, the groans, of a confused / world hurling itself from a height); as translated by Muriel Rukeyser in Octavio Paz, Early Poems, 1935–1955 (New York: New Direction, 1963; this is the edition used by the artist), pp. 124–25.
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c525
Untitled Alternative Title: {Spanish Envelope } 1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
that bears the image of the Spanish Romantic poet José de Espronceda (1808–1842), which also appears in another collage, The Spanish Poet (c581).
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ June 75 Artist’s Studio Number c75-994 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2007, as Spanish Envelope. Comments The brown mailing wrapper in this collage is from a package sent to Motherwell from Spain; it contains several postage stamps, including one
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c526
Roth-Händle with Black Window 1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
cigarettes. Motherwell was originally given a Roth-Händle package by Kynaston McShine, a curator at the Museum of Modern Art, in October 1969.
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c527
Brasileira 1975 Acrylic, pasted paper, and graphite on canvas mounted on board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ July 75
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ Aug 75
Present Owner The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, promised gift of the estate of Hugo V. Neuhaus Jr.
Verso (on backing board) [partially torn]: [“brasileira”] \ 15 August 1975 \ R. Motherwell \ acrylic + collage on sized canvas (mounted) \ 48 x 36"
Provenance Hugo V. Neuhaus Jr., 1976; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Artist’s Studio Number c75-2207
Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1976. Comments The collage element at the lower center of this work is a trial proof from Motherwell’s aquatint Roth-Händle II (see Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 185). Roth-Händle is a German brand of
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Present Owner Private collection Provenance Douglas S. Cramer, 1979; [Christie’s, New York, May 14, 2008, lot 119, illus.]; private collection, 2008 Comments The title of this collage takes its name from the phrase “Industry Brasileira,” which appears on the green collage
element near the center, which is an enlarged lithographic reproduction (by Tyler Graphics Ltd.) of a package from Reynitas Cigarrilhos, a brand of cigars manufactured in Bahia. Motherwell also gave the title Brasileira to a later collage (c645).
c528
c528
Elegy for Salvador Allende Alternative Title: Chilean Collage No. 1 1975/ca. 1977 Acrylic, pasted papers, and china marker on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ Sept 75 Verso [covered by strainer]: “Elegy for Salvador Allende” \ R Motherwell \ 19[illegible] Artist’s Studio Number c75-1216 Present Owner Private collection, Geneva Provenance Private collection, Geneva, ca. 1989 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1976 (shown in early state), as Chilean Collage #1. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 43. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 78 (brochure); cat. no. 77 (catalogue), illus. p. 12, illus. p. 44 (in exhibition), illus. p. 48 (in exhibition), color illus. p. 107 (in exhibition). References Oliver 1977; Morrin 1979, p. 13; Raynor 1979, sec. 23, p. 14; Catoir 1980, p. 286, illus. p. 289 (fig. 12); Das Kunstwerk 1980, illus. p. 51; Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p., as Elegy (for Salvadore Allende); Rodari 1988, p. 132, color illus. p. 132. Comments The collage element near the center of this work is a torn purple-and-white poster for a performance by the Chilean folk ensemble Quilapayún. The group’s popularity and influence were greatest during the time of Salvador Allende’s democratically elected government in Chile (1970–73), which was overthrown in a military coup d’état on September 11, 1973, during which Allende was killed. In the
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years after the coup, the political views of Quilapayún forced it into exile. An early version of this collage, titled Chilean Collage No. 1, was exhibited in 1976 at the Janie C. Lee Gallery; it already included the pieces of the Quilapayún poster, but the background was predominately gray. Motherwell revised the work sometime after it was returned to him in October of that year, adding the black-painted areas and additional torn papers to the lower half. It was photographed in this final state in February 1977 (Sloman photo no. 458). The title of the collage was changed before it was exhibited in Paris that June.
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Chilean Revolutionary Collage Alternative Titles: Chilean Collage; Chilean Revolutionary Collage No. 2 1975 Acrylic, pasted papers, and china marker on canvas mounted on Masonite 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 2 Sept 75 Artist’s Studio Number c75-1217 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1975, cat. no. 9, as Chilean Collage (revised from the erroneous title Chile Collage #2 listed in gallery brochure). Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
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Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1977. Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 47, as Chilean Revolutionary Collage No. 2. Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2005, as Chilean Revolutionary Collage No. 2. References Moser 1976, sec. 2, p. 6, as Chilean collage. Comments This work was originally titled Chilean Collage and was sometimes later referred to in studio records as Chilean Collage No. 2, because of its relationship to the contemporary Elegy for Salvador Allende (c528), which had originally been titled Chilean Collage No. 1. (When this second Chilean collage was sent to the Gertrude Kasle Gallery in 1975, it was erroneously listed as Chile Collage #2, and that title was printed on the announcement for Motherwell’s exhibition there, but the title was subsequently corrected.) In 1991, while preparing for his exhibition in Mexico City, Motherwell revised the title a final time, emphasizing the political nature of the collage elements (see the Comments for c528).
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c531
Altamira No. 1
Altamira No. 2
1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
1975 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas mounted on Masonite 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 75
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 75
Artist’s Studio Number p75-1561
Verso: RM \ “altamira #2” \ 1975
Present Owner Private collection of Caroline Hirsch Provenance Donn Golden, 1980; [Christie’s, New York, May 17, 2001, lot 166, illus.]; Caroline Hirsch, 2001
Artist’s Studio Number c75-1562 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1976, cat. no. 10.
Solo Exhibitions Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 58, illus. p. 113.
Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 57, color illus. p. 89, illus. p. 113.
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 77 (brochure); cat. no. 80 (catalogue), illus. p. 117. Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1981, cat. no. 5.
Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 46. References Hoesterey 1976, pp. 48–49; Perrone 1976a, illus. p. 70; Ratcliff 1976, p. 75; Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pl. 304); Arnason 1982, p. 87, illus. p. 86 (pl. 93).
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 74, color illus. p. 107. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 87. References Hoesterey 1976, pp. 48–49; Perrone 1976a, illus. p. 70; Ratcliff 1976, p. 75; Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pl. 304); Arnason 1982, p. 87, illus. p. 86 (pl. 93); Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p., as Altamira. Comments The title of this collage refers to the cave at Altamira in northern Spain, famous for its Paleolithic paintings, which Motherwell had seen in 1958.
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River Liffey (Dublin) Alternative Titles: Liffey; River Liffey; River Liffey, Dublin (for James Joyce); Liffey River (Dublin); Liffey River 1975 Acrylic and pasted paper on Upson board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 75 Verso: “ ‘liffey’ river (dublin)” Artist’s Studio Number c75-971 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2001; private collection Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1976, cat. no. 1, as Liffey. Centro Cultural de la Caixa de Pensions, Barcelona, 1980 (traveling), cat. no. 15, as Riu Liffey (River Liffey); Madrid, cat. no. 15, color illus. n.p., as Rio Liffey (River Liffey). Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Mass., 1983 (traveling), as River Liffey, Dublin (For James Joyce). Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 80, color illus. p. 111, as River Liffey; not shown in Seattle and Washington, D.C. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 28, as River Liffey. Arthur A. Houghton Jr. Gallery, Cooper Union, New York, 1988, cat. no. 28. Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1989, cat. no. 15, color illus. p. 41. Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1991, cat. no. 31. Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 48, color illus. p. 59. Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, 2001, cat. no. 40, color illus. p. 59. Group Exhibitions Neuhoff Gallery, New York, 2002, color illus. p. 27, as Liffey River.
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References Andre 1976, p. 119, as Liffey; Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 301, as The River Liffey); Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 201 (pl. 274, as The River Liffey, Dublin [for James Joyce]); Firestone 1982, p. 116, as The River Liffey; Advocate Summer Guide 1983a, illus. p. 6, as River Liffey; Albright-Knox Art Gallery Calendar 1983, illus. p. 2, as River Liffey; Forman 1983, p. 13, as River Liffey; Duffy 1984, pp. 60, as River Liffey, 92; Pasadena Star-News 1984, illus. (upside down); Glenn and Glenn 1988, n.p., as River Liffey; Pleynet 1989b, p. 56, color illus. p. 147, referred to in text and in illus. as The River Liffey Dublin (for James Joyce); Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 116); Jennings 1991, p. 19, as The River Liffey, Dublin (for James Joyce); Pleynet 1991, pp. 24, 26, as River Liffey, illus. p. 16; Caws 1996b, p. 104, illus. p. 107, referred to in text and in illus. as The River Liffey, Dublin (for James Joyce); Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 20 (pl. 16, as The River Liffey, Dublin [for James Joyce]);
Pleynet 1998, pp. 99–100, as The River Liffey; Caws 2003, color illus. p. 144 (ill. 92). Comments The title of this work refers to the river Liffey, which runs through Dublin and is central to James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake. Despite the way the title is inscribed on the verso, Motherwell preferred River Liffey to Liffey River.
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Blue Music
Sacre du Printemps
1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 40 x 20 in. (101.6 x 50.8 cm)
1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 75
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell \ 27 Oct 75
Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1976; unknown owner
Artist’s Studio Number c-981 Present Owner Private collection, Canada
References Arnason 1977b, p. 86.
Provenance Private collection, Canada, 1979
Comments The sheet music fragment in this collage is from Mozart’s Das Bandel: “Liebes Mandel, wo ist’s Bandel?” (k. 441), which was first used in The Baltic Sea Bride No. 1 (c431) and subsequently in a number of other collages.
References Arnason 1977b, back cover color illus., color illus. n.p. (pls. 299, 300, in studio); Kramer 1977a, color illus. p. 17 (in studio). Comments The sheet music in this work is an enlarged lithographic reproduction of part of the score of Igor Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps, which was made for Motherwell by Tyler Graphics Ltd. collag e s
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Bust of Stravinsky 1975–81 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised and inscribed: RM \ 75 Artist’s Studio Number c75-1446 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, New York, 1991; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 13, 2003, lot 246, illus.]; private collection, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Montclair Art Museum, N.J., November 1989. References Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pl. 298, in early state); Arnason 1982, p. 87, illus. p. 84 (pl. 84, in early state);
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Navarra 1989, sec. F, p. 12; Caws 2003, p. 166, illus. p. 167 (ill. 114); Museum Morsbroich exh. cat. 2004, illus. p. 90; Haxall 2009, p. 128. Comments The composition of this collage was set in 1975, but Motherwell subsequently made a number of revisions. The blown-up fragment of a musical score is from Igor Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps; it was lithographically reproduced for Motherwell by Tyler Graphics Ltd. Motherwell used this collage as the basis for a limited-edition poster to benefit the 1982 Ojai Music Festival, held in Ojai, California, June 4–6, 1982 (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 287). This annual festival, begun in 1947, highlighted contemporary music; Stravinsky had conducted his own works there in 1955 and 1956.
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c536
Pas de Deux No. 1 1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell/ 11 Nov 75 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1977; private collection, 1979 Group Exhibitions San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1977, cat. no. 40. References Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pls. 292, in studio, 295); Centro Cultural de la Caixa de Pensions exh. cat. 1980, illus. n.p. (in studio); Serraller 1980, illus. p. 32 (in studio); Arnason 1982, p. 87, color illus. p. 85 (pl. 86, in studio); Raynor 1994, illus. sec. 13, p. 18 (in studio).
Comments The two vertical forms in this collage, which are like two dancers, appear to embody the pas de deux of the title. The printed sheet music on the left side of the work is a lithographic reproduction from Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Le sacre du printemps. This collage would later become the basis for Motherwell’s 1987–88 Red and Black collage series (see c760–c815).
c537
c537
c538
Pas de Deux No. 2
Pas de Deux No. 3
1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
1975 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Robert Motherwell/ Nov 75
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 75
Present Owner Private collection, Switzerland Provenance Private collection, Switzerland, 1977 Comments The sheet music in this collage is a lithographic reproduction from Igor Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps.
Verso not seen [“signed, titled and dated ‘Pas de Deux #3’ Robert Motherwell Nov. 75,” per Christie’s 1991] Present Owner Unknown Provenance John Kluge, 1976; [Christie’s, New York, May 1, 1991, lot 40, illus.]; private collection, 1991; private collection, 1992; private collection, 2006; unknown owner
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Comments Our reproduction comes from an early color slide of this work. The sheet music is a lithographic reproduction from Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps.
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c539
Paper Night 1975 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: Motherwell \ 75 Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. George Walker Provenance Mr. and Mrs. George Walker, 1977 References Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pl. 302); Arnason 1982, p. 87, illus. p. 86 (pl. 90).
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1976, cat. no. 7.
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c540
c540
From Below 1975 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 75 Verso (on backing board): “from below” 1975 \ (de bas) Artist’s Studio Number c75Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1976; private collection, 1978 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1976, cat. no. 4. Comments The title of this collage is derived from a label pasted in its upper portion on
which the words “de bas” (from below, in French) are printed. This collage element is actually part of a wrapping paper used for Richard de Bas’s Blanc Narcisse handmade papers.
c541
c541
Nicht Werfen with Yellow Stripes 1975 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 26 Dec 75 Recto, lower left [painted over]: [RM 75] Artist’s Studio Number c75-1212 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Knoedler & Company; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 4, 1987, lot 34, illus.]; R. Kaller-Kimche, Inc., 1987; [Christie’s, New York, November 14, 2001, lot 167, illus.]; private collection, 2001 Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
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Knoedler & Company, New York, 1978, cat. no. 9, color illus. p. 13 (in exhibition), illus. p. 23. References Ashton 1980, color illus. p. 5, as With Yellow Stripes; Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p., as With Yellow Stripes. Comments The title of this work comes from a sticker affixed to the brown paper collage element, a mailing wrapper sent from Germany. The sticker reads “Vorsicht Bücher \ Nicht werfen” (Caution books \ Do not drop). Motherwell created the striped sheet of paper in this work (also used in other collages made during the late 1970s) by painting yellow stripes on white paper; these yellow and white stripes contain an implicit allusion to The Little Spanish Prison (p3).
c542
c542
Torino Alternative Title: Torino Collage 1975–76 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: Motherwell \ 75 Present Owner Collection of Deborah Ronnen Provenance Private collection, 1976; [Sotheby’s, New York, October 5, 1989, lot 82, illus.]; Deborah Ronnen, 1989 Group Exhibitions Gruenebaum Gallery, New York, 1976, cat. no. 6, color illus. p. 38. Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Conn., 1987, cat. no. 3, color illus. n.p. References Brown 1976, p. 18; Russell 1976a, illus. sec. C, p. 16; Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 297, as Torino Collage).
Comments The title of this collage refers to the brown paper shipping wrapper with a mailing label from the Museo Civico di Torino (postmarked September 2, 1974). Photographs taken over three days in November 1975 (Sloman photo nos. 333, 349, 352) documented the creation of this collage. Motherwell added the green paper at the bottom before the collage was photographed in its final state in July 1976 (Sloman photo no. 439). The sheet music is from Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps. Motherwell also titled a collage done in 1967 Torino Collage (c198).
c543
c543
Red Square 1975 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: Motherwell Recto, upper left, incised [painted over]: [Motherwell \ 75]
taken November 1975); it was repainted blue before the work was sent to the Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, in March 1976. This collage appears to have been an alternative design for Hermitage, a print commissioned by Knoedler & Company in conjunction with an exhibition of Russian art from the Hermitage Museum in Russia (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 180).
Present Owner Private collection, Toronto Provenance Private collection, 1976; Marianne Friedland Gallery, Toronto, 1983; private collection, 1983; Marianne Friedland Gallery, Toronto, 1993; private collection, Toronto, 1993 Comments The title of this work refers both to Moscow’s Red Square and to the square, predominantly red label from the Hotel National, Moscow, which is placed near the lower right. The background of this work was originally painted red (Sloman photo no. 316,
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c545
Antiquariat Günter Fuchs
Rivals
c545
c546
References Ashton 1980, color illus. p. 8.
c546
Comments The title of this collage puns on Reval, the name of the bright yellow German cigarette package at the upper left, which is also the name of the Estonian city where Renate Ponsold Motherwell’s father grew up.
1976 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Tokyo Night
1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
1976 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell Jan 76
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM 76
Present Owner La Colección Jumex, Mexico
Verso (on backing board): “rivals” 1976
Artist’s Studio Number c76-988
Provenance Joan and Fred Nicholas, 1976; La Colección Jumex, Mexico, 1995
Artist’s Studio Number c76-2216
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Private collection, ca. 1979; private collection, 2008
References Raynor 1994, illus. sec. 13, p. 18 (in studio). Comments The title of this collage comes from the mailing label from the German bookseller Antiquariat Günter Fuchs that is pasted near the center.
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Provenance Private collection, 1980 Solo Exhibitions Dart Gallery, Chicago, 1976, cat. no. 4. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas, Venezuela, 1979, cat. no. 11, illus. n.p.
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM 76
References Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p. Comments The title of this collage refers in part to the back of a business envelope sent from Tokyo by the Minami Gallery, which is placed at the lower right.
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c548
c549
c547
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c550
[ Untitled (Blue, Green, Swiss Envelope)]
At the Beginning of Spring
Orange Rectangle and Black
London Collage
1976 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1976 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1975–76 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 41½ x 24 in. (105.4 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised and inscribed: Motherwell 76
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 76
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Present Owner Collection of Daum Museum of Contemporary Art. Gift of Dr. Harold F. Daum
Artist’s Studio Number c75-5470
Provenance Private collection, 1977; Harold F. Daum, 1977; Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, 1984
Provenance Private collection, 1979; Stephens, Inc., 1980
1976 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas board 35⅞ x 24 in. (91.1 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM 76 Artist’s Studio Number c76-990 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004 Comments The collage element in this work is part of an envelope with a Zurich postmark that reads “11.7.74.”
Present Owner Collection of Kenneth and Judy Dayton Provenance Kenneth and Judy Dayton, 1976 Comments The title of this collage refers to the sheet music used in it, Mozart’s “Im Frühlings Anfang” (At the Beginning of Spring; k. 597).
Group Exhibitions Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, Mo., 2002.
Present Owner Stephens, Inc.
Group Exhibitions Acquavella Contemporary Art, New York, 1975. Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, 1988, illus. p. 86. References Betti and Sale 1980, p. 329, illus. p. 329 (fig. PG.8).
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Comments The brown wrapping paper in the lower half of this collage contains a label from Leslie Waddington Prints, Ltd., in London, addressed to Brooke Alexander, Inc., in New York (postmarked February 28, 1975). Though Motherwell signed an early state of this work with the date 1975, studio photographs indicate that it was not completed until the following year. Leslie Waddington and Brooke Alexander were dealers who handled Motherwell’s print editions during the 1970s.
c551
Kierkegaard’s Room Alternative Title: The Barbarians’ Tent 1975–76 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ Aug 75 Artist’s Studio Number c75-5220 Present Owner Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Gift of the artist, 1978 Provenance Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1978 Solo Exhibitions Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 59, color illus. p. 87, illus. p. 113. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
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c551
Group Exhibitions Centre Culturel Américain, U.S. Embassy, Paris, 1979. References Arnason 1976, pp. 22, 25, color illus. p. 22, referred to in text and in illus. as The Barbarian’s Tent; Arnason 1977b, p. 86, color illus. n.p. (pls. 292, in studio, in progress, 293), referred to in text and in illus. as The Barbarians’ Tent; Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Centro Cultural de la Caixa de Pensions exh. cat. 1980, illus. n.p. (in studio, in progress); Anderson 1981, p. 159; Briot 1981, p. 301, color illus. p. 301 (fig. 12, erroneously as Dionysos sic et non); Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 85 (pl. 86, in studio, in progress), illus. p. 86 (pl. 92); Clarke 1983, illus. p. 13, as The Barbarians’ Tent. Comments The collage element near the center of this work is part of an envelope that contains a label addressed to Motherwell by the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Though signed on the recto “Aug 75,” this collage was
photographed in early states in September and November of 1975 (Sloman photo nos. 223 and 344), and was completed by March 16, 1976 (Sloman photo no. 387). Motherwell originally called the work The Barbarians’ Tent, and it was published as such in Arnason 1977b, but with a note by Motherwell in the caption to plate 293, saying: “P.S. I later changed my mind about the title and now call it Kierkegaard’s Room” (Motherwell in Arnason 1977b).
c552
c552
c553
Altamira No. 3
Canvas Collage with Music
1976 Acrylic, pasted papers, and crayon on canvas mounted on board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
1976/ca. 1983/1985–88 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted paper on canvas mounted on board 48 x 24 in. (121.9 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 24 Jan 76
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 76
Artist’s Studio Number c76-2667 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Dart Gallery, Chicago, 1976, cat. no. 6. Group Exhibitions Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas at Sala Cadafe, Venezuela, 1981, color illus. n.p. Comments See also Altamira No. 1 and Altamira No. 2 (c530 and c531).
Verso: “canvas collage, with music” \ February 1976 \ Robert Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number c76-973 Present Owner Denver Art Museum Collection. For a full list of donors, see the entry for p22. Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Denver Art Museum, 1994 Solo Exhibitions Montclair Art Museum, N.J., November 1989. Denver Art Museum, 1995, illus. n.p. References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 267, in early state); Glenn 1984, color illus.
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p. 91 (in studio, in early state); On & Off the Wall 1995, p. 12, color illus. p. 12; Tieken 2000, illus. n.p.; Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano exh. cat. 2006, illus. p. 26 (in studio). Comments An early version of this collage was made in 1976 and reproduced in Arnason 1977b. It contained a fragment of sheet music and a piece of light blue canvas pasted on a ground composed of two vertical sheets of canvas mounted to board and painted in ochre. The work was consigned in that form to Knoedler & Company from December 1981 to November 1982. Motherwell subsequently painted the light blue canvas collage element near the center bright yellow (Sloman photo no. 1303). He then consigned the work to Knoedler again, from November 1983 to November 1985. Sometime after the work was returned to him, Motherwell made additional revisions, painting over the sheet music in red and yellow and repainting the yellow piece of torn canvas in black.
The work was photographed in its final form in October 1988. The painted-over sheet music contains part of the score from a lithographic version of Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony no. 1 for 15 solo instruments, op. 9, combined with part of Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps.
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c554
Autumn No. 2 1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers mounted on board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 8 Feb 76 Verso not seen [“titled, dated, and inscribed with medium and dimensions on reverse,” per Sotheby’s 1982] Present Owner Unknown Provenance Frederick and Marcia Weisman, 1977; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 4, 1982, lot 76, illus.]; unknown owner, 1982 References Arnason 1976, illus. p. 8. Comments The printed collage element in this work is an enlarged lithographic reproduction of an Ernte 23 cigarette
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package. Ernte is the German word for “harvest,” and inspired the title of this work. Motherwell titled another, dissimilar collage Autumn (c414). Our reproduction comes from an early color slide of this work.
c555
c555
Music for Monique Alternative Title: A Bouquet for Monique 1976 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 35¾ x 24 in. (90.8 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 76 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Lee V. Eastman, ca. 1976; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 80 (brochure); cat. no. 86 (catalogue), illus. p. 48 (in exhibition), color illus. p. 90 (in exhibition), illus. p. 112. References Morrin 1979, p. 13; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 121, as A Bouquet for Monique; Scarpetta 1989–90, color illus. p. 115, as A Bouquet for Monique.
c556
Comments The sheet music in the upper part of this collage is a lithographic reproduction of part of the score of Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony no. 1 for 15 solo instruments, op. 9; it is combined with part of the score for Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps, which is below it. The title of this collage refers to Monique Eastman, the wife of Lee Eastman, Motherwell’s attorney in the 1970s.
c558
c557
c556
c557
Cor Anglais
The Magic Flute
1976 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 22 x 15 in. (55.9 x 38.1 cm)
1976 Acrylic, pasted papers, and china marker on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 11 Feb 76 Present Owner Private collection, New York Provenance Private collection, New York Solo Exhibitions Montclair Art Museum, N.J., November 1989, cover color illus. Comments This collage takes its title from the sheet music fragment, which reads “Cor Anglais” (English Horn). The sheet music is from Beethoven’s Trio for two oboes and English horn, op. 87.
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 14 Feb 76 Present Owner Collection of Geri and Don Thayer Provenance Geri and Don Thayer, 1976 Group Exhibitions San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1977, cat. no. 41. Comments Despite the Mozartian title of this work, the sheet music is an enlarged lithographic copy of part of the score for Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps.
c559
c558
c559
Entrance
The Philosophic Mind
1976 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm)
1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 27 Feb 76
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ Feb 76
Artist’s Studio Number c76-970
Verso: the philosopic mind \ R. Motherwell \ 1976
Present Owner Collection of R. W. Moncrief
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance R. W. Moncrief, 1981
Provenance Private collection, 1980; private collection
Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979. References Museo Rufino Tamayo exh. cat. 1991, illus. p. 90 (in studio); Windrow 1992, illus. frontispiece (in studio); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, illus. p. 81 (in studio); Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano exh. cat. 2006, illus. p. 28 (in studio).
Solo Exhibitions Douglas Drake Gallery, Kansas City, Mo., 1978. Group Exhibitions Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 132, illus. n.p. References Kramer 1977a, color illus. p. 16 (in studio); Wolfowicz 1977, illus. p. 15 (in
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studio); Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano exh. cat. 2006, illus. p. 26 (in studio).
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Comments An early version of this collage was photographed in March 1976 (Sloman photo no. 393). Sometime after that, Motherwell repainted the rectangle near the right center black, over its original blue. The work was in its final form when it was photographed again in March 1977 (Sloman photo no. 565).
1976 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm)
Three-Tone Scale
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: Motherwell \ 1 March 76 Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “three-tone scale” \ Motherwell, march 76 Artist’s Studio Number c76-1564 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 64, illus. p. 114. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
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References Museo Rufino Tamayo exh. cat. 1991, illus. p. 90 (in studio); Windrow 1992, illus. frontispiece (in studio); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, illus. p. 81 (in studio); Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano exh. cat. 2006, illus. p. 26 (in studio), illus. p. 28 (in studio).
c562
c561
Die Spinnerin 1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on paperboard 40 x 27 in. (101.6 x 68.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 76 Artist’s Studio Number c76-926 Present Owner ergdeg Collection LLC Provenance Richard and Dorothy Rodgers, 1977; [Christie’s, New York, November 18, 1992, lot 1, illus.]; ergdeg Collection LLC, 1992 Comments The title of this collage, Die Spinnerin (The Spinner), derives from the sheet music in it, which is from Mozart’s song for voice and piano “Die kleine Spinnerin” (The Little Spinner; k. 531).
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c563
Nelson Whitehead with Green
Arches Cover
1976 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
1976 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 39 x 29 in. (99.1 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 5 March 76
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 6 March \ 76
Present Owner Pamela West
Artist’s Studio Number c76-1937
Provenance Private collection, 1976; [Christie’s, Los Angeles, October 14, 1998, lot 47, illus.]; Pamela West, 1998
Present Owner Private collection
Comments The title of this collage refers to the small, torn fragment of brown wrapping paper, which includes a label from Andrews/Nelson/Whitehead, a New York supplier and manufacturer of fine artists’ papers. The sheet music is a lithographic reproduction of Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Dart Gallery, Chicago, 1976, cat. no. 3. Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, May 2005, cat. no. 13. Group Exhibitions Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, 2004, cat. no. 14, color illus. n.p.
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Comments The title of this collage refers to the label from a package of fifty sheets of 29 x 41–inch, 250-gram Arches cover paper that is placed near its center. This paper was used in Motherwell’s 1976 aquatint and etching Red Sea I (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 193), a print published in conjunction with the publication of H. H. Arnason’s monograph Robert Motherwell (Arnason 1977b).
c564
The Star of David 1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 48 x 24 in. (121.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell 76 Present Owner Collection of Mr. Mark Bidner Provenance Bernard and Marian Barnett, 1977; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 18, 1999, lot 364, illus.]; private collection, 1999; Mark Bidner Comments The title of this collage refers to the image of the Star of David used in the logo of the Danish organization For Israels Ret til at Bestå (For Israel’s Right to Exist). Motherwell had a work reproduced on a postcard for this organization around the same time; see the Comments for The Spanish Death (p838).
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c565
Armory, Philadelphia, 1994.
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Black in Hiding
References Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 1989, illus. p. 93 (pl. 903); Museo Rufino Tamayo exh. cat. 1991, illus. p. 90 (in studio); Windrow 1992, illus. frontispiece (in studio); Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano exh. cat. 2006, illus. p. 28 (in studio).
The Iron Flute
St. Michel
1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas mounted on board 71¼ x 23¼ in. (181 x 59.1 cm)
1975/1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 9 March 76 Present Owner Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Women’s Committee of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1978.3 Provenance Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1978 Group Exhibitions Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 131. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1984, cat. no. 99, color illus. p. 35.
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Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 10 March 76
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: 75 \ R Motherwell Verso not seen [“St. Michel,” per studio card]
Present Owner Hess Art Collection
Artist’s Studio Number c75-1563
Provenance Hess Art Collection, 1981
Present Owner Collection of Meredith & Cornelia Long
References Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p.; Museo Rufino Tamayo exh. cat. 1991, illus. p. 90 (in studio); Windrow 1992, illus. frontispiece (in studio); Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano exh. cat. 2006, illus. p. 28 (in studio); Hess and Steiner 2009, color illus. p. 236. Comments The title of this collage refers to The Iron Flute: 100 Zen Koans, a book by Nyogen Senzaki (Rutland, Vt., and Tokyo: Charles Tuttle, 1961).
Provenance Meredith Long & Company, 1990; Meredith & Cornelia Long, 1990 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1976, cat. no. 17 (shown in early state). Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 60, illus. p. 113. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
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Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1977. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 40, illus. p. 22. Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1990, cat. no. 7. References Winter 1976b, illus. p. 7; Arnason 1977b, color illus. p. 87 (pl. 53), color illus. n.p. (pl. 292, in studio, in early state); Flash Art 1977, illus. p. 48; Kramer 1977a, color illus. p. 17 (in studio, in early state); Wilson 1977b, illus. sec. Calendar, p. 86; Catoir 1980, color illus. p. 287; Centro Cultural de la Caixa de Pensions exh. cat. 1980, illus. n.p. (in studio); Serraller 1980, illus. p. 32 (in studio); Mattison 1981, p. 200; Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 85 (pl. 86, in studio, in early state), color illus. p. 87 (pl. 95); Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p. Comments This work incorporates an enlarged lithographic reproduction of the label from a package of St. Michel cigarettes,
a Belgian brand. Motherwell used images of St. Michel cigarette labels in several of his prints (see the St. Michael series, Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 234–37). Though Motherwell anglicized the name for the prints, he retained the original French name for the collages. This collage was originally oriented upside down, with yellow paint running vertically on the left side of the canvas, and it was probably consigned to the Ace Gallery in that form in September 1975 (Sloman photo no. 25). Motherwell reoriented the picture the following year, and added red paint over the yellow. This second version was shown at Knoedler & Company in January 1976 (Sloman photo no. 343). Sometime after the work returned from Knoedler, Motherwell changed this area again, painting olive green over the red. It was in its final form when it was sent to Motherwell’s exhibition in Düsseldorf, which opened that September.
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c568
In Red with Two Ovals 1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Comments The composition of this work, with its two ovals set between thick vertical bars, recalls Motherwell’s early Collage in Black and Green (c9) and his 1973 Untitled (c416). It is also directly related to a contemporaneous collage, In Forest Green with Woodwinds (c575).
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 19 March 1976 Present Owner The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Bequest of Marcia Simon Weisman Provenance Marcia Simon Weisman, 1976; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1996 Group Exhibitions Gruenebaum Gallery, New York, 1976, cat. no. 7. References Russell 1976a, sec. C, p. 16; Zalkind 1976, illus. p. 9.
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c569
c570
c571
c569
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c572
Pink Nude with Blue Stripe
In Scarlet and Black with Ultramarine Stripe
In Green with Lemon Yellow Stripes
Picadilly Revisited
1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
1976 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 48 x 24 in. (121.9 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 29 March 76
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 8 May 76
Artist’s Studio Number [?]-992
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection, Sunshine, Md.
Present Owner Hess Art Collection
Provenance Private collection, 1976
Provenance Private collection, 1978; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 5, 1987, lot 259, illus.]; private collection, Sunshine, Md., 1987
1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 26 March 76 Artist’s Studio Number c76-1228 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
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Provenance Hess Art Collection, ca. 1980 References Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p.; Hess and Steiner 2009, color illus. p. 237.
1976–78 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM 76 Artist’s Studio Number c76-995; c76/78-998
Comments This collage was begun in 1976, and its composition was basically set by the time it was first photographed in March 1977 (Sloman photo no. 491). Motherwell added a small piece of white paper just below the large black paper at the upper center shortly before the work was sold in February 1978;
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this small piece of paper is part of a shipping label from the Royal Academy of Art, London, where a retrospective of Motherwell’s work was held from January 14 to March 19, 1978.
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c573
c574
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
c574
William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 82 (brochure); cat. no. 87 (catalogue), color illus. p. 9, illus. p. 48 (in exhibition).
1976–80 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas mounted on board 70 x 35 in. (177.8 x 88.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ May 76
Centro Cultural de la Caixa de Pensions, Barcelona, 1980 (traveling), cat. no. 16; Madrid, cat. no. 16, color illus. n.p.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 76–80
Verso (on top horizontal strainer) [crossed out]: “voluptuness, with bar sinister” [black bar] 76
Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1981, cat. no. 21.
Voluptuousness with Bar Sinister 1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number c76-1566 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 66, color illus. p. 93, illus. p. 114.
References Der Spiegel 1976, p. 169; Franzke 1977, p. 66; Pomarède and Delaroière 1978, illus. n.p.; Highwater 1979; Rubio 1980, color illus. p. 21; Scott 1979; Highwater 1986, p. 217; Pleynet 1989b, p. 54, color illus. p. 151; Caws 1996b, p. 99, illus. p. 98; Caws 2003, pp. 121, 173, illus. p. 123 (ill. 82).
In Scarlet with Black
Artist’s Studio Number c76-80-2501; c80-2501 Present Owner Collection of Hunter College Provenance Hunter College, New York, 1983
Comments The title of this work may refer to a book Motherwell had once owned, K. G. Ballard’s Bar Sinister, published in 1960. collag e s
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c575
c575
In Forest Green with Woodwinds 1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ May 76 Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “in forest green, with woodwinds” R. Motherwell May, 76 Artist’s Studio Number c76-1565 Present Owner The Detroit Institute of Arts. Founders Society Purchase, W. Hawkins Ferry Fund, the Maxwell and Marjorie Jospey Fund, and partial gift of the Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Detroit Institute of Arts, 1995
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Solo Exhibitions Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 65, color illus. p. 91, illus. p. 114. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, color illus. n.p. Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1977. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 46, illus. p. 23. Group Exhibitions Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Mich., 1998, cat. no. 6, color illus. p. 7. References Baillie 1977, p. 8; Franzke 1977, p. 66; Spurling 1978, p. 230. Comments The composition of this work, with its two ovals set between thick vertical bars, recalls Motherwell’s early Collage in Black and Green (c9) and his 1973 collage Untitled (c416). It is also directly related to a contemporaneous collage, In Red with Two Ovals (c568).
c576
c577
c576
c577
St. Michel No. 2
Talas
1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 24 in. (182.9 x 61 cm)
1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on Masonite 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 27 May 76
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 76
Artist’s Studio Number c76-1436 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, ca. 1978; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1999; private collection, 1999; private collection, 1999 Group Exhibitions Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 133, illus. n.p. Comments This collage contains a smaller lithographic version of the St. Michel cigarette package that was used in St. Michel (c567).
Artist’s Studio Number c76-956 Present Owner Barry and Bonnie Halperin Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Barry and Bonnie Halperin, 2002 Solo Exhibitions Galería Joan Prats, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland, 1991, cat. no. 7 (sec. “Paintings”), color illus. n.p. Comments This collage takes its name from the mailing label on the torn brown wrapping paper near the center, which is from the Talas conservation materials company in New York.
c578
c578
Alphabet C Alternative Title: C 1976 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 7 July 1976 Artist’s Studio Number c76-950; c76-1189 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1979; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, October 7, 1987, lot 122, illus.]; unknown owner, 1987 Group Exhibitions Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., 1977, as C. Turske & Turske, Zurich, 1985, color illus. n.p.
References Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p.; Kessler 1997, sec. A, p. 3. Comments Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1987 Sotheby Parke Bernet auction catalogue.
c579
c579
The Window Alternative Title: London Collage 1976/1985 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 8 Aug 76 Artist’s Studio Number c76-1213; c76-3351 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1988 Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977 (shown in early state), as London Collage. Knoedler & Company, New York, 1978, cat. no. 8, color illus. p. 13 (in exhibition), illus. p. 23; shown in early state, as London Collage.
Comments Motherwell set the composition of this work in 1976, and the first version of it was shown in Paris in 1977 and at Knoedler & Company in 1978 under its original title, London Collage. That first version contained areas of green between the pink verticals and above and below the central collage element, which includes a shipping label from a package sent by Robert Lewis, a tobacco company in London, that was the source of the original title. Motherwell made revisions to the work in 1985, according to studio records dated April 4, 1985, which state: “was revised 1985 or additions 1985.” These revisions, which did not alter the overall composition, included the addition of the brushy areas of ochre paint over the previous fields of green. The work was retitled The Window when it was consigned to Knoedler & Company in November 1987.
collag e s
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c580
c580
c581
Grey Presence
The Spanish Poet
1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and charcoal on canvas mounted on board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell \ 21 Aug 76
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 15 Sept 76
Verso: “Grey Presence” \ Aug 1976 \ R. Motherwell
Artist’s Studio Number c76-2776
Artist’s Studio Number c76-2676
Present Owner The William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs. The Louise Crombie Beach Memorial Collection and gift of the Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments The collage element in this work is a strip of canvas, approximately nine inches wide and fully painted over, that runs vertically down the center.
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Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1995 References Caws 2003, cover color illus., illus. p. 34 (ill. 23).
c581
Comments The title of this work alludes to a postage stamp bearing the image of the Spanish Romantic poet José de Espronceda (1808–1842) that is pasted on the torn brown wrapping paper at the center. The same kind of stamp appears on Untitled (c525).
c582
c582
5th of October (with Black and Green) 1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: 5 Oct 76 \ R Motherwell Present Owner Fisher Collection, New York Provenance Neil and Sharon Norry, 1977; Fisher Collection, New York, 1997
c583
c583
c584
c585
References Baillie 1977, p. 8.
c584
c585
Oaxaca
Sardinian Collage
Comments The title of this work refers to the fragment of Mozart’s “Un moto di gioia” (An Emotion of Joy; here, in German, as “Schon klopfet mein liebender Busen”; k. 579) in which the lyric “Lieb und das Glück” (Love and Luck) is repeated several times.
1976 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 70¾ x 35 in. (179.7 x 88.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 25 Oct 76
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ Nov 76
Artist’s Studio Number c76-1214
Artist’s Studio Number c76-985
Verso: “sardinian collage”
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection, United Kingdom
Verso: R Motherwell \ Nov 76 \ (collage + acrylic on \ sized canvas)
Provenance Private collection, 1978; private collection, 1978
Provenance Private collection, 1978; Waddington Galleries, London, 2001; private collection, United Kingdom, 2001
Artist’s Studio Number c76-2205
Lieb und das Glück 1976 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 6 Oct 76
Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, color illus. n.p. Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1977. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 48.
Verso [painted over]: [illegible] \ [illegible]
Present Owner Private collection, Cologne Provenance Private collection, Cologne, Germany, 1987 References Kipphoff 1980, illus. p. 29; Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p.
Knoedler & Company, New York, 1978, cat. no. 35, illus. p. 9 (in exhibition), illus. p. 23. collag e s
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c586
Comments The envelope in this collage contains a label from Galerie Klihm in Munich addressed to Arthur Cohen in New York.
c586
c587
c588
Prince Hamlet in Africa
Oslo Collage
Rue de la Grande Truanderie
1976 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 2 Nov 76
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 3 Dec. 76
Alternative Title: Chesterfield 1975/1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number c76-1008
Provenance Private collection; private collection, 1994
Present Owner Private collection
Comments The title of this collage probably refers to Laura Bohannon’s 1966 article “Shakespeare in the Bush,” first published in Natural History 75 (August– September 1966): pp. 28–33, which describes her experience of telling the story of Hamlet to elders of the Tiv people in West Africa. The large piece of gray paper near the center of the work, which has an Ernte 23 cigarette wrapper pasted on it, recalls the forms in Motherwell’s 1965 Africa collages (see c154–c156). 276
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c587
Provenance Private collection, 1978; Miriam Shiell Fine Art, 2003; private collection Comments The collage element at the center of this work is a shipping label from J. M. Stenersens Forlag (a publishing company based in Oslo), addressed to Brooke Alexander, Motherwell’s print dealer at the time.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ April 75 Present Owner Collection Marina Rubin Provenance Marina Rubin, 1977 Solo Exhibitions John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1975 (shown in early state), as Chesterfield. Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1976 (shown in early state), as Chesterfield. Lawrence Rubin/Greenberg Van Doren Fine Art, New York, 2001, cat. no. 3, back cover color illus.
c588
References Albright 1975, illus. p. 38 (in early state, as Chesterfield); Campbell 1975, sec. A, p. 15, illus. sec. A, p. 15 (in early state, as Chesterfield); Moser 1976, illus. sec. 2, p. 6 (in early state, as Chesterfield). Comments This collage was exhibited in an early state, under the title Chesterfield, at the John Berggruen Gallery in 1975, and at the Janie C. Lee Gallery in May 1976 (Sloman photo no. 45). After the work was returned to Motherwell in late 1976, he reworked it extensively, adding collage elements, covering over the lithographed Chesterfield cigarette package, and adding blue and ochre paint to the composition. The completed work was consigned to Knoedler & Company in December 1976 with its current title, Rue de la Grande Truanderie. The title refers to the address on the envelope that is pasted in the upper left part of the collage, which was sent from Art Press International, located in the rue de la Grande Truanderie, Paris.
c589
Proust’s Room 1976 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 18 Dec 76 Verso (on backing board): “Proust’s Room” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1976 Artist’s Studio Number c76-1257
c589
Knoedler & Company, New York, 1978, cat. no. 3, color illus. p. 6, color illus. p. 12 (in exhibition), illus. p. 23. References Baro 1966b, illus. p. 6; Frackman 1978, p. 24; Lucie-Smith 1978b, p. 23; MacMillan 1978, illus. p. 6; Roberts 1978, p. 178, illus. p. 180 (fig. 65); Spurling 1978, p. 230. Comments The collage element near the center of this work is a box from Jules Destrooper Belgian biscuits.
c590
c590
Ascending (Red) 1976 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 76 Verso (on top horizontal strainer): R Motherwell 1976 Verso (on framing tape): “ascending (blue)”
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number c76-
Provenance Mrs. George R. Brown, 1978; private collection, 1984
Present Owner Collection of Josh Conviser and Martine Conviser
Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
Provenance Private collection, 1980; Josh Conviser and Martine Conviser
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1977.
Comments The inscription on the verso of this work contains an error. Motherwell created two collages in 1976 that he titled Ascending, each designated
Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 47, illus. p. 23.
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c591
with a parenthetical color description to match its primary hue. After these works had been framed, Motherwell signed them and inscribed the titles on the verso, directly on the framer’s tape. Unfortunately, the color descriptions of the two works were mixed up: this work was mistakenly inscribed “ascending (blue)”; but the blue collage has no verso inscription. The error was subsequently corrected, but the inscriptions remain.
c592
c592
Ascending (Blue)
Terzetto
1976 Acrylic, pasted papers, and china marker on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Alternative Title: Yellow Stripes, with Music 1977 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Group Exhibitions Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., 1977, as Yellow Stripes, with Music.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised and inscribed: R Motherwell \ 17 Jan. 77
Comments This collage takes its title from the sheet music, Mozart’s Terzetto “Mi lagnerò tacendo” (I Complain in Silence) for two sopranos and bass (k. 437), here translated into German and arranged for piano.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 19 Dec 76 Present Owner Collection of Ronna and Eric Hoffman Provenance Ronna and Eric Hoffman, 1977
Artist’s Studio Number c77-1190 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1978; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1977. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 50.
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Knoedler & Company, New York, 1978, cat. no. 38, illus. p. 23.
c591
Comments See the Comments for Ascending (Red) (c590).
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c593
References Maloon 1978, illus. p. 21; SZ (Spediteur-Zeitschrift) 1978, illus.
c594
c593
c594
c595
Sign with Stripes
The Life of Will Grohmann
Arte
1977 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1977 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Ca. 1977 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: R Motherwell 77
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 23 March 77
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Artist’s Studio Number c77-2530
Artist’s Studio Number c77-924
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Private collection, 1990
Provenance Private collection, 1979; unknown owner
References Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p.
Comments The mailing label pasted in the lower center of this collage is addressed to Motherwell from an unidentified person named Grohmann in Munich. This apparently led Motherwell to think of Will Grohmann (1887–1968), a German art historian and critic who wrote books on Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and German Expressionism, and who was a staunch defender of abstraction and internationalism in art.
Artist’s Studio Number c77-952 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1982; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, October 31, 1984, lot 16, illus.]; Meshulam Riklis, 1984; [Christie’s, New York, May 4, 1994, lot 146, illus.]; private collection, 1994; Mr. and Mrs. Bozora, 1994; private collection, 2003
c595
References Crossley 1978, sec. E, p. 15; Moser 1978, sec. 3, p. 9. Comments This work takes its title from the label for Arte, an Italian brand of canvas, that is placed near the center. Motherwell is said to have signed and dated this work 1976 at the upper right, but if this is so, he subsequently painted over the signature, which presumably belonged to an earlier painting that is now covered by the collage elements. Studio records date this work to 1977, and it was first exhibited as a work from 1977 at the Janie C. Lee Gallery in 1978.
Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1978. Group Exhibitions Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, 1982.
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c596
c596
Step Inside Love 1977 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised and inscribed: R. Motherwell \ 24 March 77 Artist’s Studio Number c77-1258 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1978 Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 49. Comments In 1977 Motherwell’s lawyer, Lee Eastman, helped arrange a commission for Motherwell by MPL Communi cations, the musician Paul McCartney’s
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publishing company. (McCartney was married to Eastman’s daughter Linda.) Under the terms of the commission, Motherwell agreed to make several collages incorporating McCartney’s sheet music. This collage takes its title from the sheet music it contains, which is for “Step Inside Love,” a song written by McCartney and John Lennon. The collage also includes a lithograph of an enlarged package from Reynitas Cigarrilhos, a brand of cigars manufactured in Bahia. This lithographic reproduction of the wrapper was made for Motherwell by Tyler Graphics Ltd., and was also used in Brasileira (c527).
c597
c597
Magneto and Titanium Man 1977 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: Motherwell \ March 77 Recto, lower left, incised: RM \ 77 Artist’s Studio Number c77-954 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1978 Comments This is Motherwell’s second collage that incorporates music by Paul McCartney, as part of a commission by MPL Communications (see the Comments for c596). The title of this work comes from the sheet music for
“Magneto and Titanium Man,” a song by McCartney. The mailing envelope was sent to Motherwell by Leslie Waddington, Motherwell’s British print dealer.
c598
c598
Delicados Alternative Title: McCartney in Mexico 1977/1978 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ June 77 Artist’s Studio Number c77-1938 Present Owner Private collection, Lausanne Provenance Private collection, 1978; Grindstone Trust Company; [Christie’s, New York, November 19, 1998, lot 588, illus.]; private collection, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1998 Group Exhibitions Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 134, illus. n.p. (shown in early state), as McCartney in Mexico. Comments This is the third collage made by Motherwell incorporating music by Paul McCartney, as part of a
commission by MPL Communications (see the Comments for c596). The work incorporates a lithographically enlarged version of McCartney’s song “Step Inside Love,” printed on a gray paper. That same song was used in the first collage Motherwell did as part of this commission, Step Inside Love (c596). According to 1977 documents from Motherwell’s studio, this collage was originally titled Delicados, after the lithographic reproduction of a Mexican Delicados cigarette package that it contains. Later that same year, Motherwell changed the title to McCartney in Mexico, and an early version was exhibited under this new title at the Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, in November 1977. After the work was returned to the artist in February 1978, Motherwell extended the black-painted areas above and below the center collage element. The original title was restored to the collage when it was consigned to the John Berggruen Gallery in May 1978.
c599
c599
America Cup II 1977 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ July 77
for c150 and also fig. 105 in volume 1). The America’s Cup races were held in Newport, Rhode Island, from 1930 to 1983. Motherwell used this collage as the basis for a limited-edition poster, Newport Opera (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 243), made in 1979 to benefit the Newport Opera Festival.
Artist’s Studio Number c77-935 Present Owner Collection of James O. Coleman Provenance James O. Coleman, 1978 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1978. References Crossley 1978, sec. E, p. 15; Moser 1978, sec. 3, p. 9, as The America Cup. Comments This work is related to the 1964 collage The America Cup (c150). In different ways, both of these collages have strong affinities with Matisse’s paper cutout La Voile (The Sail; see the Comments
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c600
c600
Gauloises Collage 1977 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm); composition as shown 6¼ x 4 in. (15.9 x 10.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 77 Artist’s Studio Number c77-3325 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004 Group Exhibitions Drawing Center, New York, 1977 (traveling), as Gaulois Collage. References Wallach 1977a, pt. 2, p. 11, illus. pt. 2, p. 11 (as Gauloise Collage).
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Comments The title of this collage refers to the blue Gauloises cigarette package that figures so prominently in the composition. Motherwell contributed this collage to a project initiated by Joan Davidson of Artists Postcards, Inc., in which artists were asked to contribute works in a 4 x 6–inch format to be reproduced and distributed as postcards, and to be shown as part of a traveling exhibition called Artists’ Postcards. The painted area of this collage is roughly 6¼ x 4 inches, but the full sheet on which it was done measures 14 x 11 inches.
c601
c601
The Times (London) 1977 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 77 Artist’s Studio Number c77-925 Present Owner Collection of the McNay Art Museum. Museum purchase with the Alvin Whitley Fund and gift of the Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Tex., 1996 Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., August 1978, cat. no. 23, as The London Times. Federal Reserve Bank, Boston, 1978.
References Hornack 1978, p. 9, as The London Times. Comments The central collage element referred to in the title is a facsimile of a page torn from the Times (London), dated August 6, 1968, which was printed on an American fish and chips bag that Motherwell used in a number of other collages; see the Comments for Beside the Sea with Fish and Chips (c604); see also c620, c622, c639, and c644.
c602
c602
The Manchester Guardian 1977 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas mounted on board 35⅞ x 24 in. (91.1 x 61 cm)
Comments Part of a page from the Manchester Guardian Weekly newspaper is placed near the center of this collage. In 1966 Motherwell used pages from the Manchester Guardian Weekly in a series of collages (c170–c175).
c603
c603
Havana 1977 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 77
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 77
Artist’s Studio Number c77-933
Artist’s Studio Number c77-5196
Present Owner Private collection, Zurich
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Zurich, 2005
Provenance H. H. Thyssen-Bornemisza, 1978; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, May 9, 1984, lot 12, illus.]; Marisa del Re Gallery, Inc., 1984; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 11, 1988, lot 175, illus.]; private collection, 1988
Solo Exhibitions Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 50, color illus. p. 63. Annandale Galleries, Sydney, Australia, 2005. References Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p.; Caws 1996b, p. 161, illus. p. 162, color illus. n.p.; Caws 2003, illus. p. 169 (ill. 119).
Comments The title of this collage refers to the inner cover from a box of H. Upmann Cuban cigars that is placed at its center. Among the other collage elements is a fragment of an unidentified newspaper that features stories about socialist land reform policies in Portugal.
Group Exhibitions Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. no. 135, color illus. n.p. Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 1979 (traveling), cat. no. 105, color illus. p. 125, illus. p. 171.
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c604
c604
Beside the Sea with Fish and Chips 1977 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised and inscribed: RM \ 77 Artist’s Studio Number c77-919 Present Owner Mount Holyoke College Art Museum. Gift of Jeffrey H. Loria in honor of Julie Lavin (Class of 1986) Provenance Private collection, 1980; Jeffrey H. Loria; Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, Mass., 2005 284
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Group Exhibitions Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, Mass., 2008. Comments Both the title and the compositional format of this collage refer to Motherwell’s 1962 Beside the Sea series. The “Fish and Chips” of the title refers to the collage element at the center of the composition, which includes a bag printed with a newspaper motif overprinted with a red-and-white logo reading “Hot Fish & Chips.” Similar bags also appear in other works; see c601, c620, c622, c639, and c644.
c605
Xylol 1977 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 77 Artist’s Studio Number c77-947 Present Owner Collection of Mitchell Shaheen Provenance Private collection, 1981; private collection; Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Brodie, 1988; private collection, 1992; Mitchell Shaheen, 1992
Solo Exhibitions Douglas Drake Gallery, Kansas City, Mo., 1978. Group Exhibitions Cleveland Museum of Art, 1986, color illus. n.p. (fig. 29). Comments The title of this work is taken from the label from a bottle of Xylol brand paint thinner and solvent that is placed at its center.
c605
c606
Port de Boston Alternative Titles: Air 8; Bugatti 1973/1975–77 Acrylic, pasted cardboard, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm)
Provenance Private collection, 1978; private collection, 2008 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1974, cat. no. 12 (shown in early state), as Air 8. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 75
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1977.
Recto, upper right [painted over]: [R. Motherwell \ 25 Dec 73–75]
Knoedler & Company, New York, 1978, cat. no. 1, color illus. p. 12 (in exhibition), illus. p. 23.
Verso: “bugatti (1881–1947)” collage on canvas panel \ R. Motherwell \ 1975 Artist’s Studio Number c75-1256 Present Owner Private collection
Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., August 1978, cat. no. 2. Federal Reserve Bank, Boston, 1978. References Kramer 1974a, p. 21, as Air 8; Clarke 1983, p. 13; Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p.
c606
Comments An early version of this work contained only a yellow ground and a single piece of cardboard featuring a printed number 8; it was signed and dated “25 Dec 73” at the upper right and was exhibited under the title Air 8 at Knoedler & Company in April 1974. Motherwell reworked the collage extensively after that show, and titled it Bugatti, after the celebrated automobile designer Ettore Bugatti; that version, which had a predominantly red ground and a pasted element bearing the insignia of the Italian car manufacturer, was photographed in November 1975 (Sloman photo no. 315). This collage was given its final form and retitled Port de Boston in the spring of 1977. See also Port de Boston II (c607); the title refers to the printed customs label placed near the bottom center, part of which reads: “Produce of France, Port de Boston.”
c607
Port de Boston II 1977 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 77 Artist’s Studio Number c77-953 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1980; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 15, 2006, lot 193, illus.]; private collection, 2006 References Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 265); Flam 1991, color illus. n.p.
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(pl. 124); Jennings 1991, p. 19; Torner 1996, cover color illus.; Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 21 (pl. 17). Comments This work was done in 1977, around the time that Motherwell gave definitive form to the first collage called Port de Boston (c606). Both works contain printed customs labels for “Produce of France, Port de Boston,” which is partly covered over in this work by another piece of paper.
c608
The Red Garden Window 1977/ca. 1987 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: 77 \ R Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number c77-929 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1990 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1978 (shown in early state). References Moser 1978, sec. 3, p. 9, illus. sec. 3, p. 9 (in early state, upside down). Comments An October 1977 photograph of an early version of this collage shows the basic composition already set but the lower part of the ground left unpainted
c609
(Sloman photo no. 663). That version of the collage was shown at the Janie C. Lee Gallery in 1978, where it remained on consignment until January 1987. Sometime after the work was returned to Motherwell, he extended the red paint to cover the raw canvas ground at the lower right, painting over an area of black gestural marks as he did so.
c609
Studio with Aladdin Label Alternative Title: Aladdin 1977 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 77 Verso (on paper taped to backing board): R. Motherwell 1977 \ July Artist’s Studio Number c77-927 Present Owner Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, Saint Louis Provenance Private collection, 1987; Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, Saint Louis, ca. 1991 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1978, as Aladdin. Washington University Gallery of Art, Saint Louis, 1995, cat. no. 19.
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c610
Lawrence Rubin/Greenberg Van Doren Fine Art, New York, 2001, cat. no. 1. Comments The title of this work refers to the white label near its center, which is from the package for an Aladdin brand walllamp bracket.
c611
c612
[ Untitled (Music with Yellow Border)]
Samson
Cathedral I
1977 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm)
1977 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
Alternative Title: {Untitled (Collage with Music and Yellow Ochre)} 1977 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 30¾ x 22¾ in. (78.1 x 57.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: R. Motherwell \ 77
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Artist’s Studio Number c77-2252
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 77
Artist’s Studio Number c77-942
Present Owner Collection of M. Morando
Artist’s Studio Number c77-2257; c77-3548
Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Patrick Woodson III
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; M. Morando, 2001
Provenance Private collection, 1978; Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Patrick Woodson III, 1979
Comments Motherwell began his Cathedral collages in Provincetown during the summer of 1977. The central form in these works is reminiscent of Le Corbusier’s 1956 design for the Notre Dame du Haut chapel in Ronchamp, France, a structure that was completed in 1964. A poster featuring the chapel, made for the Le Corbusier exhibition held at the Pavillon de Vendôme in Aix-enProvence from July to August 1967, is
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Andy and Debbie Rachleff, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2006, cat. no. 22, as Untitled (Collage with Music and Yellow Ochre). Comments The sheet music in this collage is from Mozart’s Sonata movement in G minor, Allegro, for piano (k. 312). collages
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c610
Present Owner Collection of Andy and Debbie Rachleff
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visible on Motherwell’s studio wall in photographs taken at the time he began this series of collages. That poster features a black-and-white photograph of the chapel over a field of red, on which the information about the exhibition is listed. Motherwell completed nine collages in the Cathedral series during the summer of 1977, some of which were revised around 1981 (see c662–c665). During the early 1980s he also worked on a large painting based on a similar motif, Apse (p984).
c614
c615
c613
c614
c615
Cathedral II
Paper Cathedral
Untitled (Black B)
1977 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
1977 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1977 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22½ x 14¼ in. (57.2 x 36.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 77
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 77
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM \ 77
Artist’s Studio Number c77-2259
Artist’s Studio Number c77-928
Artist’s Studio Number c77-2290
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Borzo Gallery, Amsterdam
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005; private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005; [Christie’s, New York, May 14, 2009, lot 243, illus.]; Borzo Gallery, Amsterdam, 2009
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c616
c616
Maquette for the National Gallery Mural 1977 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas board 11 x 24 in. (27.9 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Verso: Robert Motherwell \ Sept 1977 Artist’s Studio Number c77-958 Present Owner National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Gift of the Dedalus Foundation, 2004.9.5 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2004 References Carmean 1980, color illus. p. 70; Motherwell in Carmean 1980, p. 71. Comments This collage is one of two maquettes Motherwell submitted to the National
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Gallery of Art in September 1977 in response to a proposal for him to paint a mural for the gallery’s new East Wing building (see also Study for Reconciliation Elegy, p955). Works for the new building were also commissioned from Alexander Calder and Joan Miró. Although Motherwell ultimately rejected the idea of doing a brightly colored painting, he initially favored it over the more traditional black-andwhite Elegy format (see the Comments for Reconciliation Elegy, p956). But he subsequently changed his mind, noting, “I felt that my first, colored maquette conjoined with whatever Miró and Calder would do, would make too much a ‘period’ ensemble. . . . It would ‘date’ too much, as Art Nouveau or Art Deco already have. My black and white maquette was more timeless as pure painting than my bright color and collage” (Motherwell in Carmean 1980, p. 71).
c617
In Vermillion with Music 1977 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 77 Artist’s Studio Number c77-943 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1979; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1978, cat. no. 11, illus. p. 23. Group Exhibitions Douglas Drake Gallery, New York, 1988. References Frackman 1978, p. 24, illus. p. 24.
c617
Comments The sheet music in this collage is a lithographically reproduced part of the score for Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps.
c618
c618
Roth-Händle with Blue Hat 1977–78 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 6 x 4 in. (15.2 x 10.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
taken in February 1978. The RothHändle cigarette package referred to in the title was added soon after those photographs were taken. Motherwell had previously used the image of a Roth-Händle cigarette package in a 1975 collage, Roth-Händle with Black Window (c526).
c619
c619
Low Tide, Mont St. Michel 1976–78 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Verso: R. Motherwell 77
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [painted over]: [RM \ 76]
Artist’s Studio Number c77-1184
Artist’s Studio Number c76-949
Present Owner Private collection, Minneapolis
Present Owner The Shelby Family Collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Minneapolis, 2004
Provenance Shelby Family Collection, 1979
Solo Exhibitions William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, June 1979. References Henry 1979, p. 181. Comments An early state of this work can be seen framed, without the collage element, in photographs of Motherwell’s studio
Comments Motherwell began work on this collage in 1976, during the period when he created St. Michel (c567) and St. Michel No. 2 (c576). An early version of the collage, which then contained a black vertical stripe along the right side and smaller areas of black in the lower left corner and next to the lithograph of the St. Michel cigarette label, was photographed in October 1977 (Sloman photo no. 673). Sometime after that, Motherwell painted over most of the blacks with ochre. The completed collage was consigned to Knoedler & Company in April 1978.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1978, cat. no. 10, illus. p. 23. Group Exhibitions Montclair Art Museum, N.J., 1979, cat. no. 19, cover illus., illus. n.p. References Shirey 1979, sec. 11, p. 30.
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c620
c621
c622
c620
c621
c622
c623
High Tide
Tricolor
The Times, with Music
1978 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 47¼ x 35⅜ in. (120 x 89.9 cm)
1978 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1978 Acrylic, pasted papers, and china marker on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Par Avion, with Music and Gauloises
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R Motherwell \ Aug 78
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 24 Aug 78
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R Motherwell \ 10 Sept 78
Artist’s Studio Number c78-2158 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1979 References Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p. Comments Among the collage elements in this work is paper from a bag on which is printed a reproduction of newspaper pages and a red-and-white logo that reads “Fish & Chips.” Motherwell used the same kind of paper in five other collages (see c601, c604, c622, c639, and c644). 292
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Artist’s Studio Number c78-2194 Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. Ronald K. Greenberg Provenance Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, 1987; Mr. and Mrs. Ronald K. Greenberg, 1987 Solo Exhibitions Washington University Gallery of Art, Saint Louis, 1995, cat. no. 23. Lawrence Rubin/Greenberg Van Doren Fine Art, New York, 2001, cat. no. 4. Comments The sheet music in this collage is from Mozart’s Das Bandel: “Liebes Mandel, wo ist’s Bandel?” (k. 441).
Artist’s Studio Number c78-2195 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Knoedler & Company, 1987; private collection Comments The newspaper page in this collage is a facsimile from a bag for fish and chips. The same kind of wrapper was used in five other collages (see c601, c604, c620, c639, and c644). The sheet music is from Mozart’s Eine kleine deutsche Kantate (k. 619).
1978 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, charcoal, and china marker on canvas board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 78 Artist’s Studio Number c78-2267 Present Owner Private collection. Courtesy of Locks Gallery, Philadelphia Provenance M. P. Leibovitz, 1979; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 2, 1995, lot 14, illus.]; private collection, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Montclair Art Museum, N.J., November 1989. References Navarra 1989, sec. F, p. 12.
c623
Comments This collage takes its title from the small dark blue “Par Avion” (airmail) label that is pasted to the brown shipping paper addressed to Motherwell, from the pale blue Gauloises Caporal cigarette package at the center of the work, and from the two pieces of sheet music. The sheet music on the left is from Mozart’s Sonata movement in G minor, Allegro, for piano (k. 312). The sheet music on the right is from Mozart’s Arietta “Dans un bois solitaire” (In a Lonely Wood), for vocalist with piano accompaniment (k. 308/295b).
c624
c625
c624
c625
c626
Untitled
Key West
McCartney in Brazil
1978 Pasted papers, ink, and lithograph on paper 29¾ x 21¾ in. (75.6 x 55.2 cm)
1978 Acrylic, pasted papers, crayon, and graphite on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 78
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 78
Alternative Title: [Brazil ] 1978–79 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number c78-2199
Provenance Private collection, 1978; unknown owner
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Comments This collage contains pieces of torn red paper and sheet music pasted on a proof of Motherwell’s 1978 lithograph Oy/Yo (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 227). The sheet music is from Mozart’s Sonata movement in G minor, Allegro, for piano (k. 312). Our reproduction of the work comes from an early 4 x 6–inch color photograph.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 10 Oct 78 Artist’s Studio Number c78-2196
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Collection of Norma and Myron H. Goldberg Art Trust
Comments Motherwell painted the yellow stripes on the paper used as the ground for this work in a manner that recalls his early painting The Little Spanish Prison (p3).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York, 2000; Norma and Myron H. Goldberg Art Trust, 2000 Solo Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1979, cat. no. 18. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979.
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Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2006, cat. no. 3. References Glenn 1984, color illus. p. 89 (installation view). Comments Motherwell set the composition of this collage in 1978, and it was first photographed that December (Sloman photo no. 766). Sometime after this, he repainted the triangular area on the right side of the work from its original red to the present black. The work was in its final form by the time it was photographed again in May 1979 (Sloman photo no. 780). The Long Point Gallery first exhibited it in 1979 as McCartney in Brazil, but it was subsequently sold under the title Brazil. Despite the reference to Paul McCartney, the sheet music in this collage is from Mozart’s Sonata movement in G minor, Allegro, for piano (k. 312). This work is closely related to the 1977 collage Step Inside Love (c596), which contains an enlarged lithographic
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reproduction of a Reynitas Cigarrilhos package and sheet music by McCartney; it is also closely related to the collage Delicados (c598), which was originally known as McCartney in Mexico.
c627
c627
c628
Heiliger Geist
Goethe in Italy
1975–78 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1978 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM \ 75
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 10 Nov 78
Artist’s Studio Number c75-951; c78-2184
Artist’s Studio Number c78-2198
Present Owner Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Knoedler & Company, 1985; private collection, Cologne, Germany, 1987; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 15, 2008, lot 307, illus. (not sold)]; Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, 2008
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005
Group Exhibitions Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, 2008, as Untitled (Holy Ghost). References Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p. Comments The title of this work, Heiliger Geist, is German for “Holy Spirit.”
Solo Exhibitions William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 95 (catalogue), illus. p. 19, illus. p. 48 (in exhibition). Centro Cultural de la Caixa de Pensions, Barcelona, 1980 (traveling), cat. no. 21. Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1981, cat. no. 22.
c628
References Morrin 1979, p. 13.
c629
Comments The title of this collage was probably inspired by Motherwell’s reading of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Italian Journey.
Alternative Title: Moderne Enfin 1978 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
In Orange with Black
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 78
c629
Group Exhibitions Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Mass., 1979. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 2004. Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2005.
c630
Life, with Music 1979 Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers mounted on board 44 x 36 in. (111.8 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ January 1979
Verso (on backing board) [painted over]: [illegible]
Artist’s Studio Number c79-2242
Verso (on backing board): R. Motherwell \ “in orange with black” \ acrylic and paper on canvasboard \ 36" x 24"
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number c78-2197 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1983; private collection, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1979, cat. no. 15, as Moderne Enfin.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2006 Group Exhibitions Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, 1983, cat. no. 106, illus. n.p. Lamont Gallery, Frederick R. Mayer Art Center, Phillips Exeter Academy, N.H., 1986. References Dialogue: The Ohio Arts Journal 1983, illus. p. 33. collag e s
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Comments The title of this work derives from its collage elements, which include part of a package from a South African brand of cigarettes called Life, and a lithographic reproduction of sheet music for the Sarabande from J. S. Bach’s English Suite no. 5 in E minor (bwv 810), which is also used in the collage Yellow Music (c706).
c631
Black Music 1979 Acrylic, pasted papers, and crayon on board 26 x 18¾ in. (66 x 47.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 1979 Artist’s Studio Number c79-2438 Present Owner Private collection, Texas Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Texas, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Rosenbaum Contemporary, Gallery Center, Boca Raton, Fla., 2004. Group Exhibitions Lamont Gallery, Frederick R. Mayer Art Center, Phillips Exeter Academy, N.H., 1986. Leslie Feely Fine Art, New York, 2007, cat. no. 22, color illus. n.p.
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Comments The sheet music used in this work is from Mozart’s Arietta “Oiseaux, si tous les ans” (Birds, If Every Year; k. 307/284).
c632
c632
Unitas 1979 Oil and pasted papers on board 10 x 7 in. (25.4 x 17.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 79 Artist’s Studio Number c79-2265 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, May 1979. Comments This collage is closely related to Motherwell’s 1979 Brushstroke series (see p967–p973). The collage elements are the vertical band of white paper on the right and the small red label on it that reads “Made in France.” The title, Unitas, is Latin for “unity” or “oneness.” This work, like the Brushstroke
c633
series and related works, seems to have been inspired by an anonymous seventeenth-century Japanese ink painting consisting of a single horizontal brushstroke, Ichi (One), which Motherwell had acquired in 1968.
c633
Airy Blue Collage (Blue Overcoming Gold) Alternative Title: Beige on Ultramarine 1968/1979 Acrylic and pasted paper on paper 30¼ x 22 in. (76.8 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell 68 Recto, lower right [painted over]: [illegible] Artist’s Studio Number c68-426; c68-2318 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2008 Solo Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1968, cat. no. 5 (shown in early state), as Beige on Ultramarine. Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2006, cat. no. 7, color illus. p. 19, as Airy Blue Collage.
c634
Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969 (shown in early state), as Beige with Ultramarine. Comments This collage was begun in 1968, related to works such as Figuration on Blue (c245). In Motherwell’s datebook entry for May 26, 1979, he noted, “sleep + paint—revise ’68 blue collage with drunk turpentine,” a reference to the way the black linear forms in this work resemble those in the Drunk with Turpentine series (see w541–w623), with which he was then currently engaged.
c634
The Cotswold Villager 1979 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ July 1979 Artist’s Studio Number c79-2356 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Diane and Steven Jacobson, 1981; private collection, 1982; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1979, cat. no. 19. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979. Comments The collage element in this work contains paper from an airmail package addressed to Motherwell’s summer
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home in Provincetown. It contains numerous labels, including a customs declaration, dated August 13, 1979, from the Cotswold Villager in Oxfordshire, England, from which the work takes its name.
c635
c636
Mexican Collage
Summertime in Italy No. 8
1979 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 35 x 23 in. (88.9 x 58.4 cm)
1977/1979 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ 79
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised [partially painted over]: [7]7 \ Motherwell
Artist’s Studio Number c79-2357 Present Owner Collection of McCausland-Seve Family Provenance Private collection, 1981; [Sotheby’s, New York, February 17, 1999, lot 153, illus.]; McCausland-Seve Family, 1999 Solo Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1979, cat. no. 2. References Manthorne 1990, p. 69.
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c636
Artist’s Studio Number c77-920 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1980 References Braun-Munk 1991, color illus. p. 79 (installation view). Comments This collage was begun in 1977 (Sloman photo no. 647), and the first version of it was consigned briefly to Knoedler & Company in April 1978. After it was returned to Motherwell the following month, he made a number of
revisions, adding the pink- and greenpainted areas, the black area in the lower left corner, the blue lines on the right side, and the black lines within the pinks. The work was finished by late 1979 and consigned to Knoedler & Company in January 1980. For more on the Summertime in Italy series, see c121.
c637
c637
The Tower 1977–79 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas mounted on board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell \ 26 Sept 77 Artist’s Studio Number c77-932; c77-2317; c77-9320; c79-2317 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Centro Cultural de la Caixa de Pensions, Barcelona, 1980 (traveling), cat. no. 20; Madrid, cat. no. 12, color illus. n.p. Artcurial Centre d’Art Plastique Contemporain, Paris, 1990 (traveling), Paris, color illus. p. 41.
References Bonet 1980, illus. p. 18; Warnod 1990, illus. p. 27; Pély-Audan 1991, illus. p. 101. Comments An early version of this collage, signed and dated “26 Sept 77,” was photographed in December 1977 (Sloman photo no. 700). Motherwell later added several pasted papers, covering over most of the original forms, and painted the lower left part of the canvas gray. The work was complete by the time it was photographed again in June 1979 (Sloman photo no. 822). The title refers to the image of the tower on the Chateau Latour wine label placed on the right side of the work.
c638
c638
News from Nowhere 1977–79 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised [painted over]: [Motherwell \ 77] Recto, lower right, incised: RM \ Aug 77 Artist’s Studio Number c77-944 Present Owner Collection Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London Provenance Private collection; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2008
Comments The main collage element in this work is a page from the Washington Post near the center, which contains headlines that may have inspired the title News from Nowhere: “Temperature Rise Could Be World Catastrophe,” and “Pentagon Needs More Plutonium.” An early version of this collage, photographed in October 1977, shows it with a thick red vertical band along its left side and a black vertical band along its right (Sloman photo no. 678). The work can be seen still in that early state in studio photos taken in March 1978. Sometime later, Motherwell repainted the sides ochre and signed and dated the work “Aug 77,” which was the date it was started rather than the date of completion. The finished work was sent to Galerie Veith Turske in October 1979.
Group Exhibitions Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, January 2009, cat. no. 5. References Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p.
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c639
c639
Votre Miroir 1979 Acrylic, pasted papers, and crayon on canvas mounted on board 25 x 10 in. (63.5 x 25.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 79 Artist’s Studio Number c79-2370 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1981; private collection, 1981; unknown owner Group Exhibitions Galerie Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland, 1980, cat. no. 60. Comments The title of this work is taken from a line in “Il se peut” (It May Be), a poem by Max Jacob, published in Le Laboratoire Central (1921), which contains the lines “Vous avez cru voir un ange / Et c’était votre miroir” (You
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believed you saw an angel / And it was your mirror). The same collage element with Motherwell’s writing contains a second line of poetry: “me porté como quien soy” (I behaved as I am), which is from Lorca’s “La casada infiel” (The Unfaithful Wife), first published in his Primer Romancero Gitano (First Gypsy Ballads), translated by Will Kirkland and Christopher Maurer in Federico García Lorca: Collected Poems, ed. Christopher Maurer, rev. ed. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002), p. 563. Motherwell had used other lines from this same Lorca poem in an untitled early painting (p165). The newspaper page from the Times (London) is actually a facsimile from a fish and chips bag that Motherwell used in other collages; see also the Comments for c601, c604, c620, c622, and c644.
c641
c640
c641
Country Collage
Untitled
1979 Oil and pasted papers on Masonite 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm)
1980 Oil and pasted paper on paper 23 x 18 in. (58.4 x 45.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 10 Nov 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 80
Artist’s Studio Number c79-2416
Artist’s Studio Number p80-3673
Present Owner Collection of Mark and Fiona Lochtenberg
Present Owner Collection of Mark and Fiona Lochtenberg
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mark and Fiona Lochtenberg, 2008
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mark and Fiona Lochtenberg, 2008
References Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 222 (pl. 312); Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 122.
Solo Exhibitions Annandale Galleries, Sydney, Australia, 2005.
Comments The calligraphic imagery in this collage is painted on paper that contains a bronze-colored aquatint ground similar to those in the 1980 aquatints Primal Sign II, III, and IV (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 268–70) and Black Gesture on Copper Ground (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 276).
Comments The calligraphic imagery in this collage is painted over paper that contains a colored aquatint ground similar to those in the 1980 aquatints Primal Sign II, III, and IV (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 268–70) and Black Gesture on Copper Ground (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 276).
c642
c642
c643
French Sign
Te Quiero
1979–80 Acrylic and pasted papers on paperboard 26 x 19⅞ in. (66 x 50.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 9 Nov 1979 Artist’s Studio Number d79-2440 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments Begun in late 1979, this collage was reworked in 1980, when Motherwell added the blue paint and some of the red accents.
c643
Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, December 2005 (traveling).
c644
Alternative Title: Danse 1973/1979–80 Acrylic and pasted papers on Upson board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Group Exhibitions Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, 1994, cat. no. 97.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell \ 8 Dec. 73
Comments An early version of this collage, begun in 1973, was shown at Knoedler & Company in 1974 under the title Danse. Motherwell revised the work, adding the blue-and-yellow collage element and the phrase “Te Quiero” (Spanish for “I love you”), before it was shown at the Harcus Krakow Gallery in 1980.
Alternative Title: Time Present and Time Past 1979–80 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 24 x 12 in. (61 x 30.5 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number c73-1002; c73/79-2470; c73/80-1002; c73/80-2470 Present Owner Collection of Art Enterprises, Ltd., Chicago
References Art Enterprises 2000, color illus. p. 123.
The Times in Havana
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 79 Artist’s Studio Number c79-2371 Present Owner Collection Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
Provenance Art Enterprises, Ltd., Chicago, 1980
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2007
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1974, cat. no. 13 (shown in early state), as Danse.
Solo Exhibitions Harcus Krakow Gallery, Boston, 1980, cat. no. 13, as Time Present and Time Past.
Harcus Krakow Gallery, Boston, 1980, cat. no. 4.
Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 51, color illus. p. 70.
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c644
c645
c646
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 9, color illus. p. 12.
c645
Group Exhibitions Herter Art Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1987 (traveling), illus. p. 27.
1980–86 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
References William Benton Museum of Art 1988, cover illus.; Windrow 1992, color illus. p. 9; Caws 1996b, p. 149, illus. p. 152.
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM \ 80
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 80
Artist’s Studio Number c80-2436
Artist’s Studio Number c81-2624
Present Owner Collection of Robert F. and Patricia Ross Weis
Present Owner National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Gift of Lawrence Rubin 1993.66.3
Provenance Robert F. and Patricia Ross Weis, 1988
Provenance Lawrence Rubin, 1981; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1993
Comments This work was begun in 1979 and completed before being exhibited at the Harcus Krakow Gallery in May 1980. It was shown under the title Time Present and Time Past, which comes from the first line of T. S. Eliot’s poem “Burnt Norton” (1935), the first of his Four Quartets. The printed collage element, which has a newspaper motif, was torn from the same kind of fish and chips bag as the one used in Beside the Sea with Fish and Chips (c604) and other works (see also c601, c620, c622, and c639). The painted-out label within the black oval is from Mark, Fore & Strike, a sporting goods company.
302
collages
Brasileira
Group Exhibitions Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Conn., 1987. References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 123. Comments The basic composition of this collage was set in 1980. Motherwell revised it in 1986 by adding purple paint to the upper half of the lithographic
reproduction of the Reynitas Cigarrilhos label. The same printed element appears in a number of earlier works (see c527 and c626).
c646
Bouquet for Marina 1980 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas board 24 x 30 in. (61 x 76.2 cm)
Comments The title of this work refers to Marina Rubin, the wife of Lawrence Rubin, then the director of Knoedler & Company.
c647
c648
c649
c647
c648
c649
Untitled (Blue with Black Note)
Delicados
Cantata XIII
1980 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 9¾ x 8⅛ in. (24.8 x 20.6 cm)
1980–81/ca. 1983 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on Masonite 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm)
Williams Center for the Arts, Lafayette College, Easton, Pa., 1989.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 80
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 80
Morris Museum, Morristown, N.J., 1992.
Artist’s Studio Number c80-2527
Artist’s Studio Number c80/81-2494
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, 1993.
Present Owner Private collection, California
Present Owner Collection of Bobbi and Walter Zifkin
Provenance Private collection, 1980; Knoedler & Company, 1980; private collection, 1980; private collection, 1980; private collection, California, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Bobbi and Walter Zifkin, 1999
1980 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 80 Artist’s Studio Number p80-2529 Present Owner Private collection, Erlenbach Provenance Private collection, Erlenbach, Switzerland, 1984 Comments The piece of pasted paper at the upper center of this work has been completely painted over in blue.
Comments The collage element at the center of this work is an enlarged lithographic print of a Delicados cigarette package. Another collage that uses the same kind of package is also titled Delicados (c598).
Solo Exhibitions Galería Joan Prats, Barcelona, 1986 (traveling), Barcelona, cat. no. 37, color illus. n.p.; Palma de Mallorca, cat. no. 37, color illus. n.p.; Madrid, cat. no. 37, color illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., August 1983. Knoedler & Company, New York, 1983, cat. no. 9, color illus. p. 17.
Museum of Art, Munson-WilliamsProctor Institute, Utica, N.Y., 1988.
University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, 1991.
References Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 223 (in early state); Glenn 1984, cover color illus. (installation view), color illus. p. 87 (installation view); Campoy 1987, illus. p. 101; Cinco Dias 1987, illus.; Erausquin 1987; Pleynet 1989b, p. 57, color illus. p. 58, as Cantate No. 13; Flam 1991, p. 18, color illus. n.p. (pl. 130); Bonet 1996, p. 11, color illus. p. 11; Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 19 (pl. 14); Caws 2003, pp. 24, 166, color illus. p. 25 (ill. 16). Comments The title refers to the number XIII printed on the sheet music from Mozart’s Eine kleine deutsche Kantate
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c650
(k. 619). The collage elements at the center of this work were set in 1980, with lightly brushed brown paint surrounding them in a manner similar to Lyrical Collage (c650) and Untitled (c651). In 1981 Motherwell painted the area around the collage elements with ochre (see Arnason 1982, p. 223). He subsequently repainted this area in red before the work was consigned to Knoedler & Company in October 1983. In 1985 this collage served as the basis for a poster Motherwell created in conjunction with a series of concerts called The Painter’s Music, the Musician’s Art, performed by the chamber music ensemble An die Musik.
304
collages
c651
c652
c650
c651
c652
Lyrical Collage
Untitled
The Sign of the Mermaid
Alternative Title: Untitled 1980 Acrylic and pasted papers on Masonite 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
1980 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 30¼ x 24 in. (76.8 x 61 cm)
1980–82/1985 Acrylic and pasted papers on Masonite 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 80
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 80
Artist’s Studio Number c80-2495
Artist’s Studio Number c80-2492
Present Owner Galería Altair Collection
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Private collection; Galería Altair, 2002
Provenance Private collection, 1982
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1981, cat. no. 25, as Untitled.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1981, cat. no. 14.
Comments The three pieces of sheet music in this collage are from the full orchestral scores of two works by Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps (on the left), and Pétrouchka.
Comments The sheet music in this collage is from Mozart’s Das Bandel: “Liebes Mandel, wo ist’s Bandel?” (k. 441).
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 80 Recto, upper right, incised [painted over]: [RM] Artist’s Studio Number c80-2512 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1986 References Digby and Digby 1985, color illus. p. 91 (pl. 13, in early state); John Berggruen Gallery 1986, color illus. p. 59. Comments The composition of this collage was first set in 1980 with the collage elements placed on a blue-painted ground. Motherwell subsequently revised it slightly, and signed and dated it “82.” That version was consigned to
c653
Knoedler & Company in 1983. After it was returned to his studio in 1985, Motherwell reworked the collage again, painted over the date, then re-signed the work with the original 1980 date. The title of this collage refers to the name of the building next to Motherwell’s “Sea Barn” residence and studio in Provincetown, which was known as “The Sign of the Mermaid.” Beginning in 1972 Motherwell purchased condominium apartments in that building, which he used as lodgings for family and friends, and eventually for a print studio. The sheet music in this collage is from Mozart’s Eine kleine deutsche Kantate (k. 619).
c653
Blue Collage with Yellow and Music 1980 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 80 Artist’s Studio Number p80-2518 Present Owner Collection Patsy and Jeff Tarr Provenance Private collection, 1988; James Goodman Gallery, New York, 1988; Patsy and Jeff Tarr, 1988 Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., July 1983. Knoedler & Company, New York, 1983, cat. no. 25. Knoedler & Company, New York, June 1987, cat. no. 142, color illus. n.p.
c654
Comments The sheet music in this collage is from Mozart’s Eine kleine deutsche Kantate (k. 619).
c654
Greek Doorway 1980–ca. 1986/1991 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted to Masonite 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell Verso [obscured by strainer]: [illegible] \ 198[illegible] Verso [painted over]: [illegible] \ R. Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number c80/91-2499 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1991, cat. no. 16. Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 52, color illus. p. 74.
collag e s
305
c655
References Caws 1996a, color illus. sec. 2, p. 48; Caws 1996b, pp. 92, 164, illus. p. 95, color illus. n.p., referred to in text and in illus. as Greek Door; Caws 2003, pp. 154, 174, 183, illus. p. 175 (ill. 125). Comments The composition of this collage was set in 1980, with the arcing form on the left rendered in black paint. That version was lent to Tyler Graphics Ltd. in April 1985, and it was eventually used as the basis for the 1987 collage print Game of Chance (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 377). Sometime after the work was returned to Motherwell, he painted the black form white. That version was consigned to Knoedler & Company from May 1987 to April 1988. Motherwell revised the work again slightly in 1991, when he made small adjustments in the upper right corner.
306
collages
c656
c657
c655
c656
c657
Summer Sea
Untitled
Quartet No. 4
1980 Acrylic, oil stick, and pasted papers on canvas mounted to Masonite 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1980–ca. 1987 Acrylic, pasted paper, and graphite on canvas mounted on board 23⅞ x 17⅞ in. (60.6 x 45.4 cm)
Alternative Title: Untitled 1980 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 80
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 80
Artist’s Studio Number c80-2491
Artist’s Studio Number c80-2513
Verso (on backing board): R Motherwell \ 1980
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Collection Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
Artist’s Studio Number c80-2507
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2006, cat. no. 8, color illus. p. 20. Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2008, cat. no. 10, color illus. p. 25.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2007 Comments In an early version of this collage, the broad band on the right side was painted in ochre (Sloman photo no. 1238). Motherwell repainted that section blue before the work was consigned to Knoedler & Company in May 1987.
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1981, cat. no. 19, as Untitled. Montclair Art Museum, N.J., 1989. Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1983, cat. no. 24.
c658
References Navarra 1989, sec. F, p. 12, color illus. sec. F, p. 1. Comments The sheet music in this collage is from Mozart’s “Ein deutsches Kriegslied” (A German War Song; k. 539).
c659
c660
c658
c659
c660
[ Untitled (Hans Hartung)]
Red Music
Cathedral III
Alternative Title: Untitled 1980 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1980 Acrylic and pasted paper on Masonite 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
1977–80 Acrylic, pasted papers, and crayon on paper 22½ x 14⅜ in. (57.2 x 36.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 1980 Artist’s Studio Number c80-2498 Present Owner Collection of Ms. Mary Beth Buck Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mary Beth Buck, 2000 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1981, cat. no. 18, as Untitled. Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, February 2000. Comments Near the lower center of this collage there is a torn envelope sent from the painter Hans Hartung to Lawrence Rubin, then the director of Knoedler & Company.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 80 Verso: “red music” \ R. Motherwell \ 1980 Artist’s Studio Number c80-2503 Present Owner Private collection of Christina and Robert C. Baker Provenance Private collection, 1983; Christina and Robert C. Baker, 1985 Comments The title of this collage refers to the very small piece of unidentified sheet music at the center.
Inscriptions Recto, lower left [circled]: [RM \ 77] Artist’s Studio Number c77-2256; c77/80-2437 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments An early version of this collage was begun in 1977 and consigned to Knoedler & Company from May 1979 to January 1980, when it was returned to Motherwell. Shortly afterward, he added the brown paint and the line drawing near the center, and drew a circle around his original signature. The collage was completed by the time it was photographed in February 1980
collag e s
307
c661
(Sloman photo no. 972). The forms in the line drawing near the center of this work also appear in an intermediate version of The Homely Protestant No. II (40 Years Later) (p1187). See also the Comments for Cathedral I (c612).
c661
c662
Cathedral IV
[ Untitled (Cathedral Series)]
1977–ca. 1981 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 22½ x 14¼ in. (57.2 x 36.2 cm)
1977–ca. 1981 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22½ x 14¼ in. (57.2 x 36.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM \ 77 Artist’s Studio Number c77-2258 Present Owner Collection of Mr. William T. Eberhard Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; William T. Eberhard, 2001 Comments This collage was begun in 1977, executed entirely in paper, at the same time as other works in the Cathedral series (see the Comments for c612). Around 1981, Motherwell made major revisions to it, most especially by adding red paint to most of its ground.
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collages
c662
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 77 Artist’s Studio Number c77-2291 Present Owner Dana and Rick Dirickson Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Dana and Rick Dirickson, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2002, as Untitled. Comments This collage was begun in 1977, at the same time as other works in the Cathedral series (see the Comments for c612). In the earliest version of this collage, the central form was composed of blue papers. A Polaroid photograph
c663
of the work in Motherwell’s studio shows that Motherwell painted these forms black around 1981, when he revisited several works from the Cathedral series. The early version of this collage served as the basis for the first version of a large painting, Apse (p984). The final version of this collage was used as a maquette for a 1991 lithograph, Black Cathedral (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 522).
c664
c665
c663
c664
[ Untitled (Cathedral Series)]
[ Untitled (Cathedral Series)]
1977–81 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper 22½ x 14¼ in. (57.2 x 36.2 cm)
1977–81 Acrylic, pasted papers, ink, and graphite on paper 22½ x 14⅜ in. (57.2 x 36.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 77
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 77
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised and inscribed: RM \ 77
Artist’s Studio Number c77-2297
Artist’s Studio Number c77-2309
Artist’s Studio Number c77-2298
Present Owner Private collection of Linda and Richard Pollay
Present Owner Jocelyne DeNunzio
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jocelyne DeNunzio, 2000
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Linda and Richard Pollay, 2001 Comments This collage was begun in 1977, at the same time as other works in the Cathedral series (see the Comments for c612). It was revised around 1981 when Motherwell revised a number of works from that series. Motherwell later used this work as the basis for a 1991 collage print, Black for Mozart (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 521).
Comments The composition of this collage was set in 1977, executed entirely in paper, at the same time as other works in the Cathedral series (see the Comments for c612). Motherwell added paint to the black and red areas in 1981.
A lithograph and poster were based on this collage: Art 1981 Chicago Print (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 282), commissioned by the Lakeside Group for the 1981 Chicago International Art Exposition.
c665
Cathedral (Study) 1977–ca. 1981 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 22½ x 14¼ in. (57.2 x 36.2 cm)
Comments The composition of this collage was set in 1977, executed entirely in paper, at the same time as other works in the Cathedral series (see the Comments for c612). Around 1981 Motherwell significantly revised this work, adding the red, orange, gray, and black paint.
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c666
c666
Vol de Nuit 1975–81 Acrylic and pasted papers on Masonite 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 81 Artist’s Studio Number c81-1448 Present Owner Pinakothek der Moderne. Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, inv. nr. 14766 Provenance Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, 1983 Solo Exhibitions Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 97. References Thierolf 2002, pp. 328–35, color illus. p. 329 (cat. no. 30). Comments This collage was begun in 1975 as a composition consisting of white papers
310
collages
on a black ground. Motherwell added the brown paint and the torn wrapping paper with the “via air mail” sticker and the label from Berggruen & Cie, Paris, before it was photographed in its final form in March 1981 (Sloman photo no. 1253). The title refers to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s 1931 novel Vol de nuit (Night Flight), which was based on the author’s experiences as a postal pilot in South America. Motherwell gave this collage to the Pinakothek der Moderne in 1983, in exchange for New York City Collage (c101), which he had given them the previous year.
c667
c667
Sea Snail 1981 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on paper 29 x 19½ in. (73.7 x 49.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 1981 Verso (on reattached backing board): “sea snail” \ R Motherwell \ 1981 Artist’s Studio Number c81-2613 Present Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts. Gift of Professor Will Leben, 2003.80 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Will Leben, 2002; Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., 2004 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1982, cat. no. 12.
Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., August 1991. Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2002. Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., 2009. Group Exhibitions Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn., 1983, cat. no. 43. Comments This collage served as the basis for a 1984 lithograph, Water’s Edge (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 339).
c668
c668
Night Music 1981 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm)
deutsches Kriegslied” (A German War Song; k. 539) is placed near the center, upside down. In 1988 Motherwell did a series of collages in which he used the title Night Music (see c825–c851).
c669
c669
The Irish Troubles 1977–81 Acrylic and pasted cardboard on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 81
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 81
Recto, lower left: RM \ 81
Artist’s Studio Number c81-983
Artist’s Studio Number c81-2612 Present Owner Collection of Gordon and Hannareta Fishman Provenance Private collection, New York, 1981; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 16, 1995, lot 311, illus.]; Gordon and Hannareta Fishman, 1995 Comments The upper portion of this collage contains a fragment of a 1979 print, St. Michael III (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 237). A torn fragment of sheet music from Mozart’s “Ein
Present Owner Olive M. Jenney Provenance Olive M. Jenney, 1985 Solo Exhibitions Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Mass., 1983 (traveling). Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 88, color illus. p. 120. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 26. References Advocate Summer Guide 1983b, p. 3; Forman 1983, p. 13, illus. p. 13; Hayes
1984, p. 44; Inje 1984, p. 13; Shere 1984, sec. Calendar, p. 4; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 174; Sullivan 1990, color illus. p. 181; Polcari 1991, p. 308; Franzke 1994, p. 11, color illus. p. 13 (fig. 15). Comments This collage was begun in 1977, as a work with a white ground and a blue Gauloises cigarette package at its lower center (Sloman photo no. 475). In 1981 Motherwell tore off the Gauloises package, added the painted piece of cardboard, and repainted the ground its present color. The title of the work refers to the conflict over British rule of Northern Ireland. Motherwell may have meant the title specifically to commemorate the deaths of ten prisoners, including Bobby Sands, who was elected to the British Parliament while still in prison and who was the first prisoner to die in the 1981 hunger strikes. The main issue for the protesters was that they be classified as political prisoners, and Motherwell clearly sympathized with their demands for human dignity.
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c670
c670
Gypsy Collage No. 1 Alternative Title: The Electric Guitar 1981 Acrylic and pasted papers on cardboard 39¼ x 30 in. (99.7 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 1981 Artist’s Studio Number c81-2636 Present Owner Private collection, Dublin Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Dublin, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1982, cat. no. 8, as The Electric Guitar. Galería Joan Prats, Barcelona, 1986 (traveling), Barcelona, cat. no. 31, color illus. n.p.; Palma de Mallorca, cat. no. 31, color illus. n.p.; Madrid, cat. no. 31, color illus. n.p.
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References Patton 1982, color illus. p. 71, as The Electric Guitar. Comments This collage is the first of the Gypsy series; the three other works in the series are dated 1982 (see c671–c673). All are on a gray archival cardboard that Motherwell used only for these works. In Motherwell’s 1983 livre d’artiste, El Negro, which he began to work on in 1981, one of the images is titled El Negro: Gypsy Curse, after the line from Rafael Alberti’s poem “Negro de maldirión gitana irremediable” (Black of Gypsy Curse Incurable); see Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 308.17 and 314.
c671
c672
c671
c672
Gypsy Collage No. 2
Gypsy Collage No. 3
1982 Acrylic and pasted paper on cardboard 39⅜ x 31⅜ in. (100 x 79.7 cm)
1982 Acrylic and pasted papers on cardboard 39 x 32½ in. (99.1 x 82.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 82 Artist’s Studio Number c82-2679 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Galería Joan Prats, Barcelona, 1986 (traveling), Barcelona, cat. no. 34, color illus. n.p.; Palma de Mallorca, cat. no. 34, color illus. n.p.; Bilbao, color illus. p. 14; Madrid, cat. no. 34, color illus. n.p. References Drudi 1984, color illus. p. 77; Miralles 1986, illus. p. 41; Soler 1987, color illus. p. 37, erroneously as Collage gitano 4 (Gypsy Collage 4); Drudi 1988b, color illus. p. 77; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 162.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 82 Artist’s Studio Number c82-2680 Present Owner Collection of Henry and Judith Zachs Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Henry and Judith Zachs, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Galería Joan Prats, Barcelona, 1986 (traveling), Barcelona, cat. no. 32, color illus. n.p.; Palma de Mallorca, cat. no. 32, color illus. n.p.; Madrid, cat. no. 32, color illus. n.p. References Drudi 1984, color illus. p. 76; Artics 1986, cover color illus.; Drudi 1988b, color illus. p. 76; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 160.
c673
Comments The small piece of sheet music near the center of this collage is a lithographic reproduction of part of the score from Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps, turned upside down.
c674
c675
c673
c674
c675
Gypsy Collage No. 4
Untitled
The Spanish King
1982 Acrylic and pasted papers on cardboard 42 x 28 in. (106.7 x 71.1 cm)
1982 Acrylic, pasted paper, and graphite on paper 28⅞ x 22⅞ in. (73.3 x 58.1 cm)
1981–82 Oil, acrylic, and pasted papers on board 45 x 35 in. (114.3 x 88.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 82 Artist’s Studio Number c82-2681 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 13, 2004, lot 204, illus.]; private collection, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Galería Joan Prats, Barcelona, 1986 (traveling), Barcelona, cat. no. 33, color illus. n.p.; Palma de Mallorca, cat. no. 33, color illus. n.p.; Bilbao, color illus. p. 15; Madrid, cat. no. 33, color illus. n.p. References Drudi 1984, color illus. p. 74; Miralles 1986, illus. p. 41; Drudi 1988b, color illus. p. 74; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 161.
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 82 Artist’s Studio Number c82-2896 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments This collage includes a fragment from the 1982 print Bloomsday (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 291).
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 82 Artist’s Studio Number c81-2661 Present Owner Private collection, New York Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Rubin, 1988; Knoedler & Company, 1993; private collection, New York, 1993 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1982, cat. no. 4. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 90, illus. p. 118; not shown in Seattle. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 86.
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c676
Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, June 1993, cat. no. 9. References Albright-Knox Art Gallery Calendar 1983, illus. p. 5; Brenson 1983b, sec. 2, p. 35; Danieli 1984, cover illus.; Drudi 1984, p. 34, color illus. p. 78; Duffy 1984, pp. 60, 92; Guggenheim Calendar of Events 1984, illus. n.p.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art Members’ Calendar 1984, illus. n.p.; Shere 1984, illus. sec. Calendar, p. 4; Sozanski 1984, illus. sec. H, p. 16; Wallach 1984a, illus. sec. F, p. 1; Wallach 1984b, illus. pt. 2, p. 4; Wolff 1984b, illus. p. 26; Drudi 1988b, p. 33, color illus. p. 78; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 133); Ràfols-Casamada 1996, p. 20. Comments The title of this work refers both to the Spanish king Juan Carlos I (b. 1938) and to recent events in Spain. In February 1981, there had been a serious coup attempt, led by Lt. Col. Antonio Tejero, a supporter of Franco, who
314
collages
took over the parliament building and held legislators hostage. The king’s opposition to the coup helped preserve Spain’s fragile five-year-old democracy. On October 13, 1981, Motherwell attended a luncheon at the Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C., hosted by the king and queen of Spain during Juan Carlos’s first state visit to the United States.
c676
Esta Vida Alternative Title: The Apple of Venus 1977–82/1985 Acrylic, pasted papers and canvas, and charcoal on canvas mounted on Masonite 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 78–82 Verso: “esta vida . . .” Verso [painted over]: [“the apple of venus”] Verso: 1977 \ R. Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number c76-974 Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Museum purchase, the Friends of Art Endowment Fund Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993
Solo Exhibitions Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1989, cat. no. 20. Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 49, color illus. p. 59. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993. Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 54, color illus. p. 189. Group Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, Fairfield County, Stamford, Conn., 1983 (shown in early state). Art Galleries, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, 1987, cat. no. 58. Centro Cultural Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, 1990, cat. no. 278, color illus. p. 420. References Sill 1983, p. 16; Pleynet 1989b, illus. p. 194 (in studio). Comments The earliest known version of this collage was photographed in March 1977
c677
(Sloman photo no. 507). In 1978 Motherwell reoriented the work 180 degrees and painted most of the ground pink. He continued to revise the work during the next couple of years, adding green and black paint. In 1982 he made the last major revision, when he repainted much of the ground blue and modified the black form at the left. Some minor revisions were made to the work in 1985. Motherwell had written the Spanish phrase “Esta vida que yo viva” (This life that I live) on the central collage element as early as 1977, and he darkened the inscription in the 1980s. The phrase is a line from the poem “Que muero porque no muero” (I Die Because I Do Not Die) by the seventeenth-century Mexican poet Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (who took the title of her poem from a celebrated line by Saint Teresa of Avila). Motherwell may have been introduced to this poem by Octavio Paz, who published a major study of the poet, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz; o, Las trampas de la fe, in 1982 (Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica).
c677
Untitled 1982 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ Aug 82 Artist’s Studio Number c82-2698 Present Owner Private collection, Lausanne Provenance Private collection, 1983; private collection, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1985 Group Exhibitions Knoedler Zürich, 1983. Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany, 1985, cat. no. 443, color illus. p. 286.
c678
Comments The sheet music in this collage is from Mozart’s Eine kleine deutsche Kantate (k. 619).
c678
St. Michel with Yellow Stripe 1982 Acrylic and pasted paper on Masonite 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 82 Artist’s Studio Number c82-2706 Present Owner Fondation BNP Paribas (Suisse) SA Provenance Fondation BNP Paribas (Suisse) SA, 1983 Comments This collage incorporates a fragment of a 1979 print, St. Michael III (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 237).
Helmhaus Zürich, 1987. Galerie Alice Pauli, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1991. Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1999, cat. no. 60. collag e s
315
c679
c679
c680
Malta
The Poetics of Love
1982 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1968–82 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 29½ x 19 in. (74.9 x 48.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM Artist’s Studio Number c82-2695 Present Owner Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Partial gift and promised gift to the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art by Dr. Dorothy Lincoln-Smith and Dr. Harvey Smith Provenance Dr. Harvey K. Smith and Dr. Dorothy Lincoln-Smith, Scottsdale, Ariz., 1983; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Ariz., 2007 Group Exhibitions Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Ariz., 2007.
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Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM \ 68 Recto, upper left, incised [painted over]: [RM 68] Verso (on backing board) [crossed out]: “poetics of love” [illegible] \ 1968 R. Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number c68-2664 Present Owner Fisher Collection, New York Provenance Private collection, San Diego, 1983; Fisher Collection, New York, 1989 References Drudi 1984, illus. p. 106 (in studio); Drudi 1988b, illus. p. 112 (in studio).
c680
Comments This collage is signed and dated 1968, but we do not know what that earliest version looked like. Motherwell reworked it in 1982 (per a photograph of the work in his studio), but preserved the earlier signature.
c681
c681
Self Portrait as Dog IV 1982 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas 36 x 36 in. (91.4 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, left panel, upper right: RM \ 82 Verso, left panel: “self portrait as dog iv” \ R. Motherwell \ 12 Sept 82 Recto, right panel, upper right: RM \ 82 Recto, right panel, lower right: RM Verso, right panel, not signed, not dated Artist’s Studio Number c82-2700; p82-2701 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments This work, composed of two panels measuring 36 x 18 inches each, is the only real diptych created by Motherwell. Its title alludes to Dylan Thomas’s 1940 book Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog.
c682
Motherwell later recalled that he had originally based the creature depicted in these works on a child’s straw basket with a straw horse head on top. He also used this motif in three paintings (p1055–p1057).
c683
c682
c683
La Belle Hélène
Green Label
1976/1982 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas mounted on board 35¾ x 23⅞ in. (90.8 x 60.6 cm)
1982 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas board 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM 76
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM
Verso: “La Belle Hélène” \ R Motherwell \ 1976
Artist’s Studio Number c82-1090
Artist’s Studio Number c76-1010
Present Owner Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona. Gift of Robert Motherwell
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments The 1976 version of this work had an entirely blue ground (Sloman photo no. 504). Motherwell added the pink areas in 1982. The title refers to an opera of the same name by Jacques Offenbach.
Comments The title refers to the label from a bottle of 1964 Corvo Salaparuta wine placed at the lower center of this collage.
Provenance Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, 1985 Group Exhibitions Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Esteban Vicente, Segovia, Spain, 2003, color illus. p. 107. Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, 2005, color illus. p. 181. References Bohigas et al. 1986, color illus. p. 172.
collag e s
317
c684
c684
c685
Untitled
Je t’aime with Gauloises Blue
1982 Pasted papers, crayon, and lithograph on paper 29⅞ x 22¼ in. (75.9 x 56.5 cm)
Alternative Title: Gauloises Longues 1976/1983 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ autumn, 1982 Artist’s Studio Number c-3836 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments This collage was created as a maquette for New York Portfolio: Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 293), part of a print portfolio commissioned by the New York Graphic Society. As part of the commission, Motherwell was required to include photographs of cultural institutions in it. This collage is one of the rare works in which Motherwell included photographic imagery. 318
collages
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 76 Artist’s Studio Number c76-2204; p76-3647 Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Museum purchase, the Friends of Art Endowment Fund Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1999 Solo Exhibitions Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1994. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 2004.
c685
Group Exhibitions Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, 1986. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 2002, color illus. p. 121, illus. p. 266. References Drudi 1983, color illus. n.p. (in early state, as Gauloises Longues); Kutner 1993, sec. A, p. 23, illus. sec. A, p. 23; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Calendar 1993, p. 5, cover illus.; Tyson 1993a, color illus. p. 1; Caws 2003, color illus. p. 65 (ill. 43). Comments This work was begun in 1976, when it was titled Gauloises Longues and contained an enlarged cigarette package. It was reproduced with that title on the back cover of the April 1978 issue of Artforum, in an advertisement for the Ace Gallery. In January 1983 Motherwell reworked the composition, covering the blue Gauloises cigarette packages with white paint and adding the “Je t’aime” in charcoal. The work was then retitled Je t’aime with Gauloises Blue.
c686
c686
Australia II 1983 Pasted papers and crayon on Tycore panel 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 1983 Artist’s Studio Number c83-2897 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection Comments The title of this collage refers to Australia II, the Australian boat that won the 1983 America’s Cup. The race was founded in 1857, and the trophy had remained in the hands of the New York Yacht Club for the previous 126 years. See the Comments for The America Cup (c150).
c687
c688
c687
Montclair Art Museum, N.J., 1988.
c688
White Music
Montclair Art Museum, N.J., 2000.
The Barbarians Are Coming
1983 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Comments The title of this collage refers to the piece of sheet music near the center, which is from the manuscript score of an unidentified late baroque or early classical Stabat Mater. Motherwell would use parts of this musical manuscript in a number of other collages (see for example c690 and c728–c732). This collage was the first and only unnumbered work with the title White Music. Motherwell did a numbered series of collages with the same title in 1985 (see c728–c732).
Alternative Title: Tipped Red Square 1975/1984 Acrylic, pasted canvas, pasted papers, and china marker on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 83 Verso: “White Music” \ R. Motherwell \ Summer, 1983 Artist’s Studio Number c83-2863 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Montclair Art Museum, N.J., 1987; [Christie’s, New York, May 14, 2009, lot 229, illus.]; private collection, 2009
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell \ May 75 Artist’s Studio Number c75-995; c75/83-3017; c84-3017 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1984
Solo Exhibitions Montclair Art Museum, N.J., 1989, erroneously as White Music IV.
Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1975, cat. no. 10 (shown in early state), as Tipped Red Square.
Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1983, cat. no. 6.
Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 4, color illus. p. 5.
References Cohen 1977, color illus. p. 233 (in studio, in early state); Kramer 1977a, color illus. p. 17 (in studio, in early state); Braun-Munk 1991, color illus. p. 75 (installation view). Comments This collage was begun in 1975 as a composition with black rectangular pieces of paper pasted at the upper left and lower right, overlapped by a large red rectangle. That early version was shown at the Gertrude Kasle Gallery from November 1975 to January 1976 under the title Tipped Red Square. Motherwell reworked it in 1984, covering most of the rectangular forms with ochre paint and adding the tan, white, and blue pasted papers. Motherwell then retitled the work The Barbarians Are Coming, from a line in the poem “Waiting for the Barbarians” by Constantine P. Cavafy (1864–1933).
collag e s
319
c689
c689
Venetian Blue Sea Bride 1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 84 Artist’s Studio Number c84-3018 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1984 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 3, color illus. p. 4. References Raynor 1984b, sec. C, p. 1, erroneously as Venetian Blue Bride; Seeney 1984, p. 8.
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Comments This collage incorporates at its center a fragment of a 1977 print, Gesture I (State I) (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 203). The title echoes that of the Baltic Sea Bride series (see c431–c435).
c690
c690
How to Dance Sitting Down 1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on wood 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 84 Artist’s Studio Number c84-3031 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1984 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 13, color illus. p. 8. References Berman 1985, p. 108; Motherwell in Perry 1985, sec. 13, p. 20; Perry 1985, sec. 13, p. 20. Comments Regarding the title of this collage, Motherwell stated in a 1985 interview, “I’ve just found a marvelous title for
c691
a joyful collage. It’s two lines from a Charles Olson poem: ‘How to dance/ Sitting down.’ They are a small present from the outside world: a perfect metaphoric equivalent in words for that light-hearted summery colored abstraction” (see Motherwell in Perry 1985). The line is from Olson’s book The Maximus Poems, published in 1960. The sheet music is from the manuscript score of the same unidentified Stabat Mater as the one in c687.
c692
c693
c691
c692
The Primrose Path
Saraband
1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm)
1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 84
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 84
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 84
Artist’s Studio Number c84-3023
Artist’s Studio Number c84-3034
Artist’s Studio Number c84-3013
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection, Sunshine, Md.
Present Owner Michael and Ilene Salcman, Baltimore
Provenance Private collection, 1984; [Christie’s, New York, May 4, 1995, lot 167, illus.]; private collection, 1995
Provenance Private collection, Sunshine, Md., 1984
Provenance Private collection, 1984; Michael and Ilene Salcman, Baltimore, 1986
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 16, illus. frontispiece (in studio), color illus. p. 11.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 20, color illus. p. 12. References Seeney 1984, p. 8, as Sarabande; Berman 1985, p. 108. Comments This collage includes a fragment of sheet music from the Sarabande
(which Motherwell chose to spell “Saraband”) of Bach’s English Suite no. 5 in E minor (bwv 810). Below this is a fragment of an unidentified Stabat Mater; see the Comments for c687.
c693
Dancing Elegy 1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm)
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 18, color illus. p. 11. Baltimore Museum of Art, 2006. Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, September 1986, cat. no. 3. References Berman 1985, p. 108; Salcman 2007, cover color illus. collag e s
321
c694
c695
c696
c694
c695
The Other Side
Summer Hour
1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 84
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 84
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 83
Artist’s Studio Number c84-3033
Artist’s Studio Number c84-3016
Recto, lower right, incised: RM 80
Present Owner Collection of Bud Yorkin
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Bud Yorkin, 1984
Provenance Private collection, 1984
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 14, color illus. p. 9.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 6, color illus. p. 6.
Comments The sheet music is from the manuscript of an unidentified Stabat Mater; see the Comments for c687.
References Raynor 1984b, sec. C, p. 1, illus. sec. C, p. 1; Seeney 1984, illus. p. 8, as Summer Hours; Vanity Fair 1984, color illus. p. 79 (in studio); Berman 1985, color illus. p. 64.
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Comments The sheet music is part of the Menuet from J. S. Bach’s French Suite no. 2 in C minor (bwv 813).
c696
Yucatan 1979–84 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 34 x 18 in. (86.4 x 45.7 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number c79-2372; c84-2999 Present Owner The Collection of Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Provenance Private collection, 1984; [Christie’s, New York, November 10, 1993, lot 158, illus.]; Ann and Burt Chernow, 1993; Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen, 1998 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 21, color illus. p. 12. References Siegel 1984, p. 6.
c697
Comments The earliest known version of this collage, signed and dated 1979, was photographed in September of that year (Sloman photo no. 889). Motherwell continued to rework the collage over the next several years, re-signing and dating it several times. In 1984 he incorporated fragments from a 1983 etching and aquatint, Black Mountain (State I) (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 301), and he consigned the finished collage to Knoedler & Company that June.
c697
Sand Music 1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ May, 84 Artist’s Studio Number c84-3022 Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. M. Klebanoff Provenance Mr. and Mrs. M. Klebanoff, 1984 References Knoedler & Company exh. cat. October 1984, illus. n.p. (in studio); Vanity Fair 1984, color illus. p. 79 (in studio, in progress). Comments This collage incorporates sheet music from Mozart’s “Sei du mein Trost” (also known as “Die, Einsamkeit vertrau ich”; k. 391/340b) and a fragment from a 1984 print, Flesh Automatism (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 346).
c698
c698
Odd Numbers Alternative Title: The Inquisitors 1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 84 Verso [circled ]: [“the inquisitors” \ 1984] Artist’s Studio Number c84-3032 Present Owner Collection of Carolyn and Preston Butcher Provenance Carolyn and Preston Butcher, 1988
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 7, illus. frontispiece (in studio), color illus. p. 6. Group Exhibitions Queens Museum, N.Y., 1986 (traveling), illus. p. 59. References Lipson 1986, illus. pt. 3, p. 19 (upside down); Brunet-Weinmann 1987, color illus. p. 40 (fig. 2). Comments This collage was inscribed on the verso as “the inquisitors” and dated “1984” by Motherwell, but it was first exhibited at Knoedler & Company in 1984 as Odd Numbers, and was subsequently sold under that title.
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323
c699
c699
c700
c701
c700
c701
They Are Not Heard at All
Black and White Striped
1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 84
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 84
Recto, lower left: RM \ 84
Artist’s Studio Number c84-3029
Artist’s Studio Number c84-3000
Artist’s Studio Number c84-3009
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Private collection, 1988; private collection
Present Owner Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Gift of Rose M. Shuey, from the collection of Dr. John and Rose M. Shuey
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 17, color illus. p. 11.
Provenance Dr. John and Rose M. Shuey, 1984; Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., 2002
Comments The title of this collage alludes to a line in Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The Fabulist”: “Unless men please they are not heard at all.”
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 9, illus. frontispiece (in studio), color illus. p. 7.
The Philosopher’s Stone 1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right [painted over]: [illegible]
Provenance Maurice P. Leibovitz, 1984; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 3, 1995, lot 303, illus.]; private collection, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 15, color illus. p. 10. References Seeney 1984, p. 8.
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Comments The title of this collage refers to the legendary elixir of life, the alchemical substance that was supposed to be capable of turning base metals into gold, and to hold the possibility of achieving immortality.
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1985 (traveling), cat. no. 80, color illus. p. 26 (fig. 25).
c702
Group Exhibitions Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., 2001, color illus. p. 65. References Siegel 1984, p. 6; Cranbrook Journal 2002, illus. n.p. Comments This collage incorporates a fragment of a 1983 print, Black Mountain (State I) (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 301), a wrapper from a La Socculante brand Spanish orange, and sheet music from Mozart’s “Mi lagnerò tacendo” (I Complain in Silence; k. 437), from an edition with the lyrics translated into German.
c702
Nip and Tuck 1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 84
c703
References Tatransky 1985, illus. p. 37.
c703
Comments The sheet music in this collage is from the manuscript of an unidentified Stabat Mater; see the Comments for c687.
1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Yeats’ Tower
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 84
Artist’s Studio Number c84-3014
Artist’s Studio Number c84-3015
Present Owner Lillian Heidenberg Fine Art and Miriam Shiell Fine Art
Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Brodie
Provenance John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1988; private collection, San Francisco; [Bonhams and Butterfields, San Francisco and Los Angeles, November 19, 2007, lot 1114, illus.]; Lillian Heidenberg Fine Art and Miriam Shiell Fine Art, 2007
Provenance Private collection, 1984; Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Brodie, 2008
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 5, color illus. p. 6.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 19, color illus. p. 11. Comments This collage incorporates a fragment of a destroyed 1967 drawing, Oval (Black Calligraphy) (known from studio inventory photo no. ph 5-11); another fragment from the same drawing appears in collag e s
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c704
Where Have You Been (c704). The sheet music is from the manuscript of the unidentified Stabat Mater used in c687 and other collages. The title of this collage refers to Thoor Ballylee, the sixteenth-century tower on the Cloon River in county Galway where William Butler Yeats lived from 1919 to 1929, and about which he wrote the poem “The Tower” in 1928.
c704
Where Have You Been 1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 84 Artist’s Studio Number c84-3010 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1986; unknown owner, ca. 1986 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 10, color illus. p. 7. Comments At the center of this collage is a fragment of a 1977 print, Gesture I (State I) (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 203). This collage also incorporates a fragment of a destroyed 1967 drawing, Oval
326
collages
c705
(Black Calligraphy); another fragment from the same drawing appears in Yeats’ Tower (c703). The sheet music in this collage is from the manuscript of the unidentified Stabat Mater used in c687 and other collages.
c705
Royal Water Music 1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 84 Artist’s Studio Number c84-3030 Present Owner Private collection, Belgium Provenance Irma and Norman Braman, 1984; [Christie’s, New York, May 10, 2006, lot 248, illus.]; private collection, Belgium, 2006
c706
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 8, color illus. p. 6. References Brunet-Weinmann 1987, color illus. p. 41 (fig. 3). Comments This collage incorporates a fragment of an earlier painting on paper, I.H. Series No. 3 (see the Comments for w315). The torn packaging paper placed near the upper right center had been used to send Motherwell copies of the catalogue for his 1978 exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London; it is postmarked February 3, 1978. Motherwell previously used the title Royal Water Music for a 1967 collage (c201).
c706
Yellow Music 1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 84 Artist’s Studio Number c84-3027 Present Owner Artnow International Provenance Private collection, New York, 1984; [Christie’s, New York, November 14, 2007, lot 120, illus.]; Artnow International, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 1, cover color illus.
c707
References Navarra 1989, sec. F, p. 12.
c707
Comments This collage incorporates a fragment from an aquatint, At the Edge (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 345). The sheet music at the left is from the Sarabande of J. S. Bach’s English Suite no. 5 in E minor (bwv 810); at the right is the very beginning of the Menuet from Bach’s French Suite no. 2 in C minor (bwv 813).
1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on Masonite 42 x 28½ in. (106.7 x 72.4 cm)
Bread and Circuses
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 84 Artist’s Studio Number c84-3025 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1984 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 22, color illus. p. 12. References Berman 1991, p. 143, color illus. p. 143 (installation view).
Montclair Art Museum, N.J., 1989. Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., 2009.
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c708
c708
The Marriage Alternative Title: Achilles’ Anger 1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 2, color illus. p. 3. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 3.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R Motherwell \ 84
Galería Joan Prats, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland, 1991, cat. no. 8 (sec. “Paintings”), color illus. n.p.
Verso not seen [“titled on verso ‘Achilles’ Anger,’ ” per studio card]
References Gaugh 1985, p. 75, color illus. p. 71.
Artist’s Studio Number c84-3026
Comments This collage was consigned to Knoedler & Company in June 1984 as Achilles’ Anger, and was returned to the artist that November. When Motherwell sent the work to Knoedler again in 1987, he had changed the title to The Marriage.
Present Owner A. Distler, Munich Provenance Private collection, 1989; A. Distler, Munich
328
collages
c709
Heart of Darkness
Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, December 2005 (traveling), cat. no. 3.
1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 39½ x 29½ in. (100.3 x 74.9 cm)
Group Exhibitions Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, March 2005, color illus. n.p.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 84
Comments The title of this collage refers to Joseph Conrad’s novel of the same name.
Artist’s Studio Number c84-3043 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 12, color illus. p. 7.
c709
c710
Yellow Form with Music Alternative Title: Form Cut into Time 1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 84 Artist’s Studio Number c84-3024 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, October 1984, cat. no. 11, color illus. p. 7, as Form Cut into Time.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 4, as Form Cut Into Time. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1985 (traveling), cat. no. 79, as Form Cut into Time. Artcurial Centre d’Art Plastique Contemporain, Paris, 1990 (traveling), Paris, illus. p. 43. Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2005. References Siegel 1984, p. 6, color illus. p. 6, referred to in text and in illus. as Form Cut into Time; Gaugh 1985, p. 75, as Form Cut Into Time; Tucker 1987, sec. 2, p. 8, as Form Out of Time; Knoedler & Company exh. cat. April 1989, color illus. n.p., as Form Cut into Time.
c710
Comments This collage was originally titled Form Cut into Time, but Motherwell retitled it in 1990 when he sent it to his solo exhibition at Artcurial in Paris. This work would later serve as the model for both a 1988 painting on paper, Study for Mask (for Ingmar Bergman) (w714), and a 1989 lithograph, Mask (for Ingmar Bergman) (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 474). The sheet music is from Mozart’s “Mi lagnerò tacendo” (k. 437), from an edition with the lyrics translated into German.
c711
Untitled 1984 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ Sept 84 Artist’s Studio Number c84-3072 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Kenneth E. Tyler, ca. 1984; unknown owner Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1984 print, Mexican Night II (Engberg
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c711
and Banach 2003, no. 348). The collage was used as a maquette for two 1985 prints: Redness of Red (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 354) and Redness of Red (State I) (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 355). The sheet music is from Mozart’s Arietta “Oiseaux, si tous les ans” (Birds, If Every Year; k. 307/284), which Motherwell also used in c855. Our reproduction comes from a Polaroid photograph of the work in Motherwell’s studio taken around 1984.
c712
Portrait 1984/1991 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 22¾ x 11¼ in. (57.8 x 28.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised and inscribed: RM \ 85 Verso (on backing board) [painted over]: [illegible] \ R. Motherwell \ Sept 1984 \ [(for Renate) \ (xmas 1984)] Artist’s Studio Number c84/85-3616 Present Owner Collection of Shelby and Lee Chaden Provenance Renate Ponsold Motherwell, 1984; Robert Motherwell, 1991; Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, 2005; Shelby and Lee Chaden, 2006
c712
Comments This collage incorporates a fragment from a 1984 aquatint, At the Edge (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 345). Motherwell later added a fragment from another print, Window, 1991 (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 515).
c713
c713
Untitled 1984 Acrylic, pasted papers, pasted Mylar, and graphite on board 15 x 10 in. (38.1 x 25.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 84 Artist’s Studio Number c84-3245 Present Owner Private collection, London Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, 2002; private collection, London, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2002. Group Exhibitions Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, 2005. References Vanity Fair 1984, color illus. p. 78 (detail).
330
collages
c714
Comments This collage incorporates a fragment of a 1984 print, At the Edge (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 345). The work served as the model for a 1986 collage print, Galería Joan Prats: Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 376).
c715
c716
c714
c715
c716
Untitled
St. Michel Collage with Blue
A Storm of White
1985 Graphite and pasted paper on paper 11½ x 14½ in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm)
1985 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1984–85 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 84
Recto, lower right, incised [painted over]: [RM]
Artist’s Studio Number c84-3028
Artist’s Studio Number c85-3015; c85-3105
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance The artist
Provenance Private collection, 1987; private collection, ca. 1987
Comments This collage was begun in 1984 and revised into the version reproduced here after it was returned from consignment at Knoedler & Company early in 1985. Its title is taken from a 1960 poem of the same name by Robert Duncan. Our reproduction of this work has been cropped from a 1985 studio slide. We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 85 Artist’s Studio Number d85-3233 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments The collage element in this work is a mailing envelope with a drawing by Motherwell on it. We have classified this work as a collage rather than a drawing because of the way it is signed on the support sheet and not the pasted element, which indicates that Motherwell intended the pasted element to be part of the larger composition.
Comments This collage incorporates a fragment of a 1979 lithograph and screen print, St. Michael III (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 237). Motherwell added the blue and yellow areas of paint that surround the collage elements after the work was photographed in June 1985 (Sloman photo no. 1326). It was consigned to Knoedler & Company in October 1986.
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c717
c717
Summer Collage 1984–85 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Comments This collage includes fragments of a 1979 print, St. Michael III (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 237), and of a 1984 print, At the Edge (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 345).
c718
c718
c719
Explosive Collage
Untitled
1985 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 39 x 29 in. (99.1 x 73.7 cm)
1985 Acrylic, pasted papers, oil stick, and charcoal on canvas mounted on Masonite 72 x 36 in. (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 85
Artist’s Studio Number c84-3084
Artist’s Studio Number c85-3101
Present Owner The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. C. Humbert Tinsman Jr. and Mr. and Mrs. James E. C. Tinsman in memory of C. Humbert and Julia Tinsman, 2002.12.11
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Private collection, 1987; C. Humbert and Julia Tinsman, 1987; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo., 2002
Provenance Private collection, 1988; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1986, cat. no. 19. Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., July 1985. Comments This collage includes a fragment from a 1984 print, At the Edge (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 345).
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collages
c719
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell \ 85 Artist’s Studio Number c85-3144 Present Owner Private collection, London Provenance Private collection, California, 1988; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 10, 2004, lot 288, illus.]; private collection, 2004; private collection, London, 2005 Comments This collage includes a fragment from a 1984 print, At the Edge (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 345).
c720
c720
c721
Untitled
XX
1985 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas board 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
1985 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 85
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell \ 1985
Artist’s Studio Number c85-3102 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1986
Artist’s Studio Number c85-3106
c721
Group Exhibitions Galería Joan Prats, Barcelona, 1985, color illus. n.p., erroneously as N. 20. Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, 1986, color illus. p. 41, erroneously as N. 20. Comments The title of this collage refers to the number XX printed in Roman numerals on the sheet music, which is from Mozart’s “Die Verschweigung” (Discretion; k. 518).
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Julio Guiu, ca. 1985; private collection, 2000 Solo Exhibitions Galería Joan Prats, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland, 1991, cat. no. 10 (sec. “Paintings”), color illus. n.p., erroneously as No. 20. collag e s
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c722
c722
Osborn Collage 1985 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas mounted on Masonite 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell \ 1985 Artist’s Studio Number c85-3127
work in 1984 (see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). The sheet music at the upper left is from Mozart’s Canzonetta “Ridente la calma” (May a Happy Calm Arise; k. 152/210a), for voice and piano. The lower sheet music fragment is from Mozart’s “Un moto di gioia” (An Emotion of Joy; here, in German, as “Schon klopfet mein liebender Busen”; k. 579), arranged for voice and piano.
c723
c723
American Collage 1985 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 40½ x 30½ in. (102.9 x 77.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 85 Verso not seen [“R. Motherwell \ 1985,” per studio card]
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number c85-3139
Provenance Private collection, 1986
Present Owner Private collection
Group Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1986.
Provenance Private collection, 1986
Comments This collage includes part of a package (postmarked July 13, 1961) sent from La Belle Jardinière, a department store in Paris, to Motherwell’s friend, the artist Robert Osborn (1904–1994), whom he first met in Taxco, Mexico, in 1941. Motherwell wrote the introductory essay for a catalogue of Osborn’s
References Mathew 1986, p. 1.
334
collages
Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1984 print, Mexican Night II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 348), and a fragment of a proof for a 1985 print, Burning Sun (Engberg and Banach
2003, no. 357), printed on a white ground. The sheet music is from the score of an unidentified Stabat Mater that Motherwell used in a number of other collages (see the Comments for c687).
c724
c724
In Scarlet with Black Bars 1981/ca. 1985 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on Masonite 42½ x 28½ in. (108 x 72.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM Artist’s Studio Number c81-2637 Present Owner Collection of Ms. Mary Beth Buck Provenance Waddington Galleries, London, 1989; Elaine and Henry Kaufman, 1991; [Sotheby’s, New York, February 23, 2000, lot 199, illus.]; Mary Beth Buck, 2000 Group Exhibitions Waddington Galleries, London, 1989, cat. no. 37, color illus. p. 77. References Polcari 1991, p. 308.
Comments A 1981 version of this collage was oriented upside down from its current presentation and contained a yellow ground. That version was consigned to Knoedler & Company in 1983 and returned to the artist in November 1985. Motherwell then rotated the work 180 degrees, repainted the ground red, and modified the central area by adding collage elements, including a fragment from his 1984 print Flesh Automatism (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 346).
c725
c725
Ascension 1985 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 1985 Verso not seen [“R. Motherwell \ 1985,” per studio card]
Comments This collage includes a fragment from a 1984 print, Mexican Night II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 348). In 1986 Motherwell used this work as a model for a painting, The Big A (p1136). The sheet music is from Mozart’s “Mi lagnerò tacendo” (I Complain in Silence; k. 437), with the lyrics here translated into German.
Artist’s Studio Number c85-3104 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1986 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1986, cat. no. 17. References Braun-Munk 1991, color illus. p. 74 (installation view).
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c726
c726
The Wellfleet Whale: From Port-of-Spain to Baffin Bay 1985 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM Verso: the whale: \ from port-ofspain \ to baffin bay \ R. Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number c85-3103 Present Owner Collection of Talia Goldberg Provenance Talia Goldberg, 1987
336
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Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1986, cat. no. 1. Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., July 1985. References Samuelson 1985a, illus. (installation view); Samuelson 1985b, illus. p. 3; as From the Port-of-Spain to Baffin Bay. Comments The collage element at the upper center of this work is a fragment of a 1984 print, Mexican Night II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 348). This collage takes its title from lines in “The Wellfleet Whale,” a 1983 poem by Stanley Kunitz (1905–2006) addressed to a whale beached in Provincetown: “You ranged the North Atlantic track / from Port-of-Spain to Baffin Bay.”
c727
Kunitz and his wife, the artist Elise Asher, were close friends of Motherwell’s in Provincetown. Although the work is signed “The Whale: From Port-ofSpain to Baffin Bay,” it has always been shown with Wellfleet in its title. This work was first shown at the Long Point Gallery in an exhibition called Tribute to Stanley Kunitz.
c727
Untitled 1985/1989 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas mounted on board 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised [painted over]: [RM] Recto, lower right, incised: RM Artist’s Studio Number c85-3107 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2006
c728
Comments This work includes a fragment from a 1984 print, Mexican Night II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 348). An early version, begun in 1985, had areas of raw canvas showing in the ground, mostly in the lower parts. That version was consigned to Knoedler & Company from April 1985 to June 1989. After the work was returned to Motherwell, he extended the blue-gray paint into those areas of the ground.
c728
White Music I 1985 Acrylic and pasted papers on Masonite 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 85 Artist’s Studio Number c85-3134 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Kenneth Carmel, 1986; private collection, 2008 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1986, cat. no. 13.
Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, September 1991, cat. no. 6. Comments This collage includes sheet music from the same unidentified Stabat Mater as the one in White Music, 1983 (c687), c729–c732, and several other collages, and a fragment from a 1985 print, The Persian II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 353).
c729
White Music II 1985 Acrylic and pasted papers on Masonite 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 85 Artist’s Studio Number c85-3136 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1986, cat. no. 16.
Montclair Art Museum, N.J., November 1989.
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c729
Group Exhibitions Galerie Contemporaine du Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nice, France, 2005, color illus. p. 52. Comments This collage includes sheet music from the same unidentified Stabat Mater as in c728 and c730–c732, here turned upside down, and a fragment of a 1984 print, At the Edge (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 345).
c730
White Music III 1985 Acrylic and pasted papers on Masonite 24 x 19 in. (61 x 48.3 cm)
c731
White Music IV 1985 Acrylic and pasted papers on Masonite 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 85
Artist’s Studio Number c85-3135
Artist’s Studio Number c85-3137
Present Owner Collection of the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. Museum purchase with funds donated by the Lupke Foundation and gift of the Dedalus Foundation, 1995.01
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1986, cat. no. 12. References Sweeney 1986, illus. sec. A, p. 1 (in studio).
collages
Comments This collage includes sheet music from the same unidentified Stabat Mater as in c728, c729, c731, and c732, and a fragment of a 1985 print, Black Open (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 358).
c731
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R. Motherwell \ 85
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Ind., 1995
338
c730
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1986, cat. no. 14. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 15. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, November 2002, cat. no. 3, as White Music. Rosenbaum Contemporary, Gallery Center, Boca Raton, Fla., 2006.
c732
c733
References Navarra 1989, sec. F, p. 12.
c732
c733
White Music V
Collaged Wall I
Comments This collage includes sheet music from the same unidentified Stabat Mater as in c728–c730 and c732, and a torn piece of a 1985 print, Elegy Fragment II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 360).
1985 Acrylic and pasted papers on Masonite 23 x 19 in. (58.4 x 48.3 cm)
1985 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 36 in. (91.4 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 85 Artist’s Studio Number c85-3138 Present Owner Private collection, Toronto Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Toronto, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1986, cat. no. 15. Comments This collage includes sheet music from the same unidentified Stabat Mater as in c728–c731, and fragments of two 1985 prints: The Persian II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 353) and Elegy Fragment II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 360).
Comments This collage incorporates a fragment of a 1985 print, Elegy Fragment I (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 359).
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 85 Verso not seen [“R. Motherwell \ Sept 1985,” per studio card] Artist’s Studio Number c85-3219 Present Owner Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Robinson, Houston Provenance Private collection, 1986; Waddington Galleries, London, 1989; Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Robinson, Houston, 2001 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1986, cat. no. 10.
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c734
c735
c736
c734
c735
Collaged Wall II
Collaged Wall III
1985 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 36 in. (91.4 x 91.4 cm), canvas
1985 Acrylic, pasted papers, and oil crayon on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 36 in. (91.4 x 91.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 85
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 85
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 1986
Verso not seen [“R. Motherwell \ Nov 1985,” per studio card]
Verso: R. Motherwell \ Nov 85
Verso not seen [“R. Motherwell \ Jan 86,” per studio card]
Artist’s Studio Number c85-3220 Present Owner Collection of Phyllis and William Mack
Artist’s Studio Number c85-3229 Present Owner Private collection, Minneapolis
Provenance Phyllis and William Mack, 1987
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Minneapolis, 2005
Comments This collage incorporates a fragment of a 1985 print, Elegy Fragment I (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 359). The painted area extends to the lower part of the frame.
Solo Exhibitions Galería Joan Prats, Barcelona, 1986 (traveling), Barcelona, cat. no. 35, color illus. n.p.; Palma de Mallorca, cat. no. 35, color illus. n.p.; Madrid, cat. no. 35, color illus. n.p.
340
collages
Comments This collage incorporates a fragment of a 1985 print, Elegy Fragment I (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 359).
c736
Collaged Wall V 1986 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 36 x 36 in. (91.4 x 91.4 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number c86-3240 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Knoedler & Company, 1986; private collection, 1986; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1986, cat. no. 9.
c737
c737
Collaged Wall VI (for Arthur Berger) 1986 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 36 in. (91.4 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 86 Artist’s Studio Number c85-3236 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Isadore Familian, 1986; private collection, 2002 Comments This collage incorporates fragments of a 1985 print, Perpetual Summer (Engberg
and Banach 2003, no. 361), along with fragments of sheet music from Arthur Berger’s Trio for Guitar, Violin, and Piano (1972). Motherwell met Berger (1912–2003) at Harvard in 1937; they were in Paris together in 1938, and remained lifelong friends. Like Motherwell, Berger studied with David W. Prall at Harvard, and it was Berger who suggested that Motherwell move to New York to study with Meyer Schapiro.
c738
Cyclops Cave Alternative Title: Rondo (After Mozart) 1986 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 36 in. (91.4 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM Verso (on top horizontal strainer): acrylic + collage on gesso panel 1986 Verso: R. Motherwell \ 1986 Artist’s Studio Number c86-3253 Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. L. Frankfort
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mr. and Mrs. L. Frankfort, 2002 Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., July 1986 (shown in early state), as Rondo (After Mozart). References Nickerson 1986, p. 3, as Rondo (After Mozart), cover illus. (installation view, in early state). Comments An early version of this collage contained several pages of sheet music from Mozart’s Rondo in D, for piano (k. 485), and a fragment from Motherwell’s 1985 print Wanderers (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 364). The Long Point Gallery exhibited that version in July 1986 under the title
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c738
Rondo (After Mozart). Shortly after the work was returned to Motherwell that August, he painted black over much of the composition and retitled it (most of the fragment from Wanderers is still visible). The completed collage was consigned to Knoedler & Company that October.
c739
Garden with Music 1980/1986 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM Verso not seen [“R. Motherwell \ ‘Garden with Music’ Feb 86,” per studio card] Artist’s Studio Number c80-2670; c86-2670 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Isabel Trimper, 1987; private collection; private collection, 1995
342
collages
Comments An early version of this collage, signed and dated 1980, contained the large black paper form and sheet music set on a simple blue-gray ground. That version was consigned to Knoedler & Company from November 1983 to April 1985. Motherwell revised the work in January 1986, adding the red, blue, green, and yellow painted areas and painting over the original signature. It was consigned to Knoedler again that February. The sheet music is from Mozart’s Sonata movement in G minor, Allegro, for piano (k. 312).
c740
Circe Alternative Title: Black Separation 1981/1982–86 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left [painted over]: RM \ [86] Verso [painted over]: [illegible] \ R. Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number c86-2557 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
c739
Comments An early version of this collage, signed and dated 1981, was composed of black, white, and yellow forms on a blue ground. Motherwell consigned that version to Knoedler & Company from May 1981 to April 1982, under the title Black Separation. After it was returned to him, he repainted the ground, added the ochre and blue areas, and attached part of a proof of his 1985 lithograph Burning Sun (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 357), printed without the red ground. The revised version of this collage, newly signed and dated “86,” was consigned to Knoedler in February 1986, as Circe. After it was returned to Motherwell in June, he added a small spot of blue paint over the date before consigning it to Knoedler for a third time that October.
c741
{ Totem} Alternative Titles: Zig-Zag; American Totem; American Indian Totem 1974–86 Acrylic, pasted papers, and crayon on Upson board 26 x 20 in. (66 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “zig zag” Artist’s Studio Number c74-500; c74-3438 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, December 2005 (traveling). Group Exhibitions National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, 1988, as American Indian Totem.
c740
Comments An early version of this collage, signed and dated “10 Sept 1974” and photographed in November 1974 (Sloman photo no. 21), was titled Zig-Zag, referring to a Zig-Zag Little Cigars label that was used as a collage element; see also Zig-Zag (c490). Between 1982 and 1986, Motherwell made a number of revisions and title changes, repainting the original orange ground in ochre and pink, and adding the blue paint and crayon lines. The various alternative titles may have been the result of confusion between Motherwell and the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul.
c741
c742
The Figure “4” No. 2 Alternative Title: Guardian No. 2 1966/1986 Acrylic, pasted papers, and sepia ink on board 22 x 13⅞ in. (55.9 x 35.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center: Motherwell \ 1966 Artist’s Studio Number c66-383 Present Owner Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, 2005 Solo Exhibitions John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1975 (shown in early state), as Guardian #2. Group Exhibitions Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling), cat. no. 7, color illus. n.p., erroneously as Figura 4, n. 12 (Figure 4 No. 12).
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c742
Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, 2005, cover color illus. Comments A 1966 version of this work, titled Guardian No. 2, consisted of a gray ground with pieces of pages from the Manchester Guardian Weekly pasted in the center, with sepia ink splashed over them (Sloman photo no. 49). The blue ground and black gestural brushstrokes were added in 1986, when Motherwell had many of his 1966–67 Guardian collages brought from storage to his studio in Greenwich, as part of the selection process for a 1986 exhibition at the Sala Pelaires in Palma de Mallorca. During the summer of 1986, he extensively reworked the group of six collages, painting the gray and ochre backgrounds a deep shade of ultramarine blue and adding violent black gestural brushstrokes to most of them. Following these revisions, he renamed the collages in the series The Figure “4,” while maintaining the series numbers from the earlier
344
collages
Guardian series; thus, The Guardian No. 2 became The Figure “4” No. 2, etc. See the Comments for Guardian No. 1 (c170).
c743
c743
The Figure “4” No. 3 Alternative Title: Guardian No. 3 1966/1986 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on paperboard 22 x 14 in. (55.9 x 35.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center: Motherwell \ 1966 Artist’s Studio Number c66-380 Present Owner Private collection, New York Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, New York, 2006 Group Exhibitions Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling), cat. no. 8, color illus. n.p. New York Studio School, 2003, cat. no. 14. References Gilbert 2004a, p. 61.
Comments Regarding the revision and retitling of this work, see the Comments for c742. The blue collage element is a wrapper from Amaretti di Saronno.
c744
c744
Guardian No. 4 1966–67/1984–86 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on board 22 x 13⅞ in. (55.9 x 35.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM \ 66 Verso (on top horizontal strainer): RM 1966 (Revised and added to, 1984 \ R. Motherwell) Artist’s Studio Number c66/84-376; p66-376 Present Owner Collection of Christopher V. Walker Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, 2003; Christopher V. Walker, 2004 Comments An early version of this work was begun in 1966 with an ochre ground and fragments from a January 5, 1967, issue of the Manchester Guardian Weekly. As with other works in the
Guardian series (see the Comments for c170 and c742), Motherwell revised this work in 1984–86. This revision involved adding a fragment of a 1984 print, At the Edge (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 345), and the piece of sheet music near the center. In 1986 he repainted the ground blue. Although some other revised works from the Guardian series were given new titles, there is no record of Motherwell changing the title of this collage. The sheet music is from the manuscript of an unidentified Stabat Mater that Motherwell used in a number of other collages (see the Comments for c687).
c745
c745
The Figure “4” No. 6 Alternative Title: Guardian No. 6 1966–67/1986 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on board 22 x 14 in. (55.9 x 35.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 1966 Artist’s Studio Number c67-378
Galerie Klüser 2, Munich, November 2005. References Costa 1987, illus.; Ràfols-Casamada 1996, color illus. p. 18. Comments Regarding the revision and retitling of this work, see the Comments for c742. With this work, Motherwell added only the black gestural forms at the later date, and did not repaint the ground.
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007 Solo Exhibitions David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1975 (shown in early state), as Guardian #6. Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, May 2005, cat. no. 19. Group Exhibitions Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling), cat. no. 9, color illus. n.p. collag e s
345
c746
c747
c746
Nohra Haime Gallery, New York, 2009.
c747
The Figure “4” No. 10
Comments Regarding the revision and retitling of this work, see the Comments for c742.
The Figure “4” No. 11
Alternative Title: Guardian No. 10 1966/1986 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on board 22 x 14 in. (55.9 x 35.6 cm)
Alternative Title: Guardian No. 11 1966/1986 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on board 22 x 14 in. (55.9 x 35.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower center: Motherwell \ 1966
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R. Motherwell \ 1966
Artist’s Studio Number c66-1935
Artist’s Studio Number c66-382
Present Owner Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York
Present Owner Private collection, Brussels
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, 2007
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Brussels, 2007
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 7.
Solo Exhibitions Waddington Galleries, London, 1975 (shown in early state), as Guardian #11.
Group Exhibitions Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling).
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, 1999.
Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, 2005. Robert Miller Gallery, New York, 2008.
346
c ollages
Group Exhibitions Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling).
Comments Regarding the revision and retitling of this work, see the Comments for c742. The pink collage element is a wrapper from Amaretti di Saronno biscuits.
c748
c749
c748
c749
The Figure “4” No. 12
In White with Green Stripe
Alternative Title: Guardian No. 12 1966/1986 Acrylic, pasted papers, and ink on board 22 x 14 in. (55.9 x 35.6 cm)
1986 Pasted papers and lithograph on paper 18 x 10 in. (45.7 x 25.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower center: Motherwell \ 1966
Present Owner Collection of Andrew and Christine Hall
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 1987
Provenance Kenneth E. Tyler, 1987; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 18, 2000, lot 403, illus.]; Andrew and Christine Hall, 2000
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number c66-379 Present Owner Private collection, Brussels Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Brussels, 2000 group Exhibitions Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling). Comments Regarding the revision and retitling of this work, see the Comments for c742.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 1986
Comments The paper support for this collage is a proof of a 1985 print, The Green Studio (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 363), turned on its side. The collage element on the left side is a fragment of another 1985 print, Black Open (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 358). The sheet music is a lithographic reproduction from Mozart’s Prelude (Fantasia) and Fugue
in C, for piano (k. 394/383a), turned upside down. This collage in turn served as the basis for a 1987 print, In White with Green Stripe (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 378).
c750
French Revolution Bicentennial No. 1 1987 Acrylic, pasted papers, and china marker on paper 10 x 14 in. (25.4 x 35.6 cm)
Recto, lower right: RM
Provenance Private collection, ca. 1987; unknown owner References Soria 1988, color illus. pp. 1572–73. Comments Motherwell created this collage as a contribution to Georges Soria’s book commemorating the French Revolution, Grande histoire de la Révolution française (Soria 1988). He inscribed “Pour le bi-Centenaire [sic] de la \ Révolution Française” in the red area of the collage.
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This collage includes a fragment of a proof for a 1986 print, Yellow Flight (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 367). This work was selected from a series of six collages for inclusion in the Soria book; all the collages in this group include a stenciled fleur-de-lis motif that was rendered with sprayed paint. Numbers 2–5 in the series were later used as maquettes for numbers II–V in the 1988 French Revolution Bicentennial Suite print series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 383–86). Our reproduction of this work comes from Soria 1988.
c750
c752
c751
c753
c751
c752
c753
French Revolution Bicentennial No. 2
French Revolution Bicentennial No. 3
French Revolution Bicentennial No. 4
1987 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 10 x 14 in. (25.4 x 35.6 cm)
1987 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 10 x 14 in. (25.4 x 35.6 cm)
1987 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 10 x 14 in. (25.4 x 35.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3690
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3686
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3688
Present Owner Annette and David Raddock Collection
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Annette and David Raddock, 2004
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments This collage includes fragments of a proof for a 1986 aquatint and etching, Yellow Flight, printed on a white ground, and of a 1980 print, Los Angeles Sun (State II) (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 367 and 255). It was used as the basis for a 1988 print, French Revolution Bicentennial Suite III (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 384).
Comments This collage includes a fragment of a proof for a 1985 lithograph, Burning Sun (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 357), printed on a white ground. It was used as the basis for a 1988 print, French Revolution Bicentennial Suite IV (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 385).
Comments This collage includes a fragment of a proof for a 1985 lithograph, Burning Sun (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 357), printed on a white ground. It in turn was used as the basis for a 1988 print, French Revolution Bicentennial Suite II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 383).
348
collages
c754
c754
c755
French Revolution Bicentennial No. 5
French Revolution Bicentennial No. 6
1987 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 10 x 14 in. (25.4 x 35.6 cm)
1987 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 10 x 14 in. (25.4 x 35.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3689
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3687
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments This collage includes fragments of a proof for a 1985 lithograph, Burning Sun, printed on a white ground, and of a 1988 lithograph, Octavio Paz Suite: Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 357 and 439). It was used as the basis for a 1988 print, French Revolution Bicentennial Suite V (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 386).
Comments The photographic imagery at the center of this collage is rare in Motherwell’s work. This collage is the only work in the French Revolution Bicentennial series that was neither included in Soria’s Grande histoire de la Révolution française nor used as the basis for a print.
c755
collag e s
349
c756
c756
c757
Untitled
Untitled
c757
References Navarra 1989, color illus. sec. F, p. 1.
c758
Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1984 print, Mexican Night II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 348), and sheet music from Mozart’s Rondo in D, for piano (k. 485), turned upside down.
1987 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 34 x 34 in. (86.4 x 86.4 cm)
Erupting
1987 Acrylic, pasted papers, and crayon on canvas mounted on Masonite 24 x 19 in. (61 x 48.3 cm)
1987 Acrylic, pasted papers, and crayon on canvas mounted on Masonite 24¼ x 19 in. (61.6 x 48.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 87
Recto, lower right [painted over]: [RM]
Verso: R. Motherwell \ 1987
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3334
Verso not seen [“R.Motherwell \ 1987,” per document in the Dedalus Foundation Archives]
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3335
Present Owner Collection of Glenn and Frances Schor
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004
Present Owner Private collection, Switzerland
Provenance Martin and Mimi Lipton, 1988; [Tajan, Paris, December 7, 2005, lot 35, illus.]; private collection, 2005; Glenn and Frances Schor, 2006
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 22.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Switzerland, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 23. Montclair Art Museum, N.J., November 1989.
350
collages
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [painted over]: [RM]
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3333
Solo Exhibitions Montclair Art Museum, N.J., 1989. Group Exhibitions Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., May 1993, color illus. p. 76.
c758
Comments The sheet music in this collage is from Arthur Berger’s Trio for Guitar, Violin, and Piano (1972).
c759
The Lovers 1987 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 36¼ x 24 in. (92.1 x 61 cm)
Comments This collage includes fragments from Motherwell’s 1986 Alphabet Series, a suite of collage prints (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 375).
c759
c760
The Red and Black No. 1 1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Verso: “the lovers” \ R. Motherwell \ 1987
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3381
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3336
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection, Stockholm
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Private collection, 1990; private collection, Stockholm, 1990
Comments This is the first numbered collage in Motherwell’s Red and Black series, which he worked on in 1987 and 1988. Printed aquatint proofs of an image derived from his 1975 collage Pas de Deux No. 1 (c536) served as the paper ground and support for all the works in the series. Upon this ground, Motherwell arranged collage elements from various sources—mostly cut and torn fragments of proofs of his own
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 6.
collag e s
351
c760
c761
prints, as well as lithographically reproduced sheet music and other papers. The proofs from his own prints are sometimes printed on grounds that have different colors than those in the published editions. In this first collage in the series, Motherwell incorporates proofs from his 1986 Alphabet Series, which was the model for the technique he employed in the Red and Black collages. But while the works in the Alphabet Series were classified as “unique prints,” Motherwell considered those in the Red and Black series to be collages. (It appears, however, that when Motherwell began the Red and Black series, he considered the works in it to be “unique collage prints”; see the Comments for c814.) The sheet music in this collage is from Arthur Berger’s Trio for Guitar, Violin, and Piano (1972), which Motherwell also used in other works at this time. In 1988, after the collage elements in the Red and Black series were composed, Motherwell returned to many of the compositions and embellished
them with gestural brushstrokes painted with thinned etching ink. In addition to being signed by hand, the works in the Red and Black series were also stamped with Motherwell’s embossed studio seal at their lower right corners. The series title may refer to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo’s celebrated production of Rouge et Noir (Red and Black), with costumes designed by Matisse, the June 1939 premiere of which Motherwell attended in Paris. It may also be meant to “represent antagonistic forces,” as in Stendahl’s 1822 novel Le Rouge et le Noir (see Pleynet 1989b, p. 195).
c762
c761
c762
The Red and Black No. 2
The Red and Black No. 3
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3382
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3383
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments This collage includes fragments of a 1985 aquatint, Wanderers, and of proofs from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 364 and 375). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks at the left center in 1988.
Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1985 print, Wanderers (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 364). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
collag e s
353
c763
c763
The Red and Black No. 4 1987/1988 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3384 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988 (not in catalogue); shown in early state. Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1989, cat. no. 25, illus. p. 24, color illus. p. 49 (erroneously as The Red and the Black No. 54). References Ashton 1989, illus. p. 24; Michaud 1989, illus. p. 52, erroneously as The red
354
collages
c764
c765
and the black 54; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 207, erroneously as The Red and Black No. 54.
c764
c765
The Red and Black No. 5
The Red and Black No. 6
Comments This collage contains a fragment of a 1984 aquatint, At the Edge (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 345). It was shown in an early state at Knoedler & Company in April 1988. Motherwell added the painted black brush marks after the work was returned to him that May.
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3385
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3386
Present Owner Peter Farrell
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Peter Farrell, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Annandale Galleries, Sydney, Australia, 2005. Comments This collage includes fragments of the following prints: At the Edge, 1984; Perpetual Summer, 1985; and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 345, 361, and 364). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints Flesh Automatism, 1984; Wanderers, 1985; and of prints from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 346, 364, and 375). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
c766
c767
c766
c767
c768
The Red and Black No. 7
The Red and Black No. 8
The Red and Black No. 9
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3387
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3388
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3389
Present Owner Collection of Meredith & Cornelia Long
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
References Ashton 1989, illus. p. 25; Pleynet 1989b, p. 195, color illus. p. 197.
Comments This collage includes fragments of a 1985 aquatint, Wanderers, and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 364 and 375). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
Provenance Meredith Long & Company, 1990; Meredith & Cornelia Long, 1990 Group Exhibitions John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1988, color illus. p. 65. Comments This collage includes two torn sections from a 1979 print, St. Michael III (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 237). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints Australian Stone, 1984, and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 344 and 364). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
c768
collag e s
355
c769
c770
c771
c769
c770
c771
c772
The Red and Black No. 10
The Red and Black No. 11
The Red and Black No. 12
The Red and Black No. 13
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
1987/1988 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
1987 Pasted papers and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3390
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3391
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3392
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Base Gallery, Tokyo, 1990; unknown owner
Provenance Base Gallery, Tokyo, 1990; unknown owner
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 7 (shown in early state).
Solo Exhibitions Waddington Graphics, London, 1989.
References Ashton 1989, illus. p. 26; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 196, erroneously as The Red and Black No. 4. Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints St. Michael III, 1979; Yellow Flight, 1986; and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 237, 367, and 375). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988. 356
collages
Comments This collage includes fragments of three prints: At the Edge, 1984; Flesh Automatism, 1984; and Black Open, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 345, 346, and 358). It was shown in an early state at Knoedler & Company in April 1988. Motherwell added the painted black brush marks when it was returned to him that May.
References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 198. Comments This collage includes a print fragment from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 375), and two torn fragments of sheet music from Mozart’s Don Giovanni (k. 527). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3393 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 199. Comments This collage includes fragments of the following prints: Glass Garden, 1984; Wanderers, 1985; and Yellow Flight, 1986 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 342, 364, and 367).
c772
c773
The Red and Black No. 14 1987/1988 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
345, and 361). It was exhibited in an early state at Knoedler & Company in April 1988. Motherwell added the painted black brush marks after it was returned to him that May.
c773
c774
The Red and Black No. 15 1987/1988 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3394
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3395
Present Owner Joseph and Abigail Baratta
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Private collection, New York, 1989; [Phillips de Pury & Co., New York, May 15, 2009, lot 187, illus.]; Joseph and Abigail Baratta, 2009
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, ca. 1992
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 14 (shown in early state). Comments This collage includes fragments of three prints: Glass Garden, 1984; At the Edge, 1984; and Perpetual Summer, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 342,
c774
Comments This collage includes fragments of the following prints: Put Out All Flags, 1980; Australian Stone, 1984; and Yellow Flight, 1986 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 263, 344, and 367). It was exhibited in an early state at Knoedler & Company in April 1988. Motherwell added the painted black brush marks after it was returned to him that May.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 8 (shown in early state). Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, 1992, color illus. p. 15, erroneously as Rouge et Noir. References Ashton 1989, illus. p. 19.
collag e s
357
c775
c775
c776
The Red and Black No. 16
The Red and Black No. 17
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
1987/1988 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3396
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3397
Present Owner Private collection, New York
Present Owner Collection of Eve and Fred Simon, Omaha
Provenance Base Gallery, Tokyo, 1990; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 16, 2007, lot 318, illus.]; private collection, New York, 2007 Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints Glass Garden, 1984; Wanderers, 1985; and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 342, 364, and 375). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
358
collages
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Eve and Fred Simon, Omaha, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 2 (shown in early state). Montclair Art Museum, N.J., 1989. Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2006, cat. no. 11.
c776
Group Exhibitions Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cotuit, Mass., 2005. Comments This collage includes fragments of a 1985 print, Black Open, and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 358 and 375). The sheet music is from Arthur Berger’s Trio for Guitar, Violin, and Piano (1972). This collage was exhibited in an early state at Knoedler & Company in April 1988. Motherwell added the painted black brush marks after it was returned to him that May.
c777
c777
The Red and Black No. 18 1987/1988 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3380 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1989 Group Exhibitions Museum of Art, Munson-WilliamsProctor Institute, Utica, N.Y., 1988 (shown in early state). Comments This collage includes fragments of a 1977 print, Gesture I (State I), and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 203 and 375). The sheet music is from Mozart’s Don Giovanni (k. 527).
c778
The collage was shown in an early state, without the painted black gestural forms, at the MunsonWilliams-Proctor Institute in the spring of 1988. Motherwell added the painted black brush marks during the summer of 1988.
c779
c780
c778
c779
c780
The Red and Black No. 19
The Red and Black No. 20
The Red and Black No. 21
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31 x 25 in. (78.7 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3398
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3399
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3400
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Mr. David Eichholtz
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; David Eichholtz, 2008
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints In Black with Yellow Ochre, 1963; Wanderers, 1985; and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 8, 364, and 375). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
Comments This collage includes fragments of the 1985 print Wanderers, and of a print from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 364 and 375). The sheet music is from Mozart’s Don Giovanni (k. 527). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints At the Edge, 1984, and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 345 and 364), and a fragment of a page from the score of Mozart’s Don Giovanni (k. 527). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
collag e s
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c782
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c781
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c784
The Red and Black No. 22
The Red and Black No. 23
The Red and Black No. 24
The Red and Black No. 25
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 24¾ in. (80 x 62.9 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3401
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3402
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3403
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3404
Present Owner Private collection, New York
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles
Provenance Base Gallery, Tokyo, 1990; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 16, 2007, lot 317, illus.]; private collection, New York, 2007
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1989, cat. no. 26.
References Ashton 1989, illus. p. 18.
Provenance Base Gallery, Tokyo, 1990; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 11, 2005, lot 254, illus.]; Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, 2005
Solo Exhibitions Waddington Graphics, London, 1989. Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints America–La France Variations VIII, 1984; At the Edge, 1984; and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 336, 345, and 364). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988. 360
collages
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints At the Edge, 1984, and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 345 and 364). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints At the Edge, 1984; Wanderers, 1985; and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 345, 364, and 375). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
Solo Exhibitions Waddington Graphics, London, 1989. Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, 2009. Group Exhibitions Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, 2005.
c784
References Pleynet 1989b, p. 195, color illus. p. 200. Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints At the Edge, 1984, and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 345 and 364). A fragment of a 1979 print, St. Michael III (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 237), was visible in an early state of this work but was painted over with black etching ink in 1988.
c785
c785
c786
The Red and Black No. 26
The Red and Black No. 27
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
1987 Pasted papers and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3405 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1989 Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints St. Michael III, 1979, and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 237 and 364). The sheet music is from Mozart’s Don Giovanni (k. 527). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
c786
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3406 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 12. Waddington Graphics, London, 1989. Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints America–La France Variations VIII, 1984, and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 336 and 364). The sheet music is from Mozart’s Don Giovanni (k. 527).
collag e s
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c787
c788
c789
c787
c788
c789
c790
The Red and Black No. 28
The Red and Black No. 29
The Red and Black No. 30
The Red and Black No. 31
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31 x 25 in. (78.7 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3407
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3408
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3409
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3410
Present Owner Collection of Dr. Wilfred and Gail Heilbut
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004
Provenance Private collection, 1989; private collection, ca. 1996; private collection, 1999
Provenance Base Gallery, Tokyo, 1990; private collection; private collection
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints Glass Garden, 1984; Wanderers, 1985; and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 342, 364, and 375). The sheet music is from the unidentified Stabat Mater that also appears in a number of other collages by Motherwell (see the Comments for c687). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints La Casa de la Mancha, 1984; Perpetual Summer, 1985; and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 349, 361, and 364). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
Solo Exhibitions Waddington Graphics, London, 1989.
Provenance Dr. Wilfred and Gail Heilbut, 1989 Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints St. Michael III, 1979, and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 237 and 364). The sheet music is from Mozart’s Don Giovanni (k. 527). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
362
c ollages
Comments This collage includes fragments of two 1984 prints, La Casa de la Mancha and Flesh Automatism (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 346 and 349). The sheet music is from Mozart’s Don Giovanni (k. 527), turned upside down. Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
c791
c790
c791
The Red and Black No. 32 1987/1988 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints La Casa de la Mancha, 1984, and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 349 and 364). It was shown in an early state at Knoedler & Company in April 1988. Motherwell added the painted black brush marks after it was returned to him that May.
c792
The Red and Black No. 33 1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3411
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3412
Present Owner Edward Giobbi
Present Owner Rodman W. Moorhead III, Wilson, Wyo.
Provenance Edward Giobbi, 1989
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Rodman W. Moorhead III, Wilson, Wyo., 2006
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 10 (shown in early state). References Pleynet 1989b, p. 195, color illus. p. 201.
c792
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints Lines for St. Gallen, 1971, and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 106 and 364). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
collag e s
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c794
c793
c795
c793
c794
c795
c796
The Red and Black No. 34
The Red and Black No. 35
The Red and Black No. 36
The Red and Black No. 37
1987 Pasted papers and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
1987/1988 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31¾ x 25 in. (80.6 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
1987/1988 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3414
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3415
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3416
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Base Gallery, Tokyo
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Base Gallery, Tokyo, 1990
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 3 (shown in early state).
References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 202.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 17 (shown in early state).
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3413 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Ron and Ann Pizzuti, Columbus, Ohio, 1988; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 13, 2002, lot 226, illus. (not sold)]; [Christie’s, New York, November 14, 2007, lot 248, illus.]; unknown owner, 2007 Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints At the Edge, 1984; Flesh Automatism, 1984; and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 345, 346, and 364). The sheet music is from Mozart’s Fantasia in C minor (fragment), for violin and piano (k. 396/385f). 364
c ollages
Comments This collage includes fragments of the 1985 print Wanderers and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 364 and 375). The work was shown in an early state at Knoedler in April 1988. Motherwell added the painted black brush marks after it was returned to him that May.
Comments This collage includes fragments of a 1985 aquatint, Wanderers, and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 364 and 375). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
Waddington Graphics, London, 1989. Comments This collage includes a fragment from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 375). It was shown in an early state at Knoedler & Company in April 1988. Motherwell added the painted black brush marks after it was returned to him that May.
c797
c796
c797
The Red and Black No. 38 1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31¾ x 25 in. (80.6 x 63.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints St. Michael III, 1979; Wanderers, 1985; and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 237, 364, and 375). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
c798
The Red and Black No. 39 1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3417
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3418
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007
Provenance Base Gallery, Tokyo, 1990; unknown owner
Solo Exhibitions Rosenbaum Contemporary, Gallery Center, Boca Raton, Fla., 2004.
Solo Exhibitions Waddington Graphics, London, 1989.
Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2006, cat. no. 5, color illus. p. 17.
c798
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints The Razor’s Edge, 1985; Wanderers, 1985; and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 362, 364, and 375). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
References Pleynet 1989b, p. 195, color illus. p. 204.
References Pleynet 1989b, p. 195, color illus. p. 203; Turner 2006, p. 156, color illus. p. 156.
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The Red and Black No. 40
The Red and Black No. 41
The Red and Black No. 42
The Red and Black No. 43
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
1987 Pasted papers and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 24¾ in. (80 x 62.9 cm)
1987/1988 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3421
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3422
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 11, 2005, lot 252, illus.]; private collection, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints Wanderers, 1985, and Yellow Flight, 1986 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 364 and 367). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints At the Edge, 1984; Wanderers, 1985; and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 345, 364, and 375). It was shown
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3419 Present Owner Collection Elliot K. Wolk Provenance Private collection, 1989; Elliot K. Wolk, 1989 Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1985 aquatint, Wanderers (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 364). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
366
collages
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 1987 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3420 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints At the Edge, 1984; Wanderers, 1985; and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 345, 364, and 375).
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 15 (shown in early state).
c803
c802
in an early state at Knoedler & Company in April 1988. Motherwell added the painted black brush marks after it was returned to him that May.
c803
c804
The Red and Black No. 44
The Red and Black No. 45
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31¾ x 25 in. (80.6 x 63.5 cm)
1987/1988 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32⅞ x 24¾ in. (83.5 x 62.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3423
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3424
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Melvin Nessel, 1989; Norton Museum of Art, 1995; private collection, 2006
Solo Exhibitions Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2006, cat. no. 12. Group Exhibitions Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Mass., 1989 (traveling). Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints La Casa de la Mancha, 1984, and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 349 and 364). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
c804
early state at Knoedler & Company in April 1988. Motherwell added the painted black brush marks after it was returned to him that May.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 9 (shown in early state). Waddington Graphics, London, 1989. Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints America–La France Variations VIII, 1984, and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 336 and 364). The work was shown in an
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c805
c807
c805
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c808
The Red and Black No. 46
The Red and Black No. 47
The Red and Black No. 48
The Red and Black No. 49
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
1987 Pasted papers and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm)
1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3427
Artist’s Studio Number c87-3428
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Private collection, 1989
References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 205.
Comments This collage includes fragments of a 1985 aquatint, Wanderers (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 364). The sheet music is from Mozart’s Don Giovanni (k. 527). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3425 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1989 References Lloyd 1988c, illus. p. 17 (in early state). Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1979 print, St. Michael III (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 237). The sheet music is from Mozart’s Don Giovanni (k. 527). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
368
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Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3426 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1987; private collection, 1997 Comments This collage includes fragments of the aquatints Put Out All Flags, 1980, and La Casa de la Mancha, 1984 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 263 and 349).
Comments This collage includes fragments of a 1985 aquatint, Wanderers, and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 364 and 375). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
c809
c808
c809
The Red and Black No. 50 1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3429 Present Owner Unknown
1984; and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 237, 345, and 364). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
c810
c811
The Red and Black No. 51
The Red and Black No. 52
1987 Pasted papers and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
1987/1988 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3352 Present Owner The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist
Provenance Base Gallery, Tokyo, 1990; [Sotheby’s, New York, October 4, 1990, lot 110, illus.]; unknown owner, 1990; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 4, 1993, lot 352, illus. (not sold)]
Provenance Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987
Solo Exhibitions Waddington Graphics, London, 1989.
Comments This collage includes fragments of the 1986 print Yellow Flight and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 367 and 375). The sheet music is from the unidentified Stabat Mater that also appears in a number of other collages by Motherwell (see the Comments for c687).
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints St. Michael III, 1979; At the Edge,
c810
Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3430 Present Owner Eight Modern, Santa Fe Provenance Base Gallery, Tokyo, 1990; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 5, 1994, lot 148, illus. (not sold)]; [Christie’s, London, July 2, 1998, lot 336, illus.]; unknown owner, 1998; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 15, 2006, lot 192, illus.]; Eight Modern, Santa Fe, N.Mex., 2006 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 16 (shown in early state). Waddington Graphics, London, 1989.
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c811
References Pleynet 1989b, p. 195, color illus. p. 206. Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints Automatism A, 1966; Wanderers, 1985; and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 19, 364, and 375). It was shown in an early state at Knoedler & Company in April 1988. Motherwell added the painted black brush marks after it was returned to him that May.
c812
The Red and Black No. 53 1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31¾ x 25 in. (80.6 x 63.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3431 Present Owner Collection of Eve and Fred Simon, Omaha Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Eve and Fred Simon, Omaha, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2006, cat. no. 13. References Lloyd 1988c, illus. p. 17 (in early state); Hoffman 1989, p. 18, illus. p. 19 (fig. 1.3, in early state).
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c812
Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints St. Michael III, 1979, and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 237 and 364). The sheet music is from the unidentified Stabat Mater that also appears in a number of other collages by Motherwell (see the Comments for c687). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
c813
c813
The Red and Black No. 54 1987/1988 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 30½ x 25 in. (77.5 x 63.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3432 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 4 (shown in early state). Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1989, cat. no. 27. Comments This collage includes fragments of a 1985 aquatint, Wanderers, and from the 1986 Alphabet Series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 364 and 375). The
c814
sheet music is from Mozart’s Don Giovanni (k. 527). It was shown in an early state at Knoedler & Company in April 1988. Motherwell added the painted black brush marks after it was returned to him that May.
c814
The Red and Black No. 55 1987 Pasted papers and aquatint on paper 32 x 25 in. (81.3 x 63.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: for Arthur Berger \ in memory of Paris, 1939 Recto, lower right: Robert Motherwell \ unique collage print \ 1987 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Arthur Berger, 1987; Mrs. Arthur Berger, 2003; unknown owner, 2007 references Berger 2002, cover color illus. Comments This collage includes fragments of a 1963 print, In Black with Yellow Ochre (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 8), and of sheet music from Arthur Berger’s Trio for Guitar, Violin, and Piano (1972) and from Mozart’s Don Giovanni (k. 527).
c815
The inscription at the lower right indicates that Motherwell first thought of the works in the Red and Black series to be “unique collage prints.” A reproduction of this collage was used on the album cover for An Arthur Berger Retrospective, a recording of Berger’s music issued by New World Records. Motherwell and Berger had been friends since they met at Harvard in 1937; see the Comments for Collaged Wall VI (for Arthur Berger), c737.
c815
The Red and Black No. 56 1987–88 Oil-based etching ink, pasted papers, and aquatint on paper 31½ x 25 in. (80 x 63.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number c87-3433 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments This collage includes fragments of the prints America–La France Variations VIII, 1984, and Wanderers, 1985 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 336 and 364). Motherwell added the painted black brush marks in 1988.
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c816
c816
Goya’s Dog II Alternative Titles: Collaged Wall IV; Goya’s Dog 1985/1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 36 in. (91.4 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM \ 85 Verso not seen [“R. Motherwell \ Dec, 1985,” per studio card] Artist’s Studio Number c85-3222 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1989; private collection Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1986, cat. no. 8 (shown in early state), as Collaged Wall, IV. Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1989, cat. no. 5, cover color illus.
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References Mathew 1986, p. 3, as Collaged Wall IV; Ashton 1989, illus. p. 21, as Goya’s Dog; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 182 (in studio); Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 138, as Goya’s Dog); Museo Rufino Tamayo exh. cat. 1991, illus. frontispiece (in studio); del Conde 1997, illus. n.p. (in studio). Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1984 print, At the Edge (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 345). It was begun in 1985 and exhibited at Knoedler & Company in April 1986 with the title Collaged Wall IV. After it was returned to Motherwell in 1988, he added the yellow painted areas and blue lines, and extended the blacks to the lower right half of the ground. The collage was retitled Goya’s Dog when it was consigned to Knoedler again at the beginning of April 1989, but the title was changed to Goya’s Dog II by the time it was exhibited later that month. A 1975 painting was titled Goya’s Dog (Sketch) (p861).
c817
The Irish Book 1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 89 Verso not seen [“R. Motherwell on verso stretcher bar,” per studio card] Artist’s Studio Number c88-3446; c89-3475 Present Owner Private collection. Courtesy Locks Gallery, Philadelphia Provenance Private collection, 1989 Solo Exhibitions Arthur A. Houghton Jr. Gallery, Cooper Union, New York, 1988, cat. no. 45. Marian Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, 1989, color illus. n.p. Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, 1992, color illus. p. 31.
c817
Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1985 print, Burning Sun (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 357). Although Motherwell signed and dated the work 1989, a studio slide taken in December 1988 shows the work already in its final form.
c818
c819
c818
c819
c820
In Blue and Green with Black Stripe
Untitled
[ Untitled (Black and Ochre on Deep Blue)]
1988 Acrylic, pasted papers, and crayon on canvas mounted on board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on board 23⅞ x 20 in. (60.6 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell \ 88
1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3663
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 88
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3540
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3477
Present Owner Collection of John Daly, Dublin
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; John Daly, Dublin, 2005
Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1975 print, Roth-Händle II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 184). It was done on a mat board support that had already been discolored by uneven exposure to sunlight. The dimensions of the interior framed section are 16¼ x 13¼ inches, while the size of the full board is approximately 24 x 20 inches.
Present Owner Collection of Conor and Jean Daly, Dublin
Solo Exhibitions Artcurial Centre d’Art Plastique Contemporain, Paris, 1990 (traveling), Paris, illus. p. 49.
c820
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Conor and Jean Daly, Dublin, 2004 Group Exhibitions Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin, November 2005. Comments This collage incorporates part of a 1985 aquatint, Elegy Fragment I (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 359).
collag e s
373
c822
c821
c821
Untitled 1988 Acrylic, pasted papers, and crayon on canvas mounted on board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 88
Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1985 print, Burning Sun (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 357), and a page torn from Etienne de Silhouette’s preface to his 1736 translation into French of Alexander Pope’s “Essay on Man” (1733–34).
c822
Untitled 1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 88
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3539
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3483
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004
Provenance Private collection, 1990
374
collages
Group Exhibitions Heland Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, 1990, color illus. n.p.
References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 208. Comments This collage includes fragments of an aquatint published in 1984, Untitled (State I), and of a 1988 aquatint, Sirens II (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 325 and 444).
c823
c823
c824
Untitled
Night Dream
1988 Acrylic, pasted papers, and china marker on canvas mounted on board 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
1988 Acrylic, pasted papers, and china marker on canvas board 39¾ x 30 in. (101 x 76.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 88
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 88
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3476
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3486
Present Owner Dr. Michael Stewart
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Michael Stewart, 2003
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Montclair Art Museum, N.J., 1989. Comments The sheet music in this collage is from the second movement (Vivace) of Beethoven’s String Quartet no. 16 in F major, op. 135.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1989, cat. no. 15, color illus. n.p.; referred to on checklist as Night Dream, and in catalogue as Untitled. Bendheim Gallery, Greenwich, Conn., 2008. Comments This collage includes fragments from the prints Yellow Flight, 1986, and Sirens II, 1988 (Engberg and Banach
c824
2003, nos. 367 and 444). An early version of the collage contained a sheet music fragment, which was subsequently painted over with black (as per a studio photograph where it is visible). This work was untitled when the catalogue for the April 1989 Knoedler & Company exhibition was printed, but gallery checklists reveal that it had been given the title Night Dream by the time the show opened.
c825
Night Music Opus No. 1 Alternative Title: Over the Edge 1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 40½ x 30½ in. (102.9 x 77.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 88 Artist’s Studio Number c88-3444 Present Owner Unknown Provenance The artist Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1988, cat. no. 18, as Over the Edge. References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209 (in studio), color illus. p. 211, as Over the Edge; Caws 1996b, p. 145, illus. p. 146, referred to in text and in illus. as Night Music Opus No. 1 (Over the Edge); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery,
collag e s
375
c825
c826
Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio); Caws 2003, p. 136. Comments This collage was exhibited at Knoedler & Company in April 1988 under its original title, Over the Edge. Around the same time, Motherwell began a series of stylistically related collages that he first referred to as the In Black and Tan series, but which he would eventually call Night Music and sequence with opus numbers. The title may refer to Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music; k. 525) or to Béla Bartók’s style known as “night music.” Motherwell titled an earlier collage Night Music (c668). Under Motherwell’s supervision, the works in this series were all framed in mats that cover the uneven borders of the black paint on the support. Although the boards that serve as the supports extend farther than the painted areas, the area visible within the mat is considered the image of each picture. We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
c827
c826
c827
Night Music Opus No. 2
Night Music Opus No. 3
1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 32¼ x 26¼ in. (81.9 x 66.7 cm)
1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 32¼ x 26¼ in. (81.9 x 66.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 88
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 88
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3462
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3463
Present Owner Collection of Peter and Linda Bren
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Peter and Linda Bren, 2001
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000
Group Exhibitions Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Mass., 1989 (traveling), illus. n.p.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1989, cat. no. 7, color illus. n.p.
References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209 (in studio); Caws 1996b, illus. p. 142 (in studio); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio).
& Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio); Caws 2003, pp. 116, 124, illus. 126 (ill. 85).
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 17. References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209 (in studio); Caws 1996b, p. 145, illus. p. 142 (in studio), illus. p. 148; Miriam
collag e s
377
c828
c828
Night Music Opus No. 4 1988 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas mounted on board 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 88
Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio). Comments This collage incorporates a fragment from a 1985 aquatint, Elegy Fragment II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 360).
c829
c829
Night Music Opus No. 5 1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 40 x 29¼ in. (101.6 x 74.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 88
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3464
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3465
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1989, cat. no. 29, color illus. p. 51.
Solo Exhibitions Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1989, cat. no. 30, color illus. p. 52.
Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 95.
Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 93.
References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209 (in studio); Caws 1996b, illus. p. 142 (in studio); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art
Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, May 2005, cat. no. 17.
378
collages
Group Exhibitions Galerie Klüser 2, Munich, 2007.
Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, 2008, color illus. p. 61. References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209 (in studio); Caws 1996b, illus. p. 142 (in studio); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio).
c830
c830
Night Music Opus No. 6 1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 39½ x 29¼ in. (100.3 x 74.3 cm)
References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209 (in studio); Caws 1996b, illus. p. 142 (in studio); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio); Tieken 2000, illus. n.p.
c831
c831
Night Music Opus No. 7 1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 39½ x 29½ in. (100.3 x 74.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 88
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 88
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3466
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3467
Present Owner Denver Art Museum Collection. For a full list of donors, see the entry for p22.
Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Kaufman
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Denver Art Museum, 1994
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mr. and Mrs. Robert Kaufman, 2005
Solo Exhibitions Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1989, cat. no. 31, color illus. p. 53.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1989, cat. no. 2, color illus. n.p.
Denver Art Museum, 1995, illus. n.p.
p. 142 (in studio); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio); Caws 2003, p. 116, illus. p. 117 (ill. 76).
Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 94. References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209 (in studio); Caws 1996b, p. 144, illus.
collag e s
379
c832
c832
c833
Night Music Opus No. 8
Night Music Opus No. 9
1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 39½ x 29½ in. (100.3 x 74.9 cm)
1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 32¼ x 26¼ in. (81.9 x 66.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 88
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 88
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3468
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3469
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Collection of the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio. Museum purchase 1994 and gift of the Dedalus Foundation 1994
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209 (in studio), color illus. p. 210; Caws 1996b, illus. p. 142 (in studio); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio).
380
collages
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, 1994 Solo Exhibitions Galería Joan Prats, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland, 1991, cat. no. 9 (sec. “Paintings”), color illus. n.p.
c833
Group Exhibitions Butler Trumbull County Branch Museum, Howland, Ohio, 1996. Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, 2001 (traveling). References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209 (in studio); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio); Sweetkind 1997, illus. p. 125 (upside down).
c834
c834
Night Music Opus No. 10 1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 33¼ x 25¼ in. (84.5 x 64.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 88 Artist’s Studio Number c88-3470 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000 References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209 (in studio); Caws 1996b, illus. p. 142 (in studio); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio).
c835
c836
c837
c835
c836
Night Music Opus No. 11
Night Music Opus No. 12
1988 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 33¼ x 25¼ in. (84.5 x 64.1 cm)
1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 33¼ x 25 in. (84.5 x 63.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 88
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 89
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 89
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3471
Artist’s Studio Number c88-3472; c89-3472
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3473
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007
Present Owner Collection of Carol and Stephen Shey, Gainesville, Fla.
References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209 (in studio); Caws 1996b, illus. p. 142 (in studio); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio).
Solo Exhibitions Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, December 2005 (traveling); replaced mid-show in Chicago; not shown in Salt Lake City. References Knoedler & Company exh. cat. April 1989, color illus. n.p.; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209 (in studio); Caws
1996b, p. 145, illus. p. 142 (in studio); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio); Caws 2003, pp. 116, 124, illus. p. 126 (ill. 84).
c837
Night Music Opus No. 13 1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 33½ x 26¼ in. (85.1 x 66.7 cm)
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000; Carol and Stephen Shey, Gainesville, Fla., 2003 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1989, cat. no. 11, color illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, February 2000. Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, 2008, cat. no. 78, color illus. p. 187. collag e s
381
c838
References Enright 1989, p. 7, cover illus.; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209 (in studio), color illus. p. 210; Caws 1996b, p. 145, illus. p. 142 (in studio), illus. p. 147; Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio); Caws 2003, pp. 116, 121–22, 134, 136, illus. p. 123 (ill. 81). Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1988 print, Riverrun (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 468).
c838
Night Music Opus No. 14 1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 33¼ x 25 in. (84.5 x 63.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 89
c839
Night Music Opus No. 15 1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 33¼ x 25¼ in. (84.5 x 64.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 89 Artist’s Studio Number c89-3490
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection, Switzerland
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Switzerland, 2006
Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. XI.2, color illus. p. 186 (pl. 129), color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio).
collages
References Pleynet 1989a, color illus. p. 70 (in studio); Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 186, color illus. p. 209 (in studio), color illus. p. 210; Locks Gallery exh. cat. 1992, color illus. frontispiece (in studio); Tyler 1993, illus. (in studio); Caws 1996b, illus. p. 142 (in studio); Caws 2003, pp. 116–17.
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3489
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1989, cat. no. 10, color illus. n.p. (in studio).
382
c839
Solo Exhibitions Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2005. References Knoedler & Company exh. cat. April 1989, color illus. n.p. (in studio); Pleynet 1989a, color illus. p. 70 (in studio); Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 186 (in studio), color illus. p. 209 (in studio), color illus. p. 210; Locks Gallery
c840
exh. cat. 1992, color illus. frontispiece (in studio); Caws 1996b, illus. p. 142 (in studio); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio).
c840
Night Music Opus No. 16 1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 32½ x 25¼ in. (82.6 x 64.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 89
Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. XI.3, color illus. p. 187 (pl. 130).
c841
Night Music Opus No. 17
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 18.
1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 32½ x 25½ in. (82.6 x 64.8 cm)
References Caws 2003, p. 120.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 89
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3495
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3493
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner The collection of Mitchell A. Harwood and Fran Janis
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1989, cat. no. 17.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005; Mitchell A. Harwood and Fran Janis, 2006
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383
c841
Solo Exhibitions Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. XI.4, color illus. p. 188 (pl. 131). Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1993. References Caws 2003, p. 118.
c842
c843
Night Music Opus No. 18
Night Music Opus No. 19
1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 32½ x 25¼ in. (82.6 x 64.1 cm)
1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 39½ x 29½ in. (100.3 x 74.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 89
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 89
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3494
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3496
Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Museum purchase, the Friends of Art Endowment Fund
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993 Solo Exhibitions Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1994. References Tyson 1993a, p. 1.
384
collages
c842
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1989, cat. no. 8. Group Exhibitions Century Club, New York, 1994.
c843
c844
c845
c844
c845
c846
Night Music Opus No. 20
Night Music Opus No. 21
Night Music Opus No. 22
1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 32½ x 25½ in. (82.6 x 64.8 cm)
1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 32½ x 25½ in. (82.6 x 64.8 cm)
1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 32½ x 25½ in. (82.6 x 64.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 89
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 89
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 89
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3497
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3498
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3499
Present Owner The Pritzker Organization, LLC
Present Owner Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester. Marion Stratton Gould Fund
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Pritzker Organization, LLC, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1989, cat. no. 18.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, N.Y., 2001
Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, December 2005 (traveling), cat. no. 4; added mid-show in Chicago.
References Memorial Art Gallery Magazine 2001b, p. 5, illus. p. 5.
c846
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003
collag e s
385
c847
c848
c847
c848
c849
Night Music Opus No. 23
Night Music Opus No. 24
Night Music Opus No. 25
1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 32 x 25½ in. (81.3 x 64.8 cm)
1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 32½ x 25½ in. (82.6 x 64.8 cm)
1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 32½ x 25½ in. (82.6 x 64.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 89
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 89
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 89
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3500
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3514
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3664
Present Owner Private collection, Houston
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003; [Christie’s, New York, May 12, 2005, lot 315, illus. (not sold)]; private collection, Houston, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003
Present Owner The collection of Mitchell A. Harwood and Fran Janis
386
c ollages
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1989, cat. no. 9.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005; Mitchell A. Harwood and Fran Janis, 2006
Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. XI.5, color illus. p. 189 (pl. 132).
Solo Exhibitions Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. XI.6, color illus. p. 190 (pl. 133).
References Caws 2003, pp. 116–17.
References Caws 2003, p. 118.
c849
c850
c850
c851
Night Music Opus No. 26
Night Music Opus No. 27
1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 32½ x 25½ in. (82.6 x 64.8 cm)
1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 32 x 25½ in. (81.3 x 64.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 89
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 89
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3679
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3645
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection, Switzerland
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2006
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Switzerland, 2006
Solo Exhibitions Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. XI.7, color illus. p. 191 (pl. 134).
Solo Exhibitions Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 53, color illus. p. 75.
References Caws 2003, pp. 116, 122–23, color illus. p. 126 (ill. 83).
References Del Conde 1997, illus. n.p.
c851
Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2005.
collag e s
387
c852
c852
L’Enfant du Paradis 1989 Acrylic, pasted papers, and oil pastel on canvas mounted on Masonite 36 x 23¾ in. (91.4 x 60.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM Artist’s Studio Number c89-3482 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments An early version of this collage, composed on a red ground, was consigned to Knoedler & Company from February to June 1989. After it was returned to Motherwell, he repainted the ground a tan color and made additions in blue and white oil pastel. It was consigned again to Knoedler in October of that same year in its final form.
388
collages
The title may refer to Marcel Carné’s Les Enfants du paradis (Children of Paradise), which was filmed during the Nazi occupation of France and first shown in public in 1945.
c853
c854
c853
c854
Untitled (Red with Yellow Oval)
In Rose and Ochre with Red Circle
1989 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas board 40 x 29½ in. (101.6 x 74.9 cm)
1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 35 x 23 in. (88.9 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R. Motherwell \ 89
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 89
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3543
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3545
Present Owner Fayez Sarofim Collection
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Meredith Long & Company, 1990; Fayez Sarofim, 1996
Provenance Private collection, 1990; unknown owner
Comments This collage includes fragments from a 1989 print, Orange Lyric (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 477), and from the aquatint that was used as the paper ground in the Red and Black series of collages (see the Comments for c760).
Comments This collage contains fragments from the prints Riverrun, 1988, and Three Forms II, 1989 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 468 and 478).
c855
c856
c857
c855
c856
c857
c858
Music and Red Stripe
Untitled (Red Collage with Black Wedge)
The Letter
Untitled (Red Collage with Music and Crayon Lines)
1989 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board 28½ x 23 in. (72.4 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 89 Artist’s Studio Number c89-3546 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000 Comments This collage takes its title from the small piece of sheet music near the center, which is from Mozart’s Arietta “Oiseaux, si tous les ans” (Birds, If Every Year; k. 307/284). It also contains a fragment of a 1984 print, Mexican Night II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 348).
1990 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas mounted on Masonite 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 90 Artist’s Studio Number c90-3582 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., August 1991. Comments This collage incorporates a fragment from a 1990 print, The Poet’s Eye (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 493).
1990 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 19¼ x 15¼ in. (48.9 x 38.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 90 Artist’s Studio Number c90-352; c90-3572 Present Owner Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Gift of the Dedalus Foundation and John Lambert Fund, 1994.6.7 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1994 Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1990 print, Seaside Studio (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 495). Its title refers to the torn envelope at the center, which was mailed from the rue La Boétie in Paris and postmarked November 27, 1981.
1990 Acrylic, pasted papers, and oil pastel on canvas mounted on panel 19¼ x 15¼ in. (48.9 x 38.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM Artist’s Studio Number c90-3565; c90-3569 Present Owner Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Gift of the Dedalus Foundation and John Lambert Fund, 1994.6.6 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1994 Comments This collage contains three fragments of sheet music from two compositions by Mozart. At the upper left and lower right, the music is from the Fugue
collag e s
389
c858
from Mozart’s Prelude (Fantasia) and Fugue in C, for piano (k. 394/383a); at the lower right the music is from the Prelude from the same composition. At the bottom left, the sheet music is from Mozart’s Fantasia in C minor (fragment), for violin and piano (k. 396/385f).
c859
In Red with Rice Paper and Black
c860
In White and Black with Blue Hinge 1990 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 47 x 35 in. (119.4 x 88.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 1990
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 90
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3560
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3564; c90-3570
Present Owner Private collection, New York
Present Owner Collection of Richard and Judith Klitzberg
Solo Exhibitions Artcurial Centre d’Art Plastique Contemporain, Paris, 1990 (traveling), Paris, illus. p. 49; Stockholm and Göteborg, color illus. n.p.; as Untitled (In Red with Rice Paper and Black). Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 16, as Untitled (In Red with Rice Paper).
collages
Comments This collage incorporates a fragment from a 1989 print, Three Forms II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 478).
1990 Acrylic, pasted papers, and Conté crayon on canvas mounted on panel 33¾ x 33¾ in. (85.7 x 85.7 cm)
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, New York, 2001
390
c859
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Richard and Judith Klitzberg, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Artcurial Centre d’Art Plastique Contemporain, Paris, 1990 (traveling), Paris, illus. p. 43 (in early state); Stockholm and Göteborg, color illus. n.p. (in early state); shown in final state.
c860
Comments An early version of this collage, with an ochre ground, was reproduced in the 1990 Artcurial exhibition catalogue; but installation photographs of the exhibition reveal that the final version of the collage was exhibited.
c861
In Ochre and Yellow with Sheet Music 1990 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 19¼ x 15¼ in. (48.9 x 38.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 90 Artist’s Studio Number c90-3568 Present Owner Private collection, Minneapolis Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Minneapolis, 2000 Solo Exhibitions Artcurial Centre d’Art Plastique Contemporain, Paris, 1990 (traveling), Paris, color illus. p. 42. References Atlantic 1992, color illus. p. 39; Aspen Music Festival and School 1997, cover color illus.; Caws 2003, color illus. p. 18 (ill. 10, in studio).
Comments This collage includes a fragment from a 1990 print, The Poet’s Eye (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 493), and fragments of sheet music from Beethoven’s String Quartet no. 16 in F major, op. 135.
c861
c862
Scottish Ballad 1990 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 90 Artist’s Studio Number c90-3576 Present Owner Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums collections. Purchased in 1996 with the aid of a grant from the National Fund for Acquisitions, the National Art Collections Fund and the Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums, Scotland, 1996 Solo Exhibitions Artcurial Centre d’Art Plastique Contemporain, Paris, 1990 (traveling), Paris, color illus. p. 45.
collag e s
391
c862
Group Exhibitions Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum, Japan, 2000 (traveling), cat. no. 80, color illus. pp. 206–7. References Foll 1990, p. 44, color illus. p. 44; Pinte 1990, illus. p. 49. Comments This collage incorporates a piece of sheet music from “The Old Fisherman,” a song by Francis George Scott, which was torn from a book sent to Motherwell by James Coxson of Edinburgh in 1990.
c863
c864
In Watery Blue with Tan and Black
The Disappearance of Goya’s Dog
1990 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 48 x 26 in. (121.9 x 66 cm)
Alternative Title: Goya’s Dog No. 2 1990 Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas mounted on panel 8 x 24 in. (20.3 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower center (on collage element): RM \ 90
Verso: R. Motherwell
Present Owner Dr. Michael Stewart
Artist’s Studio Number p90-3587
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Michael Stewart, 2003
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
References Caws 2003, color illus. p. 18 (ill. 10, in studio).
collages
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3575
Solo Exhibitions Artcurial Centre d’Art Plastique Contemporain, Paris, 1990 (traveling), Paris, color illus. p. 48.
392
c863
Verso [crossed out]: [“goya’s dog” #2]
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1991, cat. no. 12. Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 36, color illus. p. 83.
c864
References Noland 1991, p. 14; Caws 1996b, illus. p. 67, color illus. n.p.; Fundació Antoni Tàpies exh. cat. 1996, illus. n.p. (in studio); Caws 2003, p. 183, illus. p. 183 (ill. 129). Comments This collage may have been begun as early as 1975. The title written on the verso, now crossed out, indicates that Motherwell probably painted over an earlier composition that was related to a 1975 work of similar dimensions, Goya’s Dog (Sketch) (p861). The final title of this work would then be a pun on the physical disappearance of the earlier Goya’s Dog through its repainting. (There is, however, no visual record of a previous version.)
c865
c865
Eclipse 1990 Acrylic, pasted papers, and crayon on canvas mounted on panel 47½ x 25½ in. (120.7 x 64.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 90
c866
References Dayde 1990, color illus. p. 19.
c866
Comments This collage includes a fragment from a 1990 print, The Poet’s Eye (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 493). Its title refers to a total eclipse of the sun that occurred on July 22, 1990.
1990 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas mounted on panel 47 x 35 in. (119.4 x 88.9 cm)
Memory of Delos
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 90
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3574
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3567
Present Owner Private collection. Courtesy of Hall Galleries, Dallas
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; James Goodman Gallery, New York, 2001; Solomon & Company Fine Art, Inc., 2001; private collection; private collection Solo Exhibitions Artcurial Centre d’Art Plastique Contemporain, Paris, 1990 (traveling), Paris, color illus. p. 44. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 27 (color illus. in brochure).
Comments This collage and a 1991 print called Delos (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 525) are both related to a 1990 painting on paper, Study for Memory of Delos (w722). An unfinished late painting on canvas employs similar imagery (see p1208). Both the title and the imagery of these works refer to the stone phalluses on the Stoivadeion temple dedicated to Dionysus on the Greek island of Delos.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Leslie Feely Fine Art, LLC, New York, 2001; private collection, New Jersey, 2001; private collection, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Artcurial Centre d’Art Plastique Contemporain, Paris, 1990 (traveling), Paris, color illus. p. 47. References Caws 2003, color illus. p. 18 (ill. 10, in studio, in early state).
collag e s
393
c867
c868
c867
c868
c869
Summertime: Delos
Delos
Untitled
1990 Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on canvas mounted on panel 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1990 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1990 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 90
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 90
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3669
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3588
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3579
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments This collage includes fragments of a 1990 print, Seaside Studio (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 495).
394
collages
Comments This collage includes fragments from the prints The Cavern, 1989, and The Poet’s Eye, 1990 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 491 and 493).
c869
c870
c870
c871
Untitled
Summertime: Provincetown
1990 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1990 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas mounted on panel 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 90
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3672; p90-3672
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3644
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Collection of William and Marjorie Staples
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1989 print, The Cavern (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 491).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; M. Morando, 2001; private collection, 2001; William and Marjorie Staples, 2006
c871
Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1990 print, Seaside Studio (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 495), and sheet music from Mozart’s Sonata movement in G minor, Allegro, for piano (k. 312).
c872
c872
{ Title unknown} Ca. 1990 Acrylic and pasted paper on board (?) 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm), approx. Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Present Owner Unknown Provenance The artist Comments This collage is only known from a transparency taken in Motherwell’s studio. We do not know whether it still exists in the form illustrated here.
References Boeing World Headquarters 2003, color illus. p. 76.
collag e s
395
c873
c874
c873
c874
c875
Summertime
Untitled
Marine Venus
1990 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Ca. 1990 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
1974/1990 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas board 30 x 12 in. (76.2 x 30.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 90
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3627
Artist’s Studio Number c-3825
Verso (on backing board) [painted over]: [illegible] \ [illegible] Motherwell
Present Owner Collection of William and Marjorie Staples
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Verso (on backing board): Robert Motherwell \ August, 1974
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Artist’s Studio Number c74-1961
Comments This collage was left unsigned and undated at the time of Motherwell’s death. The inclusion of a fragment from a 1989 print, The Cavern (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 491), which was also used in c869 and c870, has led us to date this work to 1990.
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2001; William and Marjorie Staples, 2006 References Boeing World Headquarters 2003, color illus. p. 77.
396
c ollages
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, December 2005 (traveling), cat. no. 8.
c875
Comments An early version of this work was begun in 1974. In 1990 Motherwell revised it, adding fragments from a 1990 print, The Poet’s Eye, and from 1990 proofs of Window (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 493 and 515).
c876
c877
c876
c877
[ Untitled (In Blue with Brown on Beige)]
[ The Blue Guitar (To Wallace Stevens)]
1990 Acrylic, pasted papers, oil stick, and graphite on canvas mounted on panel 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
1990 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 90
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Verso (upside down) [circled]: [Robert Motherwell \ 1990]
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3620
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3617
Present Owner Private collection
Comments This collage includes a fragment of a 1990 print, Seaside Studio (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 495). The title refers to both the Wallace Stevens poem “The Man with the Blue Guitar” (1937) and Picasso’s Old Guitarist (see fig. 151 in volume 1), which had inspired the Stevens poem. Motherwell also gave this title to another collage (c889). This work served as the model for a 1991 print, Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 530), one of the last prints on which Motherwell worked.
Present Owner Collection of Jancy and Gilbert Patrick, North Carolina
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005; private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005; Jancy and Gilbert Patrick, North Carolina
Solo Exhibitions William Shearburn Gallery, Saint Louis, 2004, cat. no. 8.
Comments This collage served as the model for a 1991 print, Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 527), one of the last prints on which Motherwell worked.
Group Exhibitions Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, New York, 1995, cat. no. 37, illus. p. 16.
c878
c878
Untitled 1990 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell \ 90 Artist’s Studio Number c90-3619 Present Owner Mark Schnuck Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mark Schnuck, 2001 Comments This collage was the model for a 1991 print, Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 528), one of the last prints on which Motherwell worked.
collag e s
397
c879
c880
c879
c880
c881
Untitled
Untitled
Mozart Rondo
1990 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1990 Acrylic, pasted papers, and charcoal on canvas mounted on panel 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
1990–91 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 19¼ x 15¼ in. (48.9 x 38.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 91
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3618
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3621
Artist’s Studio Number c90-3568; c90-3571; c91-3571
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Collection of Joanne Gold & Andrew Stern
Present Owner Private collection, Minneapolis
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments This collage was the model for a 1991 print, Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 532), one of the last prints on which Motherwell worked.
398
collages
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Joanne Gold & Andrew Stern, 2003 Comments This collage was the model for a 1991 print, Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 529), one of the last prints on which Motherwell worked.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Minneapolis, 2000 Group Exhibitions Century Club, New York, 1994. Comments This collage includes a fragment from a 1990 print, The Poet’s Eye (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 493), and sheet music from Mozart’s Rondo in A minor, for piano (k. 511). Although the collage was begun in 1990, it went through
several revisions, ranging from predominantly ochre to predominantly red, and finally to blue, before it was completed in 1991. It served as the model for a 1991 print, Mozart Rondo (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 531).
c881
c882
Creature 1973/1991 Acrylic, pasted paper, and graphite on Upson board 23½ x 12 in. (59.7 x 30.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 73 Artist’s Studio Number c73-1341 Present Owner Collection Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, and Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, and Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, 2007 Comments An early version of this collage, begun in 1973, had a label from Dry Humour Port affixed to its center, relating it to the Gauloises collages Motherwell did
during the 1970s. According to the studio card for this work, Motherwell painted over the collage element and gave the work its present title in 1991.
c883
c882
c883
M 1991 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 22½ x 18½ in. (57.2 x 47 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
and screen-print poster made for the Mostly Mozart Festival held at Lincoln Center, New York, during the summer of 1991. (This composition was chosen over a related composition, c884.) The title of this work refers to the large, black M-shaped form it contains, and to Mozart.
Artist’s Studio Number c91-3641 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 References Caws 2003, color illus. p. 18 (ill. 10, in studio, in progress). Comments This collage contains sheet music from Mozart’s Rondo in A minor, for piano (k. 511), and a fragment from the same red paper used in M (c884) and in Fantasia III (c885). This collage was used as the maquette for Mostly Mozart (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 526), a lithograph
collag e s
399
c884
c886
c885
c884
c885
c886
c887
M
Fantasia III
{ Untitled (with Stamps)}
In Yellow with Calligraphy
1991 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 22½ x 18½ in. (57.2 x 47 cm)
1991 Acrylic and pasted papers on paper 22½ x 17¾ in. (57.2 x 45.1 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
1991 Pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
1989/1991 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on Masonite 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number c91-3640
Artist’s Studio Number c91-3639
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 91
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell \ 89
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number c91-3647
Artist’s Studio Number c89-3513
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Margot Stein
Present Owner Private collection
Comments This collage incorporates sheet music from Mozart’s Rondo in D, for piano (k. 485), and a fragment from the same red paper seen in Fantasia III (c885). It was one of two maquettes Motherwell made for a poster to be used by the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, New York, during the summer of 1991. In the end, Motherwell chose the other composition (c883) as the maquette for the poster. The title of the work refers the large, black M-shaped form it contains, and to Mozart.
Comments This collage incorporates fragments of sheet music from Mozart’s Rondo in D, for piano (k. 485; in the upper part) and from the Prelude from Mozart’s Prelude (Fantasia) and Fugue in C, for piano (k. 394/383a; in the lower part). The red collage element is torn from the same sheet of paper as the red form in the 1991 collages titled M (c883 and c884), which very likely were conceived as Fantasia I and II.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Eric Cohler, 2007; [Doyle, New York, May 19, 2009, lot 161, illus.]; Margot Stein, 2009
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003
400
collages
Solo Exhibitions Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2006, cat. no. 24. Comments This collage includes postage stamps from Spain and a wrapping envelope stamped by the Spanish national postal service.
Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, [June] 1989, cat. no. 14 (shown in early state). Comments This collage incorporates parts of a 1984 aquatint, Untitled (State I) (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 325). The composition of the collage was set in 1989. That early version, which contained a central blue area with yellow paint around the edges, was
c887
exhibited at Knoedler & Company during the summer of 1989. After the work was returned to Motherwell in April 1991, he revised the ground, painting blue over what had been the yellow ground and adding yellow ochres to the area near the center.
c888
c888
c889
Summertime with Black Clouds
The Blue Guitar
1991 Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on panel 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 91 Artist’s Studio Number c91-3648 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003
1990–91 Acrylic, pasted papers, and crayon on canvas mounted on panel 47 x 24 in. (119.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Artist’s Studio Number c90-3573 Present Owner Jeannie Motherwell Provenance Jeannie Motherwell, 1992; [Robert W. Skinner, Boston, November 21, 2003, lot 593, illus. (not sold)] Solo Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., August 1991.
c889
Comments This collage includes most of a page of a manuscript of the conductor’s score for Purgatory, an unpublished work for large orchestra written around 1987 by Chambliss Giobbi, the son of Motherwell’s friend, the artist Edward Giobbi. Chambliss Giobbi recalls having given Motherwell this manuscript in 1987 or 1988. According to the elder Giobbi, this was the last collage completed by Motherwell (see Forman 1991d). The title, which refers to Wallace Stevens’s poem “The Man with the Blue Guitar” (1937) and to Picasso’s Old Guitarist (see fig. 151 in volume 1), was also used for The Blue Guitar (To Wallace Stevens) (c877).
References Forman 1991d, sec. C, p. 1, illus. sec. C, p. 1.
collag e s
401
Paintings on Paper and Paperboard
w1
w1
Untitled 1942 Oil (?), charcoal, and graphite on paperboard 20 x 15⅛ in. (50.8 x 38.4 cm)
painting affected me very much in 1942, but partly against my will or wish” (see Motherwell 1992, p. 238).
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell 1942 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Walter Pistole, ca. 1945; Estate of Walter Pistole, 1994; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 7, 1997, lot 227, illus.]; private collection, 1997 Comments The gridlike geometric structure in this painting, and in other works by Motherwell done during the early 1940s (see p4–p10), reflects the impact of his first encounters with the paintings of Piet Mondrian, who first showed in New York at the Valentine Gallery in January–February 1942. In a 1980 letter to the art historian Yve-Alain Bois, Motherwell stated, “Mondrian’s
404
p ain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
w2
w2
Personage 1945 Oil and tempera on paper 20¼ x 11¼ in. (51.4 x 28.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell 45 Artist’s Studio Number p45-5146 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1945; Mr. and Mrs. John Murray Cuddihy, 1954; [Christie’s, New York, May 6, 1982, lot 12, illus.]; Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, 1982; private collection, ca. 1982 Solo Exhibitions Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 5. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 9, color illus. p. 59; shown in Buffalo and San Francisco only.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 6. Group Exhibitions Brooklyn Museum, 1947, cat. no. 54.
w3
w3
Untitled Alternative Title: Florida (?) 1945 Tempera on paperboard 20 x 15 in. (50.8 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Robert Motherwell 1945 Verso not seen [“Florida 1945,” per studio card] Present Owner Unknown Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1945; unknown owner; Dr. and Mrs. Norman Laskey; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, May 19, 1976, lot 28, illus.]; unknown owner, 1976; Solomon & Company Fine Art, Inc., 1983; unknown owner Group Exhibitions Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., 1981, cat. no. 55, illus. p. 56.
w4
Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., 2000, color illus. p. 36.
w4
References Mattison 1985b, illus. n.p. (fig. 129, as Abstraction).
1945 Oil and sand on paperboard 28⅛ x 36 in. (71.4 x 91.4 cm)
Comments Motherwell and his wife Maria traveled to Florida with William and Ethel Baziotes in April 1945, and stayed for approximately one month. His stated interest in traveling to Florida was the experience of “southern light” (Museum of Modern Art exh. cat. 1965, p. 74). Motherwell painted this work during that trip, and the word Florida, which is said to be inscribed on the verso of the work and which appears on the back of a black-andwhite photograph of it, may have been meant as its title.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell
Comments According to information from the records of the André Emmerich Gallery, there is an unfinished painting on the verso of this work, but we have not been able to verify this (André Emmerich Gallery records and André Emmerich papers, Archives of American Art).
In the Night
Artist’s Studio Number p45-5147 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1945; private collection; unknown owner Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 1946 (traveling), cat. no. 69; shown in New York only. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 1946, cat. no. 111. Columbia Museum of Art, S.C., 1950 (traveling), cat. no. 26.
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
405
w5
w5
Blue Air Alternative Title: Blue Window 1946 Oil on paperboard 41½ x 28⅜ in. (105.4 x 72.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell 46 Artist’s Studio Number p46-5057 Present Owner Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966 Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1946; private collection; [Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, February 6, 1957, lot 61]; Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1957; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1966 Group Exhibitions Trabia-Morris Gallery, New York, 1962, erroneously as Blue Aire. 406
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1974, cat. no. 700, color illus. p. 483. Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., 1978 (traveling); shown in Ithaca and New York only. Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, New York, 1995, cat. no. 36, illus. p. 15. Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, 2007, color illus. p. 373. References New York Post 1978, illus. sec. B, p. 121 (detail); Mattison 1985b, pp. 178–79, illus. n.p. (fig. 154); Mattison 1987, p. 147, illus. p. 155 (fig. 61). Comments In a letter to Motherwell dated September 3, 1974, Charles W. Millard, then a curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, reported that “Blue Window” is inscribed on the verso of this work, but that backing board has now been removed. In
p ain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
w6
Motherwell’s response to Millard’s questions regarding the true title of the work, he confirmed his preference for the title Blue Air.
w6
The Blue Sun Alternative Title: Coca Cola Sun (?) 1946 Oil on paperboard 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: Motherwell 46 Verso: “the blue sun” \ R. Motherwell 1946 Artist’s Studio Number p46-4 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. Group Exhibitions Municipal Art Center, Long Beach, Calif., 1952, as Coca Cola Sun (?).
w7
Comments This work may have been exhibited as Coca Cola Sun in Long Beach, California, in October 1952. The phrase “Coca-Cola sun” was part of Motherwell’s vocabulary as early as the summer of 1942, when he wrote to his friend, the composer Livingston Gearhart, about Provincetown: “The townspeople seem ‘real’ and I do not, as though I were only an actor, who had wandered into the dusty Coca-cola sun of Main Street, and who, in leaving the stage, had left his reality” (in a letter dated June 9, 1942; see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). When Motherwell’s first wife, Maria, was shown an image of this painting in 2004, she noted the presence of what she called “Coca-Cola blue,” which she related to Coca-Cola advertisements in Mexico during the 1940s.
w8
w7
w8
Clown
Arizona
1946 Oil and gouache on paperboard 19 x 8½ in. (48.3 x 21.6 cm)
1947 Oil on cardboard 11½ x 11½ in. (29.2 x 29.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM 47
Present Owner Collection of Shelby and Frances Curlee
Artist’s Studio Number p47-5151
Provenance Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1946; Lucille Curlee Gostomski, ca. 1950; Shelby and Frances Curlee, 1984 Group Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, March 1946.
Beyond Painting and corresponding with Ernst and Dorothea Tanning, who were building a home together in Sedona, Arizona. This composition refers to the imagery of Hopi Kachina dolls. Motherwell had acquired a Kachina from Max Ernst around this time; it is visible in fig. 194 in volume 1.
Present Owner Collection of Drs. Gloria and Ben Engel Provenance Private collection; Stevens Gallery, Beverly Hills, Calif.; Gloria and Ben Engel, 1988 References Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 108 (pl. 118a); Mattison 1985b, illus. n.p. (fig. 171, as Untitled [Arizona]); Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 74; Caws 2003, color illus. p. 8 (ill. 2). Comments At the time he painted this work, Motherwell was editing Max Ernst’s
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
407
w9
w9
Dirge Alternative Title: Black and Red 1948–49 Oil, casein, and graphite on paperboard 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: Motherwell 48
Provenance Private collection; private collection, 1983; Irving C. Deal, 1984; private collection, 1988; private collection, 1988 solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, November 1950, sec. C, cat. no. 4, as Black and Red.
Recto, lower right: Motherwell 48
Group Exhibitions Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, 1983.
Verso [partially covered by remounting]: dirge [illegible]
Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, 1984.
Verso [circled]: Robert Motherwell \ 1949 \ [1533]
References Klein 1984, pp. 37–38.
Artist’s Studio Number p48-5161
Comments In this work, Motherwell utilizes a compositional structure first employed in his 1945–47 painting In Yellow and Black (p46). A similar composition also
Present Owner Private collection
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appears in a 1946–47 collage, Montauk Montage (c41), and in a 1948 ink drawing called Sailor’s Cemetery (see fig. 43 in volume 1). Both the looming black forms in this picture and the title Dirge suggest some of the ideas and concerns that Motherwell would more fully explore in his Elegy to the Spanish Republic series, the first works of which were painted in 1948–49. In fact, this work was done around the same time as the first Elegy painting, At Five in the Afternoon (w10); in both works Motherwell originally painted the dominant forms a pale blue before painting them over in black. The circled “1533” inscribed on the verso in the artist’s hand refers to the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery inventory number for this work.
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At Five in the Afternoon Alternative Titles: Five in the Afternoon; At Five in the Afternoon. Sketch 1948–49 Casein and graphite on paperboard 15 x 20 in. (38.1 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell 49 Verso (on backing board): Robert Motherwell \ 1949 \ “five in the afternoon” \ casein Verso (on label) [revised]: the [first] second of the “elegy to \ the spanish republic” series \ 1949 Robert Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number p49-5064 Present Owner Helen Frankenthaler
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Provenance Helen Frankenthaler, 1971
Gallery Kimura, Ginza, Tokyo, 1959, illus. n.p.
Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, November 1950, sec. A, cat. no. 4, as At Five in the Afternoon. Sketch.
Jewish Museum, New York, 1963.
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio, 1952, cat. no. 8. Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, 1961, cat. no. 9, illus. n.p. Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 14. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 5, illus. n.p. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 21, illus. p. 36; Amsterdam, cat. no. 20, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 20; Turin, cat. no. 20, illus. p. 79 (pl. 19). Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 1, illus. n.p.; Caracas, cat. no. 56, illus. n.p.; Bogotá, cat. no. 56, illus. n.p.; Mexico City, cat. no. 1, illus. p. 23. Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 47. Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 11, illus. p. 100. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 17, illus. p. 35; shown in Buffalo only. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 39. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1992, cat. no. 2. Knoedler & Company, New York, 1994, cat. no. 5 (replaced mid-show). Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. I.2, color illus. p. 97 (pl. 1); shown in New York only. Group Exhibitions Gallery 200, Provincetown, Mass., 1949. Städtisches Museum Schloß Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 1954, cat. no. 51, illus. n.p. United States Pavilion, Brussels World’s Fair, 1958 (traveling), Brussels, cat. no. 142; London, cat. no. 30, illus. n.p.; as Five in the Afternoon. 410
Wollman Hall, New School Art Center, New York, 1964, cat. no. 37. Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1964, cat. no. 24, cover illus. Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1965, illus. n.p., as Five in the Afternoon. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 142. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978, cat. no. 2, illus. p. 98 (fig. 3). References de Kooning 1949, p. 2; Motherwell 1951, illus. p. 21; Alloway 1960, p. 51, illus. p. 59 (fig. 8); Vogue 1961, color illus. p. 90; Motherwell in Smith College Museum of Art exh. cat. 1963, n.p.; Hudson 1964, p. 28; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum exh. cat. January 1964, illus. p. 69; Hudson 1965, sec. G, p. 7; Lipton 1965, illus. p. 1; O’Hara 1965b, p. 264; Arnason 1966a, p. 35, illus. p. 31 (fig. 20); Arnason 1966b, pp. 19, 20, 25–26; Baro 1966b, illus. p. 37; Bernardi 1966, p. 5; Melville 1966, p. 478; Schneede 1966, p. 32; Frankenstein 1967a, p. 26; Frankenstein 1967b, illus. p. 37; Rose 1967, p. 181, illus. p. 178 (ill. 6-29); Arnason 1968, p. 507, illus. p. 506 (fig. 871); Herner de Schmelz 1968, illus. p. 13, as Five in the Afternoon; Arnason 1969, p. 51, illus. p. 50; Alloway 1970–71, p. 30; Sandler 1970, p. 206, illus. p. 207 (fig. 16-6); Close 1972a, sec. B, p. 2, illus. sec. B, p. 2; Close 1972b; D[avis] 1972, p. 69; Friend 1973, p. 19; Musée Galliera exh. cat. 1974, illus. p. 70; O’Hara 1975, pp. 74, 76, illus. p. 75 (fig. 4); Rose 1975, p. 154, illus. p. 152 (ill. 6-25); Carmean 1976, p. 95; Schmidt 1976, p. 78; Arnason 1977a, p. 535, illus. p. 535 (fig. 922); Arnason 1977b, pp. 26, 28, 30–31, 108, illus. n.p. (pl. 80); Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris exh. cat. 1977, illus. n.p.; Pleynet 1977, pp. 194, 195–96; Power 1977, p. 618; Carmean 1978, pp. 97, 99, 119, illus. p. 98 (fig. 3); Fineberg 1978, pp. 53, 55, 56, illus. p. 57; Ashton 1980, p. 8; Moore 1980, illus. p. 3; Anderson 1981, pp. 110, 148, 159, 215, 222; [Pleynet] 1981, pp. 23–24; Arnason 1982, pp. 13,
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26, 28, 30–31, 120, illus. p. 117 (pl. 131); Ashton 1983, p. 34, illus. p. 35; Clarke 1983, p. 13; Meewis 1983, p. 199, illus. n.p.; O’Hara 1983, p. 177; Collins 1984, p. 94, illus. p. 95 (fig. 3); Drudi 1984, p. 14; Duffy 1984, pp. 60, 92; Fairburn 1984, p. 4; Knight 1984, sec. E, p. 3; Regan 1984, sec. Review, p. 12; Gaugh 1985, p. 74; Kimball 1985, p. 35; Mattison 1985b, pp. 234, 239–43, illus. n.p. (fig. 214); McGill 1985b, illus. p. 7; Rosand 1985, p. 93; Arnason 1986, p. 406, illus. p. 407 (fig. 601); Pleynet 1986, pp. 79–81, 83; Brunet-Weinmann 1987, p. 41; Mattison 1987, pp. 200, 203, 204, 205, illus. p. 211 (fig. 82); Oppler 1988, p. 117; Brooker 1989, p. 63, illus. p. 67 (fig. 2); Motherwell in Enright 1989, p. 15; Pleynet 1989b, pp. 32, 36, 38, color illus. p. 80; Flam 1991, pp. 21–23, color illus. n.p. (pl. 21); Jennings 1991, p. 19, illus. p. 19; Polcari 1991, p. 314, illus. p. 314 (fig. 253); Kingsley 1992, pp. 27, 307–9, 313, illus. p. 308; Terenzio 1992b, p. 114; Gooch 1993, p. 446; Taylor 1993, p. 18; Franzke 1994, p. 7, color illus. p. 4 (fig. 3); Falgàs 1995, pp. 19, 25, 28, 29, 33, illus. p. 26 (fig. 2); Fineberg 1995, pp. 70, 71, illus. p. 71 (fig. 3.33); Pleynet 1995, pp. 102–3, 112; Centre National d’Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou exh. cat. 1996, illus. p. 272; Qin 1996, pp. 13, 16, 38, 44, illus. p. 67 (fig. 1); Rosand 1997, p. 20, color illus. p. 97 (pl. 1); Tesch and Hollmann 1997, p. 144; Pleynet 1998, pp. 94, 96, 100; Scott and Rutkoff 1999, p. 307, as Five O’Clock in the Afternoon; Fineberg 2000, pp. 70–71, illus. p. 71 (fig. 3.33); Richardson 2001, p. 251; Wentrup 2001, pp. 58–59, 65, illus. (fig. 28); Anfam 2002, pp. 114, 163, illus. p. 114 (fig. 82); Engberg and Banach 2003, p. 44, illus. p. 44 (fig. 15); Foster et al. 2004, p. 352, color illus. p. 352 (fig. 3); Museum Morsbroich exh. cat. 2004, illus. p. 140; Metropolitan Museum of Art exh. cat. 2007, color illus. p. 162 (fig. 35); Haxall 2009, p. 162. Comments This small work on paperboard is the first painting in what would become Motherwell’s Elegy to the Spanish Republic series. It is based on an ink drawing (now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art; see fig. 44 in volume 1) that he created in 1948, which included words from a poem by Harold Rosenberg, “A Bird for Every
Bird,” as part of the composition (see Chronology). The importance of that drawing to Motherwell was made emphatic when he retroactively gave it the title Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 1. At Five in the Afternoon occupies an even more crucial place within Motherwell’s oeuvre than the drawing. According to Motherwell, he began this painting toward the end of 1948, when he recognized the potential of the central motif of the drawing and decided to make an enlarged, painted version of it, without the text from the Rosenberg poem. Initially, what are now the black forms were painted entirely in light blue; a small area of this blue is still visible at the upper right. But shortly after Motherwell completed the blue version, he decided to reconceive the picture entirely in black and white. Motherwell titled the painting At Five in the Afternoon, evoking the opening lines and refrain from Federico García Lorca’s poem “Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías” (Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías), which refers to the time of day when the famed bullfighter Mejías was mortally wounded: “A las cinco de la tarde. / Eran las cinco en punto de la tarde” (At five in the afternoon. / It was exactly five in the afternoon). This painting was the first work in which Motherwell explicitly associated Lorca with the imagery he would explore in his Elegy to the Spanish Republic series. Motherwell frequently kept the first painting in a series. He held on to this work until 1971, when it went to Helen Frankenthaler as part of their divorce settlement. The loss of this seminal work drove him to re-create it on a much larger scale in 1971 (see p647).
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Spanish Prison III 1949 Oil, gouache, and graphite on paper 11½ x 14¾ in. (29.2 x 37.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 49 Artist’s Studio Number d51-5167; d52-5029 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1952 Group Exhibitions Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Mass., 1993, erroneously as Untitled (Study for Spanish Elegy). Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, Mass., 2003, erroneously as Untitled (Study for Spanish Elegy).
Elegies”); Hobbs 1975b, pp. 215–16, illus. n.p. (pl. 16); Seitz 1983, pp. 22–23, 29, 89, 126, illus. n.p. (fig. 180, erroneously as Study for “Spanish Elegies”). Comments Motherwell’s designation of this work as Spanish Prison III links it with two early unnumbered works, The Little Spanish Prison (p3) and The Spanish Prison (Window) (p12). This connection makes explicit the thematic and formal relationships between those early works and the Elegy to the Spanish Republic series. In the introduction to the catalogue of his 1950 solo exhibition at the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, Motherwell wrote that The Spanish Prison (Window) was “the first of the ‘Spanish Elegies.’ ”
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Comments The leaflike black form at the center of this composition was a common motif in Motherwell’s paintings of the early 1950s (see, for example, Black Plant and Window, p103). It was probably derived from leaf-shaped forms in Matisse’s late works.
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Still Life with Yellow and White 1950 Oil on paperboard 23⅜ x 29¼ in. (59.4 x 74.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM 50 Artist’s Studio Number p50-1457 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, April 1952, cat. no. 7. References Guild Hall Museum exh. cat. 1986, illus. p. 13 (in exhibition).
References Faison 1952b, p. 392; Samuel M. Kootz Gallery exh. cat. April 1952, back cover illus.; Seitz 1955, illus. n.p. (fig. 167, erroneously as Study for “Spanish
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411
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[ Untitled (Pink Figure)]
The Ark
Ca. 1951 Oil and crayon on paper 26 x 18 in. (66 x 45.7 cm)
1951 Oil and graphite on paperboard 20½ x 29¾ in. (52.1 x 75.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R.M.
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Artist’s Studio Number d50-2350
Artist’s Studio Number p51-1108; p51-1108b
Present Owner Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Gift of the Dedalus Foundation and John Lambert Fund, 1994.6.2
Present Owner The Jewish Museum, New York. Museum purchase with funds provided by Philip and Lynn Straus in memory of Joy Ungerleider-Mayerson and gift of the Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1994 Comments The figurative element in this work is closely related to a similar motif in Interior with Nude (p121) and other paintings done around 1951.
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Comments This work is related to the mural that Motherwell was commissioned to paint for the main entry of the Congregation B’nai Israel synagogue in Millburn, New Jersey. Regarding the iconography of the mural, see the Comments for Wall of the Temple (p114); the mural was first painted in a blue harmony similar to the colors in this work.
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Ulysses 1947–51 Oil on paperboard 37½ x 29½ in. (95.3 x 74.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Verso: “Ulysses” (oil) \ Robert Motherwell \ 1947–51 Present Owner Montclair Art Museum. Museum purchase; National Endowment for the Arts Museum Purchase Plan, 1974.8
Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, April 1952, cat. no. 5.
Provenance Unknown owner, ca. 1951; [ParkeBernet Galleries, Inc., New York, March 16, 1960, lot 94, illus.]; unknown owner, 1960; Robert Dain; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., Los Angeles, February 27, 1974, lot 383, illus.]; Montclair Art Museum, N.J., 1974
Group Exhibitions Parish House, Church of the Ascension, New York, 1953.
Group Exhibitions Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 1994, cat. no. 115, color illus. p. 163.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jewish Museum, New York, 1995
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References Montclair Art Museum Bulletin 1974, n.p., cover illus.; Montclair Art Museum 1977, illus. p. 200 (cat. 241); Mattison 1987, illus. p. 173 (fig. 68). Comments This work is very closely related to a 1947 painting on an unusual, construction-like support of paperboard and wood, Ulysses (p69). The inscription “1947–51” on the verso of this work suggests that it was started in 1947 and reworked in 1951. But it is also possible that it was a 1951 reprise of the 1947 composition, this time on a more traditional support. On the recto of this work, at the lower center, Motherwell has incised the letters Uly in a flowing script, apparently meant as the first three letters of “Ulysses.” This second version of Ulysses makes explicit what is not immediately clear in the looser brushwork of the 1947 original: that the figure in both works appears to be wearing a bronze helmet.
In his response to a 1974 questionnaire about this painting from the Montclair Art Museum, Motherwell wrote, “Subject is imaginary. For the artist Ulysses symbolizes an odyssee [sic] towards self-realisation and also has to the artist something of the horror and fright of the Greeks captured by Cyclops” (see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography).
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New Gallery, Bennington College, Vt., 1959, cat. no. 14, as Pregnant Nude Holding Child.
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Pregnant Woman Holding Child
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating).
Alternative Titles: The Artist’s Wife Pregnant, Holding Another Child; Pregnant Nude Holding Child 1953 Casein and ink on paper 10 x 8½ in. (25.4 x 21.6 cm)
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 2; Caracas, cat. no. 57, illus. n.p.; Bogotá, cat. no. 57; Mexico City, cat. no. 2, illus. p. 26.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 53
Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 15, color illus. p. 67, illus. p. 102.
Artist’s Studio Number d53-1533 Present Owner National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. The Nancy Lee and Perry Bass Fund, 1999.55.3 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1999 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, May 1957, cat. no. 1, as The Artist’s Wife Pregnant, Holding Another Child.
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, illus. n.p. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 3 (brochure); cat. no. 3 (catalogue). Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 10, illus. n.p.; illus. n.p. (in exhibition). Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987.
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Group Exhibitions Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1965. Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, N.Y., 1980 (traveling), cat. no. 33. Knoedler & Company, New York, September 1986, cat. no. 4, erroneously as Pregnant Mother Holding Child. References O’Brien 1962, illus. sec. Magazine, pt. 1, p. 52 (installation view); Arnason 1966b, illus. p. 23; Boston University Journal 1973, illus. p. 43; Arnason 1977b, p. 49, illus. n.p. (pl. 97, in studio), color illus. n.p. (pl. 98); Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Pleynet 1977, p. 197; Tennant 1979, p. 14; Preston 1980, pt. 2, p. 31; Anderson 1981, p. 230, as Pregnant Woman; [Pleynet] 1981, p. 24; Arnason 1982, p. 49, illus. p. 49 (pl. 40); Seitz 1983, pp. 23–24, 52, illus. n.p. (fig. 193); Glenn 1984, color illus. p. 88 (installation view); Pleynet 1986, p. 83; Pleynet 1989b, pp. 38–39, 44, color illus. p. 36; Flam 1991, p. 9,
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erroneously as Woman Holding a Child, color illus. n.p. (pl. 25).
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Comments This work was first exhibited at the Sidney Janis Gallery in 1957 under the title The Artist’s Wife Pregnant, Holding Another Child. It was subsequently exhibited at Bennington College in 1959 as Pregnant Nude Holding Child, and thereafter as Pregnant Woman Holding Child. As the original title suggests, the work was inspired by the pregnancy of Motherwell’s wife Betty with their first daughter Jeannie, who was born on January 28, 1953. The other child, referred to in the earliest title of this work, was Betty’s daughter by her first husband. In 1953, Motherwell also painted four canvases on the theme of the pregnant nude (see p141–p144).
Alternative Title: Spanish Elegy XXV-B 1953 Oil and graphite on paperboard 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm)
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Spanish Elegy XIV (Palamos)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R.M. 53 Present Owner Goucher College Art Collection, Baltimore. Gift of Mrs. Henry Epstein, 1966 Provenance Mrs. Henry Epstein, 1958; Goucher College Art Collection, Baltimore, 1965 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, April 1953. Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, 1992, color illus. p. 21, as Spanish Elegy XXV B. Group Exhibitions Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., 1954.
Goucher College, Baltimore, 1963, cat. no. 50, illus. p. 35, as Spanish Elegy XXV-B. Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, 1964, cat. no. 25, illus. n.p., as Spanish Elegy XXV B. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1965, cat. no. 65, illus. p. 136, erroneously as Elegy to the Spanish Republic XXXVB. B. R. Kornblatt Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1981, cat. no. 6, illus. n.p., as Spanish Elegy XXV B. References Kozloff 1965a, illus. p. 36, erroneously as Elegy to the Spanish Republic XXXVB; Galerie im Erker exh. cat. 1971, illus p. 11 (in studio); Hobbs 1975b, p. 237. Comments Spanish Elegy XIV (Palamos) was the first work to be given a number in Motherwell’s Elegy to the Spanish Republic series. The subtitle refers to Palamos, a town located on the Costa Brava, in the Catalan province of Girona. By the late 1950s the original
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title of this work, Spanish Elegy XIV (Palamos), under which it had been shown in 1953 and 1954, had been overlooked or forgotten. The painting was consigned in 1958 to the Sidney Janis Gallery as Spanish Elegy XXV-B, and it was subsequently sold and shown under that title. We have restored the original title of the work, which more accurately reflects its place among the Elegies painted in 1953. Motherwell’s solo exhibition at the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery in April 1953, where this work was first shown, marked the first public presentation of works from his Elegy to the Spanish Republic series in which the works were given numbers. In addition to Spanish Elegy XIV (Palamos), Motherwell also showed Spanish Elegy (Alcaraz) XV (p148), Spanish Elegy XVI (Molina de Segura) (a 1953 ink-on-paper drawing; fig. 53 in volume 1), and Spanish Elegy XVII (Segura) (p149). In the titles of these works, Motherwell continued his previous practice of using city names for works in the Elegy series, which he had begun in 1949 with Granada (p86)
and Málaga (p91), but he now numbered them with Roman numerals. (In his 1952 solo exhibition at the Kootz Gallery, he had tried another variation in the format of the titles by having “España” in parentheses follow the city name: for example, Andújar (España); see p128 and p130–p132.) In 1961, Motherwell retroactively numbered the drawing that had inspired the series as a whole, calling it Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 1 (see fig. 44 in volume 1), which is the only number lower than 14 in the series. Despite the small size of Spanish Elegy XIV (Palamos), it served as a catalyst for several large-scale paintings done during the latter half of the 1950s, such as Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 58 (p218) and Diary of a Painter (p169) (see fig. 207 in volume 1).
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Comments The title Elegy Study was given to this work in 1983. This painting may have been revised around 1958.
Elegy Study 1954 Oil on paperboard 26½ x 39½ in. (67.3 x 100.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 54 Artist’s Studio Number p54-1474 Present Owner Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchased with funds from an anonymous donor, with support from the Dedalus Foundation, 1998 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1998 Solo Exhibitions Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1992, cat. no. 4. Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1983, cat. no. 15.
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Fishes with Red Stripe 1952–54 Oil on paper mounted on board 42½ x 41¼ in. (108 x 104.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Verso not seen [“signed, inscribed with title, and dated 1954 on the reverse,” per Christie’s 1987] Artist’s Studio Number p54-5169 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Mr. and Mrs. John Murray Cuddihy, 1955; [Christie’s, New York, November 3, 1978, lot 10, illus.]; Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, 1978; private collection, 1980; [Christie’s, New York, November 3, 1987, lot 14, illus. (not sold)]; private collection, 1987 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, May 1957, cat. no. 4. Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, 1961, cat. no. 11, illus. n.p. Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 19. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 7, illus. n.p. New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 26, illus. p. 80; Amsterdam, cat. no. 22, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 22; Turin, cat. no. 22, illus. p. 80 (pl. 20/B). Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 4, illus. n.p.; Caracas, cat. no. 59; Bogotá, cat. no. 59; Mexico City, cat. no. 4. Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 16, illus. p. 102. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, illus. n.p. Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1977. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 7.
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Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 24, color illus. p. 14, erroneously as Fishes with Red Stripes; not shown in Washington, D.C. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 19. Group Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1955 (traveling), illus. p. 59. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1958 (circulating), Madrid, cat. no. 47; Amsterdam, cat. no. 47; Brussels, cat. no. 47; Paris, cat. no. 46; London, cat. no. 46; not shown in New York. American Federation of Arts, New York, 1968 (circulating), cat. no. 21, illus. n.p. References Goodrich et al. 1957, illus. p. 250; Seldis 1962b, illus. sec. A, p. 24; Motherwell in Smith College Museum of Art exh. cat. 1963, n.p.; Edgar 1965, p. 39, illus. p. 40 (fig. 4); Arnason 1966b, pp. 27, 28, 31, illus. p. 23; Arnason 1977b, pp. 33, 37, 50, illus. n.p. (pl. 91); Hilton 1978, p. 63; Arnason 1982, pp. 33, 37, 50, color illus. p. 127 (pl. 138); Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 127; Motherwell in Albright-Knox Art Gallery exh. cat. 1983, p. 13, color illus. p. 14, erroneously as Fishes with Red Stripes; Baitz 1984, sec. Reader’s Guide, p. 15, illus. sec. Reader’s Guide, p. 15; Kangas 1984, sec. Arts & Leisure; Regan 1984, sec. Review, p. 12; Berman 1985, p. 65; Danto 1985, p. 59; New York Insurance Exchange 1986, p. 1, cover color illus., illus. p. 1; Danto 1987, p. 50; Pleynet 1989b, p. 88, color illus. p. 88; Flam 1991, pp. 10–11, color illus. n.p. (pl. 32); Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 32 (pl. 29); Ashton and Banach 2007, illus. p. 223. Comments This work was initially composed as part of a large preparatory sketch for a tapestry design that Motherwell created for the Temple Beth El synagogue in Springfield, Massachusetts (see fig. 204 in volume 1). At one point, Motherwell cut a fragment from the large sketch and transformed it into an autonomous work that would eventually become Fishes with Red Stripe. Although this work has frequently been dated simply to 1954, its origins in the tapestry project indicate that it was in fact painted largely between December 1952, when the project was
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initiated, and May 1953, when the completed tapestry was exhibited at the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery prior to its final installation in the synagogue. Fishes with Red Stripe is referred to as Motherwell’s “last picture” (i.e., his most recent work) on a curators’ preliminary list dated January 13, 1954, for the traveling exhibition The New Decade: 35 American Painters and Sculptors, which opened at the Whitney Museum of American Art in May 1955 (Whitney Museum of American Art Artists’ Files and Records). A revised version of that list cites the work simply as “Painting” and dates it to 1954, with a curator’s annotation “Fish with Red Stripe” added in pencil above this reference. The dating of the work to 1954 at that time reflects Motherwell’s decision that January to have the surviving fragment of his tapestry design stand as an autonomous work, and his decision at that time to have the work mounted on board. Almost a decade later, in a statement Motherwell wrote for the catalogue of his 1963 solo exhibition at Smith College, he noted, “This painting is one of my favorites. I was making a curtain for a synagogue. It was to hang the whole height of the wall and then come out on the floor underneath the Ark. In thinking about the floor part, I thought that fishes have some Old Testament meaning. . . . I decided to put ‘fishes swimming’ underneath. The present painting is the sketch for the fishes beneath the Ark” (Motherwell in Smith College exh. cat. 1963, caption to plate 7, n.p.). Years later, Motherwell said, “Fishes with Red Stripes involves the void as well as figuration; it also involves both spontaneity and correction in equal measure. In a way, it is close to what I have been after all my painting life” (Motherwell in AlbrightKnox Art Gallery exh. cat. 1983, p. 13).
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Bird Study 1954 Oil on paper 11½ x 15¾ in. (29.2 x 40 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 54 Present Owner Collection of S. Gene Cauley Provenance Paul Kantor Gallery, Beverly Hills, Calif., ca. 1954; Andrew Crispo Gallery, Inc.; [Sotheby’s, New York, February 22, 1986, lot 9, illus.]; unknown owner, 1986; [Sotheby’s Arcade Auction, New York, October 5, 1988, lot 296A, illus.]; Linda Gottlieb, 1988; [Sotheby’s, New York, February 26, 2007, lot 45, illus.]; Serge Soroko Gallery, 2007; S. Gene Cauley, 2007
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shape and size, he subsequently had these works mounted on board supports. Since they are signed on the palette papers rather than on the surrounding supports, these works are considered paintings rather than collages. (See, by contrast, an untitled collage that employs a sheet of the same kind of palette paper, c60.) Bird imagery recurred with some frequency in Motherwell’s early work. He was especially attracted to the vitality and alertness of birds, and to the idea of “birdness”; see the Comments for Bird (p76).
Comments This work is one of a number of small gestural studies of birds that Motherwell painted on palette paper in 1954 (see also w21–w23). Because of the fragility of the palette paper and its irregular
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Untitled
Bird
1954 Oil on paper 11½ x 15 in. (29.2 x 38.1 cm)
1954 Oil on paper 11¾ x 15½ in. (29.8 x 39.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 54
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
Artist’s Studio Number p54-25
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Natica Waterbury, ca. 1954; [Christie’s, New York, May 16, 1980, lot 60, illus.]; unknown owner, 1980; [Sotheby’s, New York, April 1, 1998, lot 158, illus. (not sold)]; [Sotheby’s Arcade Auction, New York, October 6, 1998, lot 340, illus.]; unknown owner, 1998
Provenance The artist Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 11, illus. n.p. (in exhibition). Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white photograph of this work taken around 1973 (studio inventory photo no. ph 48-3). We do not know if the work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Group Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1954, cat. no. 162. References H[ess] 1954, illus. Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Juley photo no. 50; j0004845).
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Bird Study
Monument to Jackson Pollock
1954 Oil on paper 11⅝ x 15¾ in. (29.5 x 40 cm)
1956 Oil and graphite on paper mounted on canvas 20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 54 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Paul Kantor Gallery, Los Angeles; Stanley N. Barbee, San Francisco; [Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, February 16, 1961, lot 28]; unknown owner, 1961; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, May 27, 1976, lot 377, illus. (not sold)]; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, June 8, 1977, lot 99, illus.]; unknown owner, 1977 Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white illustration of this work in the 1977 Sotheby Parke Bernet auction catalogue.
Comments This work was painted shortly after the death of Jackson Pollock on August 11, 1956. Its composition is similar to Je t’aime No. VII (p160), a painting on canvas that Motherwell began in 1956 and reworked during the 1980s.
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Elegy to the Spanish Republic XL 1958 Oil and graphite on paper 15½ x 18 in. (39.4 x 45.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R.M. \ 58
Present Owner Italian private collection
Verso (on backing board): Elegy to the Spanish \ Republic, XL \ oil on rag paper
Provenance Dwan Gallery, New York, 1959; private collection; [Christie’s, New York, November 9, 1979, lot 10, illus.]; unknown owner, 1979; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 14, 1991, lot 281, illus.]; Italian private collection, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, May 1957, cat. no. 10. References Rice 1957, p. 9, as Monument to Pollock; S[awin] 1957, p. 56, as Homage to Jackson Pollock.
Present Owner The private collection of Lois and Hank Foster Provenance Joann and Gifford Phillips, before 1962; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., Los Angeles, February 27, 1974, lot 398, illus.]; private collection, 1974; Lois and Hank Foster Solo Exhibitions Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 35, illus. n.p.
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Group Exhibitions UCLA Art Galleries, Los Angeles, 1962, cat. no. 74, as Elegy to the Spanish Republic. Art Gallery, University of California at Riverside, 1973, as Elegy to the Spanish Republic. References Haftmann 1960, illus. p. 501 (pl. 881, as Elegy for the Spanish Republic); Secunda 1962, p. 7; Haftmann 1965, illus. p. 359 (pl. 881, as Elegy to the Spanish Republic); Arnason 1966b, p. 29; Hobbs 1975b, pp. 240, 260, illus. n.p. (pl. 24). Comments This is the last Elegy painting that Motherwell inscribed with a Roman numeral. Its composition is related to Elegy for the Spanish Republic XXXV (p168), which was completed in 1958. As evidenced in this work and other Elegy paintings from this period, the numbering of the Elegy paintings on paper was not chronologically sequential. See, for example, the Elegies given the numbers 44, 45, and 50 (w108, w109, and w32 respectively).
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Spanish Still Life
Untitled
Untitled
1958 Oil and graphite on paperboard 11½ x 14½ in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm)
Ca. 1958 Oil and graphite on paper 5¾ x 7⅝ in. (14.6 x 19.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 58
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM
Alternative Title: {Elegy Sketch} 1958 Oil and graphite on paper 5¾ x 7⅝ in. (14.6 x 19.4 cm)
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Richard Aakre
Provenance Private collection, 1959
Provenance Richard Aakre, 1972
Comments This work is closely related to the 1958 painting Afternoon in Barcelona (p171).
Comments Motherwell traded this work for a painting by Richard Aakre, who was his studio assistant in 1971–72.
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Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Present Owner Private collection Provenance Ownership undetermined; private collection, 1996
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Untitled
Elegy Sketch
1958 Oil on paper 5⅞ x 7¾ in. (14.9 x 19.7 cm)
Alternative Title: Elegy Study Ca. 1958 Oil and graphite on paper 5¾ x 7¾ in. (14.6 x 19.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 58 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Ownership undetermined; [Christie’s, New York, February 23, 1990, lot 5, illus.]; private collection, 1990
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Artist’s Studio Number d49-2462 Present Owner Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchased with funds from an anonymous donor, with support from the Dedalus Foundation, 1998 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1998 Solo Exhibitions Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 64. Knoedler & Company, New York, 1994, cat. no. 13, as Elegy Study.
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Group Exhibitions Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, N.Y., 1980 (traveling), cat. no. 34. Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, N.Y., 1988, illus. p. 56, as Elegy Study. References Drudi 1984, color illus. p. 15 (in studio); Drudi 1988b, color illus. p. 15, color illus. p. 63 (in studio); Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 173 (in studio); Hume 1998, color illus. p. 1; Galerie Bernd Klüser exh. cat. 2001, color illus. p. 60 (in studio). Comments This work is executed on a page from a spiral-bound Strathmore sketchbook; unusually for Motherwell, he had it framed with the side holes showing. It was erroneously given a 1949 date when it was exhibited at the Parrish Art Museum in July 1980; the title Elegy Sketch was given to it at that time. It almost certainly dates from 1958, based on its similarities with other paintings on paper done by Motherwell that year.
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Untitled Alternative Title: {Study for an Elegy } 1958 Oil and graphite on paper 5¾ x 7¾ in. (14.6 x 19.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 58 Present Owner Collection of Bobbie Foshay Provenance Ownership undetermined; Bobbie Foshay, 1997
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Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 50
Untitled
Two Figures No. 5
1958 Oil and charcoal on paper 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)
1958 Oil on paperboard 7½ x 9½ in. (19.1 x 24.1 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Verso: For Harold \ Rosenberg \ on his birthday \ Robert Motherwell \ 1958
Present Owner Collection of Diane Englander and Mark Underberg
1958 Oil and ink on paperboard 8½ x 10½ in. (21.6 x 26.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley K. Sheinbaum
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Milton Sperling, 1959; Mr. and Mrs. Stanley K. Sheinbaum
Provenance Harold Rosenberg, 1958; private collection, 1989
References Arnason 1966b, p. 29, illus. p. 22; Hobbs 1975b, p. 246, illus. n.p. (pl. 33); Arnason 1977b, p. 46.
Comments Motherwell’s dedication on the verso of this work is to the critic Harold Rosenberg, who was born on February 2, 1906.
Comments As evidenced in this work and other Elegy paintings from this period, the numbering of the Elegy paintings on paper was not chronologically sequential. See, for example, the Elegies given the numbers 40, 44, and 45 (w25, w108, and w109 respectively). 422
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Provenance Private collection, 1959; Diane Englander and Mark Underberg Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 59. Comments Motherwell painted this work in SaintJean-de-Luz, France, where he and Helen Frankenthaler arrived on June 22, 1958. In the following entries, we note which works Motherwell executed in Saint-Jean-de-Luz. This is the first painting on paper that was given a number in the Two
Figures series, which Motherwell began with paintings on canvas prior to his European trip, notably The Wedding (p172), which—like works in the Two Figures series proper—Motherwell associated with images of himself and Helen Frankenthaler (interview with Rudi Blesh, 1961; see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). The works painted in France are notably looser and more gestural than those done previously in New York (see p171–p175, and w35–w42). See also the Comments for Two Figures No. 2 (p174).
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Two Figures No. 7
Two Figures No. 8
1958 Oil on paperboard mounted on board 7½ x 8½ in. (19.1 x 21.6 cm)
1958 Oil on paperboard 8½ x 10½ in. (21.6 x 26.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Present Owner Collection Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
Present Owner Private collection of Mr. Andy Williams
Verso: Robert Motherwell \ St-Jean-deLuz, France, 1958
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. William M. Roth; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, October 24, 1974, lot 607, illus.]; unknown owner, 1974; Waddington Galleries, London, 1975; private collection, 1975; Dr. and Mrs. Harold J. Joseph; [Christie’s, New York, May 8, 1984, lot 6, illus.]; Andy Williams, 1984
Present Owner Collection of Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation for Art
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 61.
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 62.
Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
New Gallery, Bennington College, Vt., 1959, cat. no. [29], as [Two Figures].
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Two Figures No. 6 1958 Oil on paperboard 7½ x 9½ in. (19.1 x 24.1 cm)
Provenance Private collection, 1959; unknown owner; [Tajan, Paris, May 25, 2005, lot 8, illus.]; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 58, erroneously as Two Figures #4. Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. It was erroneously exhibited as Two Figures No. 4 at the Sidney Janis Gallery in 1959, an error compounded
by the fact that an inscription on the verso, in handwriting other than the artist’s, designates it as “2 figures #5.” The Janis Gallery label on the verso nonetheless clearly lists it as number 6, and it was sold as such.
Provenance Private collection, 1959; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 11, 2005, lot 134, illus.]; Knoedler & Company, 2005; Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation for Art, 2006
Group Exhibitions Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany, 1959, cat. no. 3.
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Arca, Chiesa di San Marco, Vercelli, Italy, 2008, cat. no. 55, color illus. p. 141. References Ashton 1959a, illus. p. 6; S[andler] 1959, illus. p. 10; Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 102). Comments Motherwell painted this work in SaintJean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. This painting and another work from the series, Two Figures No. 10 (w39), both appear in a photograph of his solo exhibition at Bennington College in 1959 (see fig. 211 in volume 1). But in the Bennington catalogue there is only a single entry for an unnumbered Two Figures work (cat. no. 29), which is erroneously dated 1959.
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Two Figures No. 9
Two Figures No. 10
1958 Oil on paperboard 8½ x 10½ in. (21.6 x 26.7 cm)
1958 Oil on paperboard 8⅝ x 10⅝ in. (21.9 x 27 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Verso: Robert Motherwell \ 1958 \ St-Jean-de-Luz, France
Verso: Robert Motherwell
Present Owner Private collection, New York Provenance Samuel and Luella Maslon, 1959; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 16, 2002, lot 143, illus.]; private collection, New York, 2002 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 60. Group Exhibitions Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1960, cat. no. 105. Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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Present Owner Dr. and Mrs. Jack Kavanaugh Provenance Dore and Adja Yunkers, New York, 1958; Dore Ashton, 1983; private collection, 1991; Dr. and Mrs. Jack Kavanaugh, 2000 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 63. New Gallery, Bennington College, Vt., 1959, cat. no. [29], as [Two Figures]. Group Exhibitions Elkon Gallery, New York, 1990. References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 104, as Untitled [Painting with Two Figures]).
Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. This painting and another work from the Two Figures series, Two Figures No. 8 (w37), both appear in a photograph of Motherwell’s solo exhibition at Bennington College in 1959 (see fig. 211 in volume 1). But in the Bennington catalogue there is only a single entry for an unnumbered Two Figures work (cat. no. 29), which is erroneously dated 1959.
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Two Figures No. 11 1958 Oil on paperboard 8½ x 10½ in. (21.6 x 26.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Verso: 2 figures #11 \ 1958 \ N.F.S. Artist’s Studio Number p58-1246
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 29, color illus. p. 73; not shown in Seattle and Washington, D.C. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 124. Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1991, cat. no. 18.
Present Owner Private collection
Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 5, color illus. p. 46.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2002
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1996, cat. no. 53.
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 64. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 41; Amsterdam, cat. no. 36, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 36; Turin, cat. no. 36, illus. p. 91 (pl. 31/A, erroneously as Due figure n. II [Two Figures No. II]).
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, 1999. References Claus 1965, illus. p. 6, as Two Figures; Arnason 1966b, p. 30, erroneously as Two Figures no. 1; Arnason 1977b, p. 43, illus. n.p. (pl. 101), referred to in text and in illus. erroneously as Two Figures No. 1; Arnason 1982, p. 43, color illus. p. 132 (pl. 144), referred to in text and in illus. erroneously as Two Figures
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No. 1; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 101, erroneously as Two Figures No. 1; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 42); Tyson 1992, sec. D, p. 5; Windrow 1992, color illus. p. 5; Fundació Antoni Tàpies exh. cat. 1996, illus. frontispiece (in studio); Cateforis 2000–2001, p. 8. Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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Two Figures No. 12 1958 Oil on paperboard 7½ x 9½ in. (19.1 x 24.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Verso: Robert Motherwell 1958 Present Owner Private collection. Courtesy of Locks Gallery, Philadelphia Provenance William Rand, 1959; [Christie’s, New York, February 19, 1998, lot 47, illus.]; private collection, 1998 Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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Painting, with Two Figures
Untitled
Untitled–A
Pink Nude with Bowed Head
1958 Oil and Magna on paperboard 7½ x 9½ in. (19.1 x 24.1 cm)
1958 Oil on paperboard 10½ x 13½ in. (26.7 x 34.3 cm)
1958 Oil on paperboard 10½ x 13½ in. (26.7 x 34.3 cm)
1958 Oil, alkyd, and graphite on paperboard 24 x 19½ in. (61 x 49.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 58
Verso [written over]: “painting, with [the] two figures” \ 1958 Robert Motherwell \ St-Jean-de-Luz, France
Verso [partially torn off]: [Ro]bert Motherwell \ 1958
Present Owner The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo. Gift of William Inge, 62-63
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: R. Motherwell
Present Owner Collection of Clifford Ross Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Ross, 1959; Gloria Ross, ca. 1970; Clifford Ross, 1998 References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 103); Arnason 1982, p. 49, illus. p. 50 (pl. 43). Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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Present Owner The UBS Art Collection Provenance Gimpel Fils, 1959; private collection, 1969; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, May 2, 1985, lot 1, illus.]; UBS Art Collection, 1985 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 66. Group Exhibitions Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, New York, 1997. Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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Verso: Robert Motherwell 1958 \ “pink nude with bowed head” \ St-Jean-de-Luz, France \ oil on panel
Provenance William Inge, 1959; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo., 1962
Verso (on horizontal strainer) [circled]: [N.F.S.]
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 67.
Present Owner Helen Frankenthaler
Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
Artist’s Studio Number p58-5131
Provenance Helen Frankenthaler, ca. 1958 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 22. New Gallery, Bennington College, Vt., 1959. Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, 1961, cat. no. 22.
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Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 32.
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Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 38, illus. p. 80; Amsterdam, cat. no. 33, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 33; Turin, cat. no. 33, illus. p. 90 (pl. 30/B).
1958 Oil on paperboard 24 x 19¾ in. (61 x 50.2 cm)
References Sidney Janis Gallery exh. cat. April 1961, illus. n.p. (in exhibition); Galerie im Erker exh. cat. 1971, illus. p. 13 (in exhibition); Hobbs 1975b, p. 240; Arnason 1977b, p. 48, illus. n.p. (pl. 99); Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Arnason 1982, pp. 48–49, illus. p. 49 (pl. 39). Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. The subject is presumably Helen Frankenthaler.
St.-Jean-de-Luz
Inscriptions Recto, lower center, incised: Robert Motherwell 58 Verso: Robert Motherwell \ 1958 \ St-Jean-de-Luz \ For the Iseman Clan \ with love from \ Bob Verso (on horizontal strainer): France Present Owner Private collection Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Joseph S. Iseman, 1958; Knoedler & Company, 1983; Greenberg Gallery, Saint Louis, 1989; private collection, New York, 2001; Posner Gallery, Inc., 2003; private collection, 2005
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Solo Exhibitions Marian Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, 1989, color illus. n.p. Lawrence Rubin/Greenberg Van Doren Fine Art, New York, 2001, cat. no. 7. Comments Motherwell incised “St. Jean de Luz” across the top of this painting, which was painted there during the summer of 1958. The dedication on the verso is to Motherwell’s in-laws, Joseph and Marjorie Iseman, and their family. (Marjorie Iseman was Helen Frankenthaler’s sister; Joseph Iseman was also Motherwell’s lawyer at the time.)
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St.-Jean-de-Luz No. 2 Alternative Title: St.-Jean-de-Luz 1958 Oil on paperboard 19½ x 24 in. (49.5 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: Robert Motherwell Present Owner Private collection Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Leiber, ca. 1959; private collection Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 65, as St.-Jean-de-Luz. Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer
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of 1958, and the text “St Jean de Luz” is incised into the composition. Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Juley photo no. 459; j0005246).
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In Black and White with Yellow Ochre 1958 Oil on paperboard 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 58 Verso not seen [“Verso: signed Robert Motherwell 1958 ‘In Black + White with Yellow Ochre’ St. Jean-de-Luz France. On horizontal stretcher bar: ‘For Joanne + Gifford Phillips N.Y. 1958,’ ” per present owner] Present Owner Collection of Joann and Gifford Phillips Provenance Joann and Gifford Phillips, 1958 Solo Exhibitions Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 36, as Untitled. Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1974, cat. no. 17, illus. n.p.
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Group Exhibitions UCLA Art Galleries, Los Angeles, 1962, cat. no. 73. Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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Frontier No. 1 1958 Oil and alkyd on paperboard 8½ x 10½ in. (21.6 x 26.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM Present Owner Yale University Art Gallery. Gift of the artist Provenance Yale University Art Gallery, 1963 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 41. References O’Brien 1962, illus. sec. Magazine, pt. 1, p. 52 (installation view); Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin 1964, p. 48; Arnason 1977b, p. 49, illus. n.p. (pl. 105); Terenzio 1979, illus. p. 5; Arnason 1982, p. 49, illus. p. 133 (pl. 145); Qin 1996, p. 17, illus. p. 72 (fig. 6).
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Comments Shortly after Motherwell arrived in Saint-Jean-de-Luz on June 22, 1958, he initiated an extended series of small paintings titled Frontier. In them, he used a glossy black alkyd paint that he found locally and which produced a distinctive contrast between the black calligraphic forms and the matte white ground. Regarding the second numbered work in this series (see w50), and the series in general, Motherwell would later state: “This was painted in France, in St. Jean-de-Luz near the Spanish frontier, and represents to me release after a long time of sterility; crossing the frontier, so to speak. About twenty in the series” (Motherwell in Smith College exh. cat. 1963, caption for w50). The numbering of the series would reach only as high as number 12 and no work in it was assigned the number 11.
w50
Frontier No. 2 1958 Oil and alkyd on paperboard 14¾ x 18 in. (37.5 x 45.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Artist’s Studio Number p58-30 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 42. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 9, illus. n.p. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 9 (brochure); cat. no. 10 (catalogue).
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Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, May 2005, cat. no. 8.
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Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2007.
1958 Oil and alkyd on paperboard 15 x 18 in. (38.1 x 45.7 cm)
References Ashton 1959a, illus. p. 6; O’Brien 1962, illus. sec. Magazine, pt. 1, p. 52 (installation view); Motherwell in Smith College Museum of Art exh. cat. 1963, n.p.; Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 106); Arnason 1982, p. 49, illus. p. 133 (pl. 146); Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 100; Poesia y Poética 1990, illus. p. 2. Comments Motherwell painted this work in SaintJean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. For his remarks on this work and on his Frontier series as a whole, see the Comments for Frontier No. 1 (w49).
Frontier No. 3
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Present Owner Unknown Provenance Felix Handschin Galerie; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. [43 or 47]. Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. It is one of two unidentified works (see also w58) visible in photographs of his March 1959 solo exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery, which were given the titles Frontier No. 3 and Frontier No. 10 on the exhibition checklist; but it is uncertain which work corresponds to which title.
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
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Our reproduction of this work has been extracted from an installation photograph of Motherwell’s March 1959 exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery (see fig. 78 in volume 1).
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Frontier No. 4 1958 Oil and alkyd on paperboard 15 x 18 in. (38.1 x 45.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Artist’s Studio Number p58-3272 Present Owner Private collection. Courtesy Locks Gallery, Philadelphia Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 44.
430
p ain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
Comments Motherwell painted this work in SaintJean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. It later served as a model for the initial composition of his 1966 painting New England Elegy Mural (Second Variation) (p367), and for the 1984 print At the Edge (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 345).
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w54
w56
w53
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w55
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Frontier No. 5
Frontier No. 6
Frontier No. 7
Frontier No. 8
1958 Oil and alkyd on paperboard 15 x 18 in. (38.1 x 45.7 cm)
1958 Oil and alkyd on paperboard 15 x 18 in. (38.1 x 45.7 cm)
1958 Oil and alkyd on paperboard 14¾ x 18 in. (37.5 x 45.7 cm)
1958 Oil and alkyd on paperboard 14¾ x 18 in. (37.5 x 45.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number p58-31
Present Owner Collection of Barbara Slifka
Artist’s Studio Number p58-28
Provenance Galerie Lawrence, Paris, 1961; private collection, 1965; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 15, 2001, lot 196, illus.]; private collection, 2001
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Private collection, 1961; private collection, 1965; Barbara Slifka
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 45. Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, May 2005, cat. no. 11. Group Exhibitions Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, 2007 (traveling), color illus. p. 23 (pl. 11). References Warner 2008, color illus. p. 38.
Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, May 2005, cat. no. 9. Group Exhibitions Robert Miller Gallery, New York, 2008. Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
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Our reproduction of this work has been extracted from an installation photograph of Motherwell’s March 1959 exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery (see fig. 78 in volume 1). We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
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w57
w58
Frontier No. 9
Frontier No. 10
1958 Oil and alkyd on paperboard 15 x 18 in. (38.1 x 45.7 cm)
1958 Oil and alkyd on paperboard 15 x 18 in. (38.1 x 45.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number p58-29
Present Owner Unknown
Verso: “frontier, No. 12” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1958
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance The artist
Verso: St. Jean-de-Luz, \ France
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. [43 or 47].
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 46.
Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. It is one of two unidentified works (see also w51) visible in photographs of his March 1959 solo exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery, which were given the titles Frontier No. 3 and Frontier No. 10 on the exhibition checklist; but it is uncertain which work corresponds to which title.
Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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p ain tin gs on paper a n d paperbo a rd
Frontier No. 12 1958 Oil and alkyd on paperboard 15 x 18 in. (38.1 x 45.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Present Owner Private collection of Martha Macks-Kahn Provenance Private collection, ca. 1959; private collection; [Christie’s, New York, May 14, 1999, lot 701, illus.]; private collection, 1999; Martha Macks-Kahn, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 48. Baltimore Museum of Art, 2006. Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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Bull No. 1 1958 Oil and Magna on paperboard 13 x 17⅝ in. (33 x 44.8 cm)
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 50 (shown in early state). Group Exhibitions Ecart Gallery, Geneva, 1984.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM
Le Consortium, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Dijon, France, 1989.
Present Owner A. L’H., Switzerland
Musée d’Ethnographie, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 1993.
Provenance Unknown owner, ca. 1959; [Kornfeld und Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland, June 11, 1969, lot 942]; unknown owner, 1969; Ahrenberg collection; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., London, April 5, 1979, lot 434, illus.]; unknown owner, 1979; A. L’H., Switzerland
Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958, and reworked it the following year. A black-and-white photograph of an early version (Juley photo no. 155; j0004946) shows the work with exposed areas of white still visible near the upper and lower right corners. By the time the painting was first shown in Motherwell’s solo exhibition at the
Sidney Janis Gallery in March 1959, he had extended the black paint to the edge of the composition on the upper right, as can be seen in a photograph of the exhibition (see fig. 78 in volume 1). Sometime later that year he made some further revisions, extending the black paint to the lower right edge of the picture and adjusting the contours of the black area near the lower left corner (Juley photo no. 111; j0004903). Both Motherwell’s Bull series and his Iberia series, also begun during the summer of 1958, had their genesis in his response to a bullfight he and Helen Frankenthaler witnessed at the Plaza de Toros Bayonne-Biarritz on August 3; tickets to the same bullfight appear in two collages, Cabaret No. 7 (c448) and Cabaret No. 12 (c453). (For Motherwell’s remarks about this experience, see the Comments for Iberia No. 2, p177.)
The Bull and Iberia series are closely related, in their predominant use of black paint, in their evocation of bullfights and of Spain, and in their titles. A large painting that came to be known as Iberia No. 4 (p178) was originally titled The Black Bulls of Europe; and Bull No. 6, No. 7, and No. 8 eventually became Iberia No. 15, No. 11, and No. 17, respectively (see w69, w68, and w70).
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Bull No. 2 1958 Oil on paperboard 14⅜ x 22½ in. (36.6 x 57.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Present Owner Private collection. Courtesy of Locks Gallery, Philadelphia
Marian Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, 1989 (not in catalogue).
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Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, 1992, color illus. p. 32.
1958 Oil on paperboard 13 x 16 in. (33 x 40.6 cm)
Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
Provenance Everett Ellin Gallery; [Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, October 9, 1963, lot 89, illus.]; private collection, 1963; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, January 27, 1966, lot 27]; unknown owner, 1966; private collection, 1972; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 3, 1988, lot 130, illus.]; private collection, 1988; private collection, 1989; [Christie’s, New York, November 8, 1989, lot 289, illus.]; private collection, 1989 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 51.
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Bull No. 3
Inscriptions None visible in photograph Present Owner Unknown Provenance The artist Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 52. Comments Motherwell painted the first version of this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958, and it was photographed that fall (Juley photo no. 136; j0004927). The work was revised by extending the blacks along the right side some time before March 1959, when it was exhibited at the Sidney Janis Gallery. Since the present whereabouts of this work are unknown, it is not possible to say whether or not it
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may have been subsequently revised, as Bull No. 1 (w60) had been, following the Janis Gallery exhibition. Our reproduction of this work has been extracted from an installation photograph of Motherwell’s March 1959 exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery (see fig. 78 in volume 1).
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Bull No. 4
Bull No. 5
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Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1989, cat. no. 19.
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Alternative Title: Black Painting 1958 Oil and Magna on paperboard 24¼ x 19½ in. (61.6 x 49.5 cm)
1958 Oil and Magna on paperboard 10⅝ x 13¾ in. (27 x 34.9 cm)
1958 Oil on paperboard 14¾ x 22½ in. (37.5 x 57.2 cm)
References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 115); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 137 (pl. 155).
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 58
Artist’s Studio Number p58-23
Artist’s Studio Number p58-334
Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation for Art, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 53. Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, 1999. Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 41. Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, May 2005, cat. no. 4. Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation for Art, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., 2006
Iberia No. 5
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised [painted over]: [RM] Recto, lower left, incised: R. Motherwell Verso: Robert Motherwell \ St-Jean-de Luz, France \ 1958 Verso: “iberia, no. 5” Present Owner Collection of Clifford Ross
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 54.
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Ross, 1959; Gloria Ross, 1970; Clifford Ross, 1998
Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 50.
Solo Exhibitions New Gallery, Bennington College, Vt., 1959, cat. no. 26, as Black Painting.
William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 13 (brochure); cat. no. 9 (catalogue), illus. p. 48 (in exhibition), color illus. p. 90 (in exhibition), illus. p. 140.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 34;
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Amsterdam, cat. no. 29, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 29; Turin, cat. no. 29.
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Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 40.
Alternative Title: Iberia No. 5 1958 Oil on paperboard 10½ x 13¾ in. (26.7 x 34.9 cm)
Group Exhibitions Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, N.Y., 1987. References Galerie im Erker exh. cat. 1971, illus. p. 13 (in exhibition). Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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Iberia No. 5A
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM Recto, lower right, incised [painted over]: [R Motherwell 58] Present Owner Unknown Provenance Mr. and Mrs. William M. Roth, 1959; unknown owner; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, October 24, 1974, lot 606, illus.]; unknown owner, 1974
1959 solo exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery (see fig. 78 in volume 1) reveals that this work was shown rotated 180 degrees (i.e., upside down) from its present orientation, contrary to the orientation of both the artist’s signatures on the recto. It is unclear from the exhibition photograph whether the work had been signed at the time, or whether Motherwell reoriented the work and signed it at a later date. The Janis Gallery records indicate that the work was sold directly from the show, but the 1974 Sotheby Parke Bernet catalogue orients the work as we reproduce it here. Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Juley photo no. 160; j0004951).
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Iberia No. 6 1958 Oil and Magna on paperboard 10½ x 13½ in. (26.7 x 34.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised [painted over]: [RM] Verso: Robert Motherwell \ 1958 Verso [crossed out]: “iberia, no 6.” \ [11" x 14"] 1958 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Samuel and Luella Maslon, 1959; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 16, 2002, lot 141, illus.]; Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2002; private collection, 2004
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 36 (shown upside down).
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 49.
Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. A photograph of his March
Group Exhibitions Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1960, cat. no. 106.
pain tin gs on p aper a n d paperbo a rd
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References Art Market Report 2003b, color illus. p. 20. Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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Iberia No. 11 Alternative Title: Bull No. 7 1958 Oil on paperboard 10⅜ x 13¾ in. (26.4 x 34.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Artist’s Studio Number p58-332 Present Owner The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Museum purchase and gift of the Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 56, as Bull #7. Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, 1961, cat. no. 16. Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 26.
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Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating), erroneously as Iberia No. II; shown in Houston only. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 13 (catalogue).
Two other works initially done in 1958 as Bull series paintings were revised around 1961 and retitled as Iberia paintings: the Bull series numbers 6 and 8 became, respectively, Iberia No. 15 and Iberia No. 17 (see w69 and w70).
Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1991, cat. no. 24. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1996, cat. no. 54. Group Exhibitions Joseph Helman Gallery, New York, September 2000. Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. A verso inscription (not in Motherwell’s hand) indicates that it was originally given the number 7 in the Bull series. By the time it was exhibited in São Paulo in the fall of 1961, however, it had been retitled Iberia No. 11 even though it was not reworked.
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Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 27.
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Alternative Title: Bull No. 6 1958/ca. 1961 Oil on paperboard 10½ x 13 in. (26.7 x 33 cm)
Baltimore Museum of Art, 2006.
Alternative Title: Bull No. 8 1958/ca. 1961 Oil on paperboard 10⅝ x 13⅝ in. (27 x 34.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised [painted over]: [RM]
References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 112); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 137 (pl. 152).
Verso: Robert Motherwell
Comments Motherwell painted an early version of this work during the summer of 1958 in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and it was shown under its original title, Bull No. 6, at his solo exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery in March 1959 (see fig. 78 in volume 1). Following this exhibition, Motherwell continued to revise the picture, extending the black paint on the left side and adjusting the contours of the black paint in the lower left corner. It was completed and retitled Iberia No. 15 shortly before being sent to São Paulo in the fall of 1961.
Iberia No. 15
Present Owner The Baltimore Museum of Art. Samuel and Tobie Miller Memorial Collection, donated by Richard and Marshall Miller, bma 1965.37.3 Provenance Richard and Marshall Miller, 1963; Baltimore Museum of Art, 1965 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 55 (shown in early state), as Bull #6. Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, 1961, cat. no. 17.
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Group Exhibitions University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1963.
pain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
Iberia No. 17
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Artist’s Studio Number p58-333 Present Owner Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Gift of Margaret and Angus Wurtele and the Dedalus Foundation, 1995 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 57 (shown in early state), as Bull #8. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 10 (brochure); cat. no. 14 (catalogue).
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1996, cat. no. 23. Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 26, cover color illus. (detail), color illus. p. 123. Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño, Mexico City, 2008, color illus. p. 44. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., 2009, cat. no. 5. Group Exhibitions Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 2005. References Museum of Modern Art, Robert Motherwell, exh. cat. September 1965, cover illus. (in studio); Galerie im Erker exh. cat. 1971, illus. p. 11 (in studio); Lynton 1997, color illus. p. 41; Lynton 2001, color illus. p. 178. Comments Motherwell painted an early version of this work during the summer of 1958 in Saint-Jean-de-Luz. It had areas of white along both sides of the composition, and was shown at Motherwell’s solo exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery in
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March 1959 (see fig. 78 in volume 1). Around 1961, he extended the black paint on the right side to the edges and retitled the work Iberia No. 17. Two other paintings originally in the Bull series were retitled as Iberia paintings around the same time (see w68 and w69).
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Painting 1958 Oil and shellac on paperboard 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
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a number of works on paper and paperboard he used shellac as a painting medium (see p178, w72, w77–w83), and he also worked with a commercial alkyd enamel, notably in the Frontier series (w49–w59). Our reproduction comes from the 1990 Christie’s auction catalogue.
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The Blackness of Black 1958 Oil and shellac on paperboard 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM
Recto, upper right [painted over]: [RM 58]
Present Owner Private collection
Recto, lower right, incised (oriented vertically): RM 58
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Frederick R. Weisman, Beverly Hills, Calif., 1959; private collection; [Christie’s, New York, May 4, 1994, lot 111, illus.]; private collection, 1994
Present Owner Unknown Provenance Carlo and Janet Grossman, ca. 1960; [Christie’s, New York, November 8, 1990, lot 315, illus.]; unknown owner, 1990 Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. At that time, because some of the paints he habitually used were not available, he tried some different painting mediums. For example, in
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 68. Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1974, cat. no. 18, illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles, 1960. References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pls. 97, in studio, 114); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 137
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(pl. 154); Shea 2002, color illus. p. 67 (pl. 42). Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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Painting 1958 Oil on paperboard 13 x 16 in. (33 x 40.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Verso: Robert Motherwell \ “Painting” \ St-Jean-de-Luz, \ France \ 1958 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Emerson Woelffer, ca. 1959; private collection, Saint Louis; [Hôtel des encans de Montréal, March 6, 1990, lot 239, illus.]; unknown owner, 1990; Austin/Desmond Fine Art, 1991; private collection, ca. 1996
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References Hobbs 1975b, p. 242.
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Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
1958 Oil on paperboard 22 x 30 in. (55.9 x 76.2 cm)
The Nightmare
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 58 Verso not seen [“Rückseitig auf dem Rahmen voll signiert, betitelt, datiert und bezeichnet: oil on rag paper” (signed, dated, titled, and inscribed on verso of frame: oil on rag paper), per Kornfeld und Klipstein 1977] Present Owner Unknown
Solo Exhibitions Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1974, cat. no. 10, illus. n.p.
Provenance Robert A. Staub, 1975; [Kornfeld und Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland, June 8, 1977, lot 625, illus.]; private collection, 1977; private collection, 1978; unknown owner
Group Exhibitions Galerie Claude Lafitte, Montreal, 1989, color illus. p. 29, erroneously as Iberia.
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 26.
p ain tin gs on paper a n d paperbo a rd
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References Arnason 1966b, p. 31; Arnason 1977b, p. 48, illus. p. 51 (pl. 26, in exhibition); Arnason 1982, p. 48, illus. p. 49 (pl. 41, in exhibition). Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Juley photo no. 204; j0004992).
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Solitary Figure 1958 Oil on paperboard 21 x 18 in. (53.3 x 45.7 cm)
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Motherwell later painted the orange field in to the edge of the figure and added the small area of blue in the upper right corner, which covers the early signature.
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The French Menorah 1958 Oil, ink, and graphite on paper 19 x 15¼ in. (48.3 x 38.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 58
Artist’s Studio Number p58-1098
Artist’s Studio Number d58-2987
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner The Jewish Museum, New York. Museum purchase with funds provided by Philip and Lynn Straus in memory of Joy Ungerleider-Mayerson and gift of the Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments An early state of this painting, completed in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958, is visible in a studio photograph dated December 1958 that was used in a poster for Motherwell’s exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery in March 1959 (Juley photo no. 78; j0004871). In that early state the area around the figure was darker, and it was signed “RM 58” in the upper right corner (Juley photo no. 176; j0004966).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jewish Museum, New York, 1994 Group Exhibitions Jewish Museum, New York, 2001. Comments Motherwell painted this work in SaintJean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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Untitled
The Rock
1958 Oil and shellac on paperboard 14⅞ x 22½ in. (37.8 x 57.2 cm)
1958 Shellac and ink on paper 19 x 24¾ in. (48.3 x 62.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 58
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 58
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: 58 RM
Artist’s Studio Number p58-2838
Verso (on backing board): Robert Motherwell \ 1958
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Art Hispania SL, Barcelona
Provenance Private collection, 1959
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, 2002; private collection, 2002
Provenance Martin Janis, Sherman Oaks, Calif.; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, February 27, 1980, lot 9, illus. (not sold)]; private collection, 1981; [Christie’s, New York, February 23, 1990, lot 15, illus.]; Art Hispania SL, Barcelona, 1990
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 31.
Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 32. References Arnason 1982, illus. p. 49 (pl. 41, in exhibition).
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Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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Drawing A 1958 Shellac and ink on paper 19 x 24½ in. (48.3 x 62.2 cm)
References Arnason 1977b, illus. p. 51 (pl. 26, in exhibition); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 49 (pl. 41, in exhibition). Comments This work was probably painted in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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The Spanish Night 1958 Oil, shellac, and ink on paperboard 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R.M. \ 58 Verso (on backing board): “the spanish \ night” 1958 Robert Motherwell Verso (on backing board) [circled]: [oil, shellac + India ink \ on rag paper mounted] Present Owner Picker Art Gallery at Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y. Gift of Luther W. Brady, DFA’88, the Luther W. Brady Collection of 20th Century Works on Paper Provenance Harris B. Steinberg, New York, 1959; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, March 4, 1970, lot 57, illus.]; Marlborough Gerson Gallery, Inc., New York, 1970; Luther W. Brady, 1974; Picker Art Gallery at Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y., 1992
Group Exhibitions Horace Mann School, New York, 1959. Finch College Museum of Art, New York, October 1968. Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y., 1988. References Monahan 2007, color illus. p. 58. Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958.
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Still-Life
Drawing
1958 Shellac and graphite on paper 22½ x 28½ in. (57.2 x 72.4 cm)
1958 Shellac and graphite on paper 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 58
Inscriptions Recto, lower center: RM
Artist’s Studio Number d58-336
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Unknown (said to have been destroyed, 1984)
Provenance The artist
Provenance The artist Comments This work relates directly to the Madrid series of drawings that Motherwell made the night before he left Madrid for SaintJean-de-Luz in June 1958. The shellac was probably added in Saint-Jean-de-Luz. A note on the studio card for this work says that it was destroyed in January 1984. Our reproduction comes from a Polaroid photograph. We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, March 1959, cat. no. 20. Group Exhibitions Henry Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, 1967, cat. no. 5, illus. p. 39. References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 97, in studio). Comments Motherwell painted this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. Our reproduction comes from
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an early black-and-white photograph of the work (Juley photo no. 162; j0004953). We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
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Untitled
A View No. 3
1958 Shellac and ink on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Alternative Title: Painting Ca. 1958 Oil and ink on paperboard 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 58 Verso (on backing board): For Dr. Fontana \ with great esteem \ Robert Motherwell \ 1958 Verso (on backing board) [circled ]: [India ink + shellac on rag paper] Present Owner Collection of Gene E. Mundie Provenance Vincent J. Fontana, M.D., 1958; Gene E. Mundie, 2005 Comments This work was probably painted in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958. The dedication on the verso is to Dr. Vincent Fontana, the allergist who treated Motherwell’s daughters.
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Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Present Owner Unknown Provenance David Gibbs & Co., Ltd., London, 1959; Mr. and Mrs. Eugene V. Thaw; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, April 12, 1965, lot 27, illus.]; unknown owner, 1965; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, March 30, 1978, lot 12, illus.]; James Goodman Gallery, New York, and André Emmerich Gallery, 1978; private collection, 1978; unknown owner References Goossen 1959, illus. p. 35, as Painting; Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 97, in studio).
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Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Juley photo no. 171; j0004961). The diamond-shaped form that appears in the View paintings developed out of works Motherwell created in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, such as The Spanish Night (w80), Untitled (w83), and the early states of The Mystery of the Night (w89) and Cock Looking Backwards (w90). The numbering of the View series is irregular and includes paintings on both paperboard and canvas. Speaking of the View paintings in 1961, Motherwell told Rudi Blesh in an interview, “about that title I meant it as a view, a point of view, one way of looking at painting” (see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography). For more on the View series, see the Comments for A View No. 1 (p182).
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A View No. 13
A View No. 14
Untitled
1958 Oil and ink on paperboard 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
Ca. 1958 Oil and graphite on paperboard 30 x 21¾ in. (76.2 x 55.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R Motherwell \ 58
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Alternative Title: The Easel II 1953/ca. 1958 Oil, casein, crayon, and graphite on paper 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number p58-1011
Artist’s Studio Number p58/60-2835
Present Owner The William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs. The Louise Crombie Beach Memorial Collection and gift of the Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1995
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2002.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right [partially painted over]: [Robert] Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number d53-5035; p58-26 Present Owner Collection of Morrie and Rolaine Abramson Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Morrie and Rolaine Abramson, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, April 1953 (shown in early state), as The Easel II. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 112.
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, November 2002, cat. no. 27, cover color illus. References Seitz 1955, illus. n.p. (fig. 176, in early state, as The Easel No. 2); Seitz 1983, illus. n.p. (fig. 188, in early state, as The Easel No. 2). Comments Motherwell began this work in 1953, as a pencil drawing titled The Easel II, which was modeled on the compositional structure of his 1952 collage The Easel I (c58); the drawing was signed in the upper right corner, “Robert Motherwell” (Juley photo no. 10; j0004808). Sometime around 1958, Motherwell painted over most of the drawing with oil and added the diamond-shaped motif found in his View series (see the Comments for p182); at that time he also painted over his first name, leaving only “Motherwell” as the signature. Portions of the original drawing are visible in the unpainted areas in the upper half of the finished work.
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Figuration, with Green
The Mystery of the Night
1958–59 Oil on paper 22 x 30 in. (55.9 x 76.2 cm)
1958/ca. 1961 Oil on paperboard 14⅞ x 17⅞ in. (37.8 x 45.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised and inscribed: RM
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM
Verso [revised ]: Figuration, with Green \ Robert Motherwell 195[8]9 \ oil on rag paper Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1959; private collection, ca. 1989 Comments Motherwell originally inscribed the verso of this work with a 1958 date but later changed it to read 1959. We do not know what kind of revision may have been done in 1959.
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Verso: R. Motherwell \ 1958 \ St-Jeande-Luz \ France Verso: “the mystery \ of the night” Artist’s Studio Number p58-27 Present Owner Collection of Donald T. Meder, Los Angeles Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Donald T. Meder, Los Angeles, 2005
photographed in the fall of that year (Juley photo no. 81; j0004873). He subsequently added the ochre paint, further emphasizing the central diamond form, along with the white lines. The exact date of this revision is not known, but it appears to have been done around 1961, while Motherwell was still preoccupied with the View series. The work was photographed in its final state in 1972 (studio inventory photo no. ph 9-2). Its composition is related to the artist’s View series, begun in 1958, which included works done on canvas, paper, and paperboard; see the Comments for A View No. 1 (p182).
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Cock Looking Backwards 1958/ca. 1961/after 1972 Oil and acrylic on paperboard 16 x 13 in. (40.6 x 33 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised [painted over]: [RM] Recto, lower right, incised [painted over]: [RM] Verso [circled]: [oil on rag board] 1958 \ “cock looking backwards” \ Robert Motherwell \ st-jean-de-luz, france Artist’s Studio Number d58-22 Present Owner Private collection
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 1, cover color illus.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000
Comments Motherwell began this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958, and an early version of it was
Comments Motherwell set the basic composition of this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958, and subse-
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quently added the ochre paint, further emphasizing the central diamond form, along with the white lines. The exact date of this revision is not known, but it appears to have been done around 1961, while Motherwell was still preoccupied with the View series; the work was photographed in that intermediate state in 1972 (studio inventory photo no. ph 9-4). Sometime after it was photographed, Motherwell added the blue form at the center, which is painted in acrylic over the original oil; he also painted out some of the white linear forms with black, and painted over the two early signatures at the lower left and right corners, which nonetheless are still visible as pentimenti. The diamond shape at the center of the composition relates it to the artist’s View series, begun in 1958; see the Comments for A View No. 1 (p182).
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The Spanish Pope 1959 Oil and charcoal on paper 22¼ x 28¼ in. (56.5 x 71.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM 1959 Verso not seen [“on reverse title and date appear in the artist’s hand,” per studio card] Artist’s Studio Number d59-1530 Present Owner Collection of Bobbie Geller Fields Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Bobbie Geller Fields, 1998 Solo Exhibitions Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 22, illus. p. 103. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 31.
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Comments The title of this painting, which evokes a papal mitre, may refer to the notoriously corrupt and secular Spanish-born Pope Alexander VI (1431–1503), who reigned from 1492 until his death.
Ca. 1959 Alkyd and casein on paper 22 x 28 in. (55.9 x 71.1 cm)
[ Untitled (Brown, White)]
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Artist’s Studio Number d58/60-338; p63-338 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 32. Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2007. Comments This small work on paper is related to the large-scale 1959 painting Monster (for Charles Ives) (p194).
Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 6, illus. p. 77.
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{ Title unknown}
Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 59
Ca. 1959 Dimensions unknown Inscriptions Paint on paper (?)
1959 Oil on paperboard 22¼ x 28½ in. (56.5 x 72.4 cm)
Present Owner Unknown
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [painted over]: [RM]
Provenance The artist
Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. Stanley R. Gumberg, Pittsburgh
Comments This work is known only from an early black-and-white photograph (Juley photo no. 116; j0004908). We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Provenance Private collection; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 10, 1986, lot 16, illus.]; Mr. and Mrs. Stanley R. Gumberg, Pittsburgh, 1986 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 22, illus. n.p. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 3; Caracas, cat. no. 58; Bogotá, cat. no. 58; Mexico City, cat. no. 3; as Elegía a la República Española (Elegy to the Spanish Republic).
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Group Exhibitions United States Information Agency, Washington, D.C., 1961 (circulating), cat. no. 52; Salzburg, illus. n.p. References Claus 1965, illus. p. 8; Hobbs 1975b, p. 241, illus. n.p. (pl. 26); Carmean 1978, p. 113. Comments This work was first exhibited at the Sidney Janis Gallery in April 1961 as Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 59. The catalogue for that exhibition notes that it was painted in Falmouth, Massachusetts, where Motherwell spent the summer of 1959. Both the title and the date of this work were erroneously listed (as Elegy to the Spanish Republic #62, dated 1953) in an unpublished 1967 checklist for a traveling exhibition of works on paper by Motherwell organized by the Museum of Modern Art (Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York, ice-f-112-67). Both errors were later repeated in a 1986 Sotheby Parke Bernet auction catalogue. Motherwell did not assign the number 62 to any work in his Elegy series.
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A Spanish Elegy 1958–59 Oil on paperboard 11½ x 14½ in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Verso not seen [“signed and dated Robert Motherwell 1959 on the reverse— signed again, titled, dedicated and dated again for becki and bernard reis, 1960 a spanish elegy Robert Motherwell 1958 on a label affixed to the masonite backing—oil on paper with incision,” per Christie’s 1992] Artist’s Studio Number p58-5123 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Bernard J. Reis, New York, 1960; [Christie’s, New York, November 19, 1992, lot 313, illus.]; unknown owner, 1992
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Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 39, illus. p. 62; Amsterdam, cat. no. 34, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 34; Turin, cat. no. 34, illus. p. 86 (pl. 26). References Bowen 1966, illus. p. 132. Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Juley photo no. 256; j0005040). A print of this photograph in the Dedalus Foundation Archives is labeled “Oil on paper with incision.” This same note is also said to be on a label attached to the backing board of the work. And indeed there is a deep semicircular incision cut into the white paperboard support, which runs under the black forms. The inscription on the verso of this work is said to include a dedication by Motherwell to Bernard and Rebecca Reis. Bernard Reis was Motherwell’s accountant.
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Figuration, with Black and Orange
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 14, as Figuration in Black and Orange, Number 2.
Alternative Title: Figuration with Black and Orange No. 2 1959–60 Oil and crayon on paper 42 x 35¾ in. (106.7 x 90.8 cm)
New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963, as Figuration, with Black and Orange #2.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised [painted over]: [RM 59]
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating), as Figuration with Orange and Black #2.
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Recto, lower right, incised: RM Recto, lower right, incised [painted over]: [RM] Artist’s Studio Number p59-536 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 23.
which was cut down on the right side when it was reworked in 1960. Its composition is similar to a large untitled painting on canvas (p214). This work has often been confused with Figuration, with Black and Orange No. 2 (w97).
Group Exhibitions Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn., 1962, cat. no. 90. Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2000, cat. no. 88, color illus. p. 24, erroneously as Figuration with Orange and Black No. 2. References Motherwell 1961, color illus. p. 32, as Figuration with Orange and Black. Comments This painting was originally done on a horizontal sheet approximately 40 x 48 inches (Juley photo no. 97; j0004889),
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Figuration, with Black and Orange No. 2 1959–60 Oil and graphite on paper 42⅜ x 40 in. (107.6 x 101.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R Motherwell 1960 Verso (on attached paper): figuration, with black + orange, no. 2 Artist’s Studio Number p59/60-537 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 38, illus. n.p.
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{ Title unknown}
Red Shapes
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 12; Caracas, cat. no. 67, illus. n.p.; Bogotá, cat. no. 67; Mexico City, cat. no. 12.
1959 Oil, crayon, and graphite on paper (?) Dimensions unknown
1959–60 Oil, gouache, crayon, and graphite on paper 23 x 30 in. (58.4 x 76.2 cm)
Comments This work has often been confused with Figuration, with Black and Orange (w96); the verso inscription clearly shows it to be number 2. Its composition is similar to a large untitled painting on canvas (p214).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, 1961, cat. no. 25.
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Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 59 Present Owner Unknown Provenance The artist Comments This work is known only from an early black-and-white photograph (Juley photo no. 110; j0004902). We are not certain about the medium, but the paint appears to be oil, based on the flow of the long vertical dripping forms. We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 59 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Galerie Lawrence, Paris, 1962; private collection, 1965; private collection, ca. 1998 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 25. References Stralow 1963, illus. p. 30.
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Comments An early version of this work, signed and dated 1959 in the upper right, was photographed around 1959 (Juley photo no. 99; j0004891). At the time the photograph was taken, the basic compositional structure of the piece had already been set, but a number of the painted elements had yet to be added. Motherwell subsequently added red paint to the rectangular and oval forms near the center of the picture and added the vertical strips of red paint along its left and right edges.
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Capriccio 1959–60 Oil, crayon, and pen on paper 20½ x 15¾ in. (52.1 x 40 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM Recto, lower right [crossed out]: [59] Recto, lower right: 60 Artist’s Studio Number p60-1458 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2001; private collection, 2001 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 17. Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris, 1961, color illus. n.p.
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Comments Motherwell began this work in 1959; a photograph of an early state shows that it was originally signed at the upper right “RM” and dated 1959 (Juley photo no. 101; j0004893). He later painted over the signature and extended the black area to the upper right corner and the sides of the picture, and dated it 1960. The concept of the capriccio goes back to Motherwell’s early paintings and was one of the categories of his work that he listed in the exhibition catalogue for his November 1950 exhibition at the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery (see fig. 197 in volume 1, and the Comments for p108). This work was used as the basis for a collotype and hand-colored pochoir print done in conjunction with Motherwell’s 1961 exhibition at Galerie Heinz Berggruen, Paris (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 5).
Galleria Odyssia, Rome, 1962, cat. no. 24. Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2000. p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
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The Black Sun 1959–60 Oil on paper mounted on paperboard 28¾ x 22¾ in. (73 x 57.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R Motherwell 59 Artist’s Studio Number d59-345 Present Owner Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Gift of Margaret and Angus Wurtele and the Dedalus Foundation, 1995 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 43, illus. p. 30; Amsterdam, cat. no. 38, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 38; Turin, cat. no. 38, illus. p. 92 (pl. 32). Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 13; Caracas, cat. no. 68; Bogotá, cat. no. 68; Mexico City, cat. no. 13. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 15. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 10, illus. p. 15. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 14 (brochure); cat. no. 16 (catalogue), illus. p. 135. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 32, illus. p. 76; not shown in Seattle. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 29.
Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., June 1991. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 2005. References Arnason 1966b, pp. 32, 37, illus. p. 41; Arnason 1977b, pp. 53, 54, 64, illus. p. 55 (pl. 32); Spurling 1978, p. 230; Terenzio 1979, illus. p. 11; Arnason 1982, pp. 53–54, 64, illus. p. 55 (pl. 48); Ashton 1983, p. 41, illus. p. 76; Gaugh 1985, p. 72; Pleynet 1989b, p. 44, color illus. p. 102; Forman 1991d, sec. C, p. 1; Caws 1996b, p. 71, illus. p. 49; Walker Art Center Annual Report 1996, illus. p. 4; Caws 2003, p. 109, illus. p. 110 (ill. 71); Marlan 2005, illus. p. 85 (fig. 3.7). Comments Motherwell began this work in 1959. An early version of it, oriented horizontally, appears in a spring 1960 photograph of his studio (Juley photo no. 260; j0005044). Sometime in 1960, Motherwell oriented the picture vertically, and added more black paint to the central form, extending it to the right edge of the composition. He also painted out with white many of the black drips from the previous version of the work and signed it in the lower left with the date 1959, the year it was begun. The title refers to a line in Baudelaire’s prose poem “Le Désir de peindre” (The Desire to Paint), from Spleen de Paris (Paris Spleen). In it, the poet, speaking of an enigmatic woman, writes: “Je la compararerais à un soleil noir, si l’on pouvait concevoir un astre noir versant la lumière et le bonheur” (I would compare her to a black sun, if one could conceive of such a star pouring forth light and happiness).
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Untitled Alternative Title: [Untitled (Spill)] 1960 Oil and ink on paper 12½ x 9½ in. (31.8 x 24.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 1960 Artist’s Studio Number d60-2858 Present Owner Private collection, New York
Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., August 1991.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, New York, 2006
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1996, cat. no. 25, color illus. n.p.
Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, 1990.
Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 30, color illus. p. 131.
Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2002, as Untitled (Spill).
Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño, Mexico City, 2008, color illus. p. 47. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., 2009, cat. no. 13.
Comments This work originally contained collage elements, traces of which can still be seen on the surface.
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Pasadena Art Museum, Calif., February 1962, cat. no. 46, illus. n.p.
(fig. 42); Anfam 2002, p. 169; Mattison et al. 2009, p. 61, color illus. p. 60.
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 17.
Comments This work embodies one of Motherwell’s ideals, that of spontaneous gestural freedom—both in the black forms and in the dynamic rendering of the figure 4. He had used the figure 4 in his works from very early in his career—initially perhaps as a reference to the four members of his family. He was acutely aware of the broad symbolic significance of the number 4, which was traditionally associated with the four elements, the four seasons, the four humors, the four corners of the earth, and so forth. The number is also linked to Carl Gustav Jung’s notion of quaternity, the fourfold nature of the psyche and its relationship to mandalas and to the notion of “squaring the circle.” Motherwell, however, was not particularly forthcoming about the subject, and wrote: “The figure 4, which appears as early as 1942— i.e., during the first several years of my painting—has baffled curious iconographers. There is a long discussion of 4’s significance by Jung, but whether his notions are relevant to me or not, I do not know” (Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 142). Motherwell told E. A. Carmean Jr. that this painting on paper inspired the spontaneity and use of expressive sprays of paint in Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 70 (p220) (see Carmean 1978, pp. 111–13). Motherwell gave this work to H. H. Arnason who was working on a series of articles about his art.
New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 48, illus. p. 31; Amsterdam, cat. no. 43, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 43; Turin, cat. no. 43, illus. p. 91 (pl. 31/B). Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 28, illus. p. 27, color illus. p. 65, illus. p. 103. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977, color illus. n.p. Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1977. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1978, cat. no. 11, illus. p. 15. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 36, color illus. p. 78; shown in Buffalo and Los Angeles only.
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Striped Above
The Figure 4 on an Elegy
1960 Oil on paper 30 x 23 in. (76.2 x 58.4 cm)
1960 Oil on paper mounted on Masonite 22¾ x 28¾ in. (57.8 x 73 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R Motherwell \ 1960
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 60
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number p60-5106
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. James Roemer, 1961; private collection, 1995
Present Owner Ellen and Howard C. Katz, New York. Courtesy of Neal Meltzer Fine Art, New York
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 7, illus. n.p.
Provenance H. Harvard Arnason, before 1965; Jon Yard Arnason and Eleanor A. Arnason, 1986; [Christie’s, New York, November 14, 2007, lot 121, illus.]; Ellen and Howard C. Katz, New York, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 6, illus. n.p. Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, 1961, cat. no. 33.
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Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 33. Group Exhibitions National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978, cat. no. 5, color illus. p. 31 (pl. 14), illus. p. 111 (figs. 11, in studio, 12). References Nordland 1962b, p. 50; Arnason 1966b, p. 28; Hobbs 1975b, pp. 255, 257, 259– 61, 263, illus. n.p. (pl. 38); Catoir 1976a, illus. p. 23; Granath 1976, illus. p. 4; Hobbs 1976a, pp. 30–34, illus. p. 27; Hobbs 1976b, p. 47; Trappschuh 1976, p. 19; Arnason 1977b, pp. 34, 56, 64, illus. n.p. (pl. 125, in studio), color illus. n.p. (pl. 126); Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Pleynet 1977, p. 198; Carmean 1978, pp. 111–12, 113, 116, illus. p. 111 (figs. 11, in studio, 12); Hernandez 1980, illus. p. 27; Arnason 1982, pp. 34, 56, 64, color illus. p. 143 (pl. 162); Mattison 1982, p. 10; Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 142; Gelles 1984, p. 37; Pleynet 1986, p. 85; Pleynet 1989b, pp. 103, 111, color illus. p. 103; Vinson 1990, p. 969; Flam 1991, p. 9, color illus. n.p. (pl. 49); Polcari 1991, pp. 317–18, illus. p. 316 (fig. 255); Franzke 1994, color illus. p. 8 (fig. 6); Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 35 (pl. 32); Wentrup 2001, p. 78, illus.
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In Black and White
Elegy Study
1960 Oil on paper 23¼ x 29 in. (59.1 x 73.7 cm)
Ca. 1960 Oil on paper 22⅞ x 28⅞ in. (58.1 x 73.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 60
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number d58-524
Provenance Private collection, ca. 1965; Solomon & Company Fine Art, Inc., ca. 1966; private collection, ca. 1984; unknown owner
Present Owner The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Bequest of Caroline Wiess Law
Group Exhibitions Solomon & Company Fine Art, New York, 1983. Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Juley photo no. 327; j0005050).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Caroline Wiess Law, 2001; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2004 Group Exhibitions Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, 1999 (traveling), color illus. p. 241. Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., 2000, illus. p. 39. Joseph Helman Gallery, New York, September 2000. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2004.
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References Sidney Janis Gallery exh. cat. April 1961, illus. n.p. (in studio, in progress, oriented vertically); Museum of Modern Art, Robert Motherwell, exh. cat. September 1965, cover illus. (in studio, in progress, oriented vertically); Galerie im Erker exh. cat. 1971, illus. p. 11 (in studio, in progress, oriented vertically); Schmidt 1976, illus. p. 77 (in studio, in progress, oriented vertically); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 138 (pl. 156, in studio, in progress, oriented vertically). Comments An earlier version of this work was photographed in the spring of 1960 (Juley photo no. 277; j0005061), and a print of this photograph in Motherwell’s possession was labeled “in progress.” That version is also seen pinned oriented vertically on Motherwell’s studio wall in a photograph taken around the same time (see fig. 101 in volume 1). This work was completed later in the year, when Motherwell reoriented it horizontally, redefined the central oval and vertical forms, and extended the black paint to the edges of the composition.
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Elegy Study Alternative Title: Untitled (Elegy Study) 1960 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM Recto, lower right: /53 Artist’s Studio Number d53-2539 Present Owner Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Gift of Margaret and Angus Wurtele and the Dedalus Foundation, 1995 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1981, cat. no. 26, as Untitled (Elegy Study). Knoedler & Company, New York, 1994, cat. no. 6.
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1996, cat. no. 22. Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño, Mexico City, 2008, color illus. p. 43. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., 2009, cat. no. 1. Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1983 (not on checklist). Phoenix Gallery, New York, 1985. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 2005. Comments The inscription “/53” at the lower right of this work appears to have been an erroneous guess at its date made at a much later time, probably in the early 1980s when it was assigned a studio number reflecting a 1953 date, just prior to its first public exhibition in February 1981. An early version of this work, however, is seen pinned to the wall with other works in progress in a photograph of Motherwell’s studio taken by Peter A. Juley & Son around
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February 1960 (unnumbered Juley photograph; j0005028), and the style of the composition is consistent with the artist’s works from that period.
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Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 44 1960 Casein on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: 60 \ R Motherwell Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1965; private collection, 2005 References Arnason 1966b, p. 29, illus. p. 22; Hobbs 1975b, p. 255, illus. n.p. (pl. 37); Arnason 1977b, p. 46; Arnason 1982, p. 46. Comments As evidenced in this work and other Elegy paintings from this period, the numbering of the Elegy paintings on paper was not chronologically sequential. See, for example, the Elegies given the numbers 40, 45, and 50 (w25, w109, and w32 respectively).
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Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 45 1960 Casein on paper 22½ x 28½ in. (57.2 x 72.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 60 Artist’s Studio Number d60-1470 Present Owner Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles
References Arnason 1966b, p. 29; Hobbs 1975b, p. 255; Arnason 1977b, p. 46; Arnason 1982, p. 46; Muchnic 1998, p. 178, color illus. p. 178. Comments As evidenced in this work and other Elegy paintings from this period, the numbering of the Elegy paintings on paper was not chronologically sequential. See, for example, the Elegies given the numbers 40, 44, and 50 (w25, w108, and w32 respectively).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1998 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 26, illus. n.p.; illus. n.p. (in exhibition). Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 24, cover color illus. Group Exhibitions New School Art Center, New York, 1969, cat. no. 98.
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[ Untitled (Black Elegy)]
Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 60
1960/after ca. 1962 Acrylic and gouache on paper 22¾ x 29 in. (57.8 x 73.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 60 Artist’s Studio Number d60-1274 Present Owner Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Gift of the Dedalus Foundation and John Lambert Fund, 1994.6.4 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1994 Comments The passages of acrylic paint were added to this work sometime after 1962.
1960 Oil on paperboard 11½ x 14 in. (29.2 x 35.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 60 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Harriet Mnuchin Weiner, 1961; [Christie’s, New York, May 10, 1983, lot 11, illus.]; Martin Selig, 1983; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 8, illus. n.p. Comments When this work was shown at the Sidney Janis Gallery in 1961, it was erroneously dated to 1959 in the exhibition catalogue even though it is clearly signed “RM 60” at the upper right. Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1983 Christie’s auction catalogue.
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Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 61 1960 Oil and graphite on paperboard 11½ x 14½ in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 60 Present Owner Private collection, Philadelphia Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Lee V. Eastman; [Christie’s, New York, November 9, 2005, lot 215, illus.]; private collection, Philadelphia, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961, cat. no. 9, illus. n.p. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 20, cover illus., illus. n.p., as Elegy to the Spanish Republic LXI.
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Group Exhibitions Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, 1989 (traveling), cat. no. 75, illus. p. 68 (pl. 53), illus. p. 110 (pl. 90).
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Spanish Elegy
Untitled
1960 Oil and graphite on paperboard 7 x 9⅜ in. (17.8 x 23.8 cm)
1960 Oil and graphite on paperboard 7 x 9⅜ in. (17.8 x 23.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM
Verso: For Adam Emmerich \ spanish elegy oil sketch \ Robert Motherwell \ december 25, 1960
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Collection of Adam Emmerich Provenance Adam Emmerich, 1960 Comments This work was presented as a gift, and dedicated on the verso, to mark the birth of the art dealer André Emmerich’s son, Adam, born December 15, 1960.
Provenance Galerie Suzanne Bollag; unknown owner, 1967; [Sotheby’s, London, June 24, 2004, lot 251, illus.]; unknown owner, 2004 References Art International 1961, cover color illus.
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Two Figures with Green Stripe
Summertime in Italy No. 3
1960–64 Oil on paperboard 26½ x 39¾ in. (67.3 x 101 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
Alternative Titles: Summertime in Italy II; Italian Summer No. 3 1960 Oil on paperboard 40¾ x 26½ in. (103.5 x 67.3 cm)
Present Owner Dr. and Mrs. M. Wallace Friedman
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM 60
Provenance Dr. and Mrs. M. Wallace Friedman, 1967
Verso (on top horizontal strainer): italian summer, no. 3
Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating). Comments The composition of this work was set in 1960, the year Motherwell also painted a related large-scale painting, Two Figures with Cerulean Blue Stripe (p208). He revised this smaller work in 1964, most likely by adding the green paint.
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Verso (on backing board): “summertime in italy, no. 3” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1960 Present Owner Collection of Joann and Gifford Phillips Provenance Joann and Gifford Phillips, 1962 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, April 1961 (not in catalogue). Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1965, cat. no. 14.
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Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating); shown in San Francisco only. Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1974, cat. no. 19, color illus. n.p., as Summertime In Italy II. Group Exhibitions UCLA Art Galleries, Los Angeles, 1962, cat. no. 75, as Summertime in Italy. Art Gallery, University of California at Riverside, 1973, erroneously as Summertime in Italy II. Comments This work was probably painted in Alassio, on the Ligurian coast, during the summer of 1960. It was shown in Motherwell’s solo exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery in April 1961, as
per an installation photograph of that show (Sidney Janis Gallery Archives), even though it was not included in the catalogue. It was sold with the title Summertime in Italy II in 1962, but was exhibited from 1965 to 1967 as Summertime in Italy No. 3, in conformity with the title inscribed on the verso by Motherwell. Thus two works in this series were given the number 3, this one and a 1960 collage (c122); but there is no number 2. The alternative title inscribed on the verso, “italian summer, no. 3,” suggests that Motherwell may at one time have intended to call the series as a whole the Italian Summer series (see also Italian Summer, p253). For more on the Summertime in Italy series, see Summertime in Italy No. 1 (c121).
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Summertime in Italy 1960 Oil and graphite on paper 57¼ x 42¾ in. (145.4 x 108.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R Motherwell 60
References Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 51, as Summertime in Italy [Paper Painting]). Comments This work was probably painted in Alassio during the summer of 1960.
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Solo Exhibitions Galería Joan Prats, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland, 1991, cat. no. 1 (sec. “Works on Paper”), color illus. n.p.
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Summertime in Italy 1961 Oil and ink on paper 65 x 42 in. (165.1 x 106.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 61
Artist’s Studio Number d60-3566
Artist’s Studio Number p61-3565
Present Owner National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. The Nancy Lee and Perry Bass Fund, 1999.55.6
Present Owner Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchased with funds from an anonymous donor, with support from the Dedalus Foundation, 1998
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1999 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1991, cat. no. 1.
References Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 56). Comments This work was reproduced during Motherwell’s lifetime with the lower right corner of the paper torn off (Flam 1991, pl. 56). Our reproduction comes from a digital image taken after the work was restored by the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1996
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Before the Italian Mediterranean Alternative Title: Structure before the Italian Mediterranean 1961 Oil on paper 51¾ x 42½ in. (131.4 x 108 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell 61 Artist’s Studio Number d61-697 Present Owner La Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango Provenance Philippe Dotremont, Brussels, ca. 1962; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, April 14, 1965, lot 32, illus.]; Clinton Wilder, 1965; Robert Motherwell, 1965; Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Fernando Botero, 1999; La Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, ca. 2000
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Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating), as Structure Before the Italian Mediterranean.
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Sea, Sky, Sand
Untitled
1961 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1961 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
Inscriptions Recto, upper center: R Motherwell 61
Inscriptions Recto, lower center: R Motherwell 61
Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 5, color illus. p. 13.
Verso (on backing board): “sea, sky, sand” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1961 \ oil on 100% rag paper
Artist’s Studio Number d61-543
References Holmes 1966, sec. “Zest,” p. 37, as Structure Before the Italian Mediterranean. Comments This painting on paper was bought at auction by the theatrical producer Clinton Wilder in 1965, but delivered to Motherwell by the auction house, as per a letter dated May 11, 1965, from Motherwell to Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc.
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Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating).
Present Owner The Columbus Museum, Ga. Museum purchase made possible by Etta Dykes Blackmon, in memory of Natilu McKenney Dykes; Annie Ruth Baker Davis; Gail B. Greenblatt; Rebecca H. King; Edith Landrum; Marjorie Newman; Laura P. Porter, in memory of Mary F. Passailaigue; Thelma M. Robinson; Miriam Tidwell; special assistance from the Ella E. Kirven Charitable Lead Trust for Acquisitions; and gift of the Dedalus Foundation, 2000.13.1
References Rosenberg 1963, p. 72, as Sea, Sky and Sand; Rosenberg 1964, p. 101.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Columbus Museum, Ga., 2000
Verso (on backing board): Juley photo #372 Present Owner Private collection, California Provenance Private collection, California, 1967 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 10, illus. n.p.
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Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating). Columbus Museum, Ga., 2000, color illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Okla., 2006 (traveling), cat. no. 80, color illus. p. 198.
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Untitled
In Black with Yellow Ochre
1961 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1960–61 Oil on paper mounted on canvas 28¼ x 22½ in. (71.8 x 57.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower center: R Motherwell 61
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R Motherwell \ 60
Present Owner Private collection of Mr. and Mrs. David Sherman Jr.
Verso (on top horizontal stretcher, reattached): 1961 “in black, with yellow ochre” Robert Motherwell \ oil on 100% rag paper
Provenance Reese Palley Gallery, New York and San Francisco, 1969; private collection; Mr. and Mrs. David Sherman Jr., 1985 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating). Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 18, illus. n.p.; Caracas, cat. no. 73, illus. n.p.; Bogotá, cat. no. 73; Mexico City, cat. no. 18, illus. p. 27. group Exhibitions Reese Palley Gallery, San Francisco, 1968. References Herner de Schmelz 1968, illus. p. 13.
(traveling), New York, cat. no. 60, illus. p. 31; Amsterdam, cat. no. 50, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 50; Turin, cat. no. 50, illus. p. 99 (pl. 39). References Arnason 1966b, p. 37; Arnason 1982, illus. p. 134 (pl. 147).
Artist’s Studio Number p61-5107 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Philippe Dotremont, Brussels, 1962; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, April 14, 1965, lot 31, illus.]; private collection, 1965; private collection, 2001; [Christie’s, New York, May 14, 2008, lot 219, illus.]; private collection, 2008 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965
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Black and Blue and White
Torn Elegy
1961 Oil on paper 27⅜ x 22½ in. (69.5 x 57.2 cm)
Alternative Title: Untitled 1962 Acrylic and graphite on paperboard 10⅝ x 15 in. (27 x 38.1 cm), irreg.
Inscriptions Recto, upper center: R Motherwell 61 Present Owner Collection of Mrs. David A. Prager Provenance Mrs. David A. Prager, 1962 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 55, illus. p. 83; Amsterdam, cat. no. 52, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 52; Turin, cat. no. 52. Group Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, May 1964, cat. no. 106. References Trotta 1965, illus. p. 122 (cat. no. 12); Baro 1966a, illus. p. 37; Arnason 1977b, p. 64; Arnason 1982, p. 64.
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Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 62 Artist’s Studio Number p62-1954 Present Owner Renate Ponsold Motherwell Provenance Renate Ponsold Motherwell, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1981, cat. no. 12, as Untitled. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987. Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. I.3, color illus. p. 98 (pl. 2); shown in New York only.
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Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1983, cat. no. 10. References Glenn 1984, color illus. p. 86 (installation view); Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 67). Comments This work was originally painted on a rectangular cardboard support. At an unknown date, Motherwell either tore the right and left sides of the work or discovered that they had ripped on their own and chose to maintain the fragmentary appearance of the work. It was already torn when shown at Knoedler & Company in 1981. When it was exhibited in 1983, it was shown for the first time with its current title.
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Elegy to the Spanish Republic 1962 Oil on paperboard 7 x 9½ in. (17.8 x 24.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 62 Present Owner Private collection, New York Provenance Private collection, New York, 1962
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Beside the Sea No. 1 1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center: Motherwell
Provenance Sophie and Boris Leavitt, Hanover, Pa., 1964; [Christie’s, New York, November 20, 1996, lot 8, illus.]; Mr. and Mrs. George W. Couch III, Pebble Beach, Calif., 1996
Recto, lower right: 1
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 24, illus. n.p.
Verso [circled] (on backing board): Photo #356 [oil] \ “Beside the Sea, #1” \ Robert Motherwell 1962
New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963.
Artist’s Studio Number p62-5108
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 63, illus. p. 32; Amsterdam, cat. no. 56, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 56; Turin, cat. no. 56, illus. p. 104 (pl. 44/B).
Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Couch III, Pebble Beach, Calif.
Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 22.
Group Exhibitions Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., 1981, cat. no. 58, illus. p. 58, erroneously as By the Sea #1. References Fried 1967, illus. sec. 2, p. 4, as Beside the Sea; Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 135); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 147 (pl. 171); Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 147. Comments Motherwell began his Beside the Sea series in Provincetown during the summer of 1962, working in both oil and acrylic on paper. This series marked his first sustained use of acrylic copolymer emulsion paint; roughly one-third of the 1962 Beside the Sea paintings were done in acrylic. (In 1962 Motherwell compiled a list of works in which he specified the mediums used in each work in the series; Dedalus Foundation
Archives). Some works that originated as part of this series eventually became collages (see c132–c135). Motherwell also explored similar imagery in paintings done on canvas (see p240–p245). He would return to this motif again in 1966 and 1967, when he created both drawings and paintings on paper in the Beside the Sea series that generally continued the numbering of the 1962 series (see w212 and w222). In 1968, he began a second numbered series of paintings on paper also titled Beside the Sea (see the Comments for w254). Motherwell later described the genesis of the series as follows: “For years my summer studio has been on the bay in Provincetown . . . at high tide the sea in a high wind breaks against the bulkhead in violent spray. In the Beside the Sea series, I made the painted
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spray with such physical force that the strong rag paper split, and it was only when I found rag paper laminated with glue in five layers that the surface could take the full force of my shoulder, arm, hand, and brush without splitting. One might say that the true way to ‘imitate’ nature is to employ its own processes” (Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 147). This work, the first in the Beside the Sea series, was numbered in pencil at the lower right (as were many other works in the series). There are some gaps in the numbering of the works in the 1962 series: the collage U.S. Art New York N.Y. (c132) originated as number 7 in the series; number 9 became Number 70 (c133); Beside the Sea, with Black and White (c135) was number 16; number 35 in the series became the collage Beside the Sea, with Collage (c134); no work is known to have been assigned the number 29.
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Beside the Sea No. 2 1962/ca. 1965 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center: Motherwell Recto, lower right: 1962 Verso not seen [“signed, titled and dated 1962 on the backing board,” per Sotheby’s 2003] Artist’s Studio Number p62-546 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Base Gallery, Tokyo, 1990; private collection, 1992; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 14, 2003, lot 153, illus.]; unknown owner, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 21 (shown in early state).
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New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963 (shown in early state). Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating) (not in catalogue). Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 20; Caracas, cat. no. 75; Bogotá, cat. no. 75; Mexico City, cat. no. 20; as Al borde del mar (Beside the Sea). William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 16 (brochure); cat. no. 18 (catalogue), illus. p. 47 (in exhibition), illus. p. 48 (in exhibition), illus. p. 85. Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 29, illus. n.p.; illus. n.p. (in exhibition). Group Exhibitions Reese Palley Gallery, San Francisco, 1968.
References Sandler 1963b, illus. p. 117 (in early state); Hobbs 1976b, illus. p. 37; Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 136); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 147 (pl. 172); Arnason 1986, color illus. p. 403 (pl. 191); Enright 1989, illus. p. 11; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 109; Scarpetta 1989–90, color illus. p. 117; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 59); Polcari 1991, p. 307, illus. p. 307 (fig. 243); Franzke 1994, color illus. p. 8 (fig. 8); Caws 1996b, illus. p. 150; Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 42 (pl. 39); Caws 2003, p. 131, illus. p. 133 (ill. 88). Comments An early version of this work, painted in 1962, was exhibited twice in 1963. Motherwell added the ochre paint in the lower part of the composition sometime before the work was exhibited again in September 1965.
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Beside the Sea No. 3 1962 Oil on paper 28¾ x 22¾ in. (73 x 57.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center [partially painted over]: [R] Motherwell [62]
Group Exhibitions Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 146, illus. p. 88. References Wasserman 1965, cover color illus.
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Beside the Sea No. 4 1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center [partially painted over]: [R] Motherwell
Recto, lower right: 3
Recto, lower right: 4
Verso (on backing board) [circled ]: Juley photo #358 \ “Beside the Sea, #3” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1962 \ [oil]
Artist’s Studio Number p62-5109
Present Owner Hannelore B. Schulhof Collection, New York Provenance Hannelore B. Schulhof, New York, 1965 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 28, illus. n.p. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 64; Amsterdam, cat. no. 57, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 57; Turin, cat. no. 57, illus. p. 104 (pl. 44/B).
Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Juley photo no. 360; j0005144).
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Present Owner Private collection Provenance Sophie and Boris Leavitt, Hanover, Pa., 1964; private collection, 1976 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 25, illus. n.p. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 65, illus. p. 32; Amsterdam, cat. no. 58, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 58; Turin, cat. no. 58.
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Beside the Sea No. 5
Beside the Sea No. 6
1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower center: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, lower center: Motherwell
Recto, lower right: 5
Recto, lower right: 6
Artist’s Studio Number d62-547
Verso (on backing board) [set in square]: [beside \ the \ sea, #6]
Present Owner Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass. Purchased with the gift of Bonnie Johnson Sacerdote, class of 1964, and Louisa Stude Sarofim, class of 1958, and the Dedalus Foundation
Verso (on backing board) [circled ]: [oil] 1962 \ Robert Motherwell \ Juley photo #359
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1995 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 40 (on checklist; not in catalogue). Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1996. Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. V.1, color illus. p. 127 (pl. 53); shown in New York only.
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, ca. 1962 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 19, illus. n.p. Lawrence Rubin/Greenberg Van Doren Fine Art, New York, 2001, cat. no. 5. Group Exhibitions Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York, 2006. References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 137); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 147 (pl. 173).
Group Exhibitions Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, September 1964 (traveling), cat. no. 80. Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1993. References Sandler 1970, p. 209, illus. p. 209 (fig. 16-9); Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 134); Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 148 (pl. 179); Kingsley 1982, color illus. p. 48; Meewis 1983, p. 200; Fort Worth Art Museum exh. cat. 1985, illus. p. 6; Enright 1989, illus. p. 11; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 107; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 60); Terenzio 1992b, color illus. n.p.; Myers 1993, illus. sec. 2, p. 8, as Beside the Sea; Taylor 1993, p. 20, color illus. p. 22 (fig. 4); Qin 1996, illus. p. 102 (fig. 41, erroneously as Beside the Sea No. 22); Smith College Museum of Art Newsletter and Calendar 1996, n.p., color illus. n.p.; Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 42 (pl. 40).
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Beside the Sea No. 8 1962 Oil on paper 28⅞ x 22⅞ in. (73.3 x 58.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center [partially painted over]: [Motherwell] Recto, lower right: 8 Verso [circled ]: photo #378 [oil] \ “Beside the Sea, #8” \ Robert Motherwell 1962 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, 1965; private collection; private collection Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 31 (on checklist; not in catalogue). Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 66, illus. p. 32; Amsterdam, cat. no. 59, illus.
n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 59; Turin, cat. no. 59, illus. p. 105 (pl. 45/A). Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, May 1969.
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Beside the Sea No. 10
Beside the Sea No. 11
Beside the Sea No. 12
1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1962 Oil on paper 28¾ x 22¾ in. (73 x 57.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower center: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62 \ 11
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62
Recto, upper right: 10
Present Owner Unknown
Recto, lower center: Motherwell Recto, lower right: 12
Provenance Solomon Byron Smith, ca. 1963; unknown owner
Museum of Modern Art, New York, May 1969.
Verso (on backing board) [circled ]: Photo #395 [oil] N.F.S. \ “Beside the Sea, #12” \ Robert Motherwell 1962
References Baro 1966b, p. 41, illus. p. 40.
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 34 (on checklist; not in catalogue).
Present Owner Private collection
Verso not seen [“signed again, inscribed with title and dedication, and dated 1962 on the cardboard backing,” per Christie’s 1983] Present Owner Unknown Provenance Unknown owner, ca. 1962; [Christie’s, New York, May 11, 1983, lot 237, illus.]; unknown owner, 1983 Solo Exhibitions Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 22. Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Juley photo no. 357; j0005141).
Group Exhibitions Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., May 1993, illus. p. 92.
Amsterdam, cat. no. 60, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 60; Turin, cat. no. 60, illus. p. 105 (pl. 45/B). Group Exhibitions Art Institute of Chicago, January 1963, cat. no. 60. Centre Culturel Américain, Paris, 1963, cat. no. 21.
Provenance Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1965; private collection, after 1969; private collection, 2008
References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 138); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 147 (pl. 174).
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 41 (on checklist; not in catalogue).
Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Juley photo no. 347; j0005131).
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 67;
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Solo Exhibitions New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963.
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Beside the Sea No. 13
Beside the Sea No. 14
1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1962 Oil and acrylic on paper 29 x 22¾ in. (73.7 x 57.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62 \ 14
Recto, lower center: Motherwell Recto, lower right: 13
Recto, lower center [partially painted over]: [Motherwell]
Present Owner Private collection
Verso (on backing board) [covered by label]: [Photo #] 379
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 21; Caracas, cat. no. 76; Bogotá, cat. no. 76; Mexico City, cat. no. 21; as Al borde del mar (Beside the Sea).
Provenance Private collection, 1963; private collection
Verso (on backing board) [circled ]: “beside the sea, #14” \ [oil] \ R Motherwell \ 1962
group Exhibitions Reese Palley Gallery, San Francisco, 1968.
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 36 (on checklist; not in catalogue).
Present Owner Collection of Paul and Mildred Berg
New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963. References Enright 1989, illus. p. 11.
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Provenance Louise Ferrari, Houston; private collection, 1969; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, October 21, 1976, lot 181, illus.]; Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, and John C. Stoller & Co., Minneapolis, 1977; private collection, 1977; private collection, 1979; Paul and Mildred Berg, 1979
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Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating).
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Beside the Sea No. 15 1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62 \ 15 Recto, lower center [partially painted over]: [Motherwell] Verso (on backing board) [circled]: Photo #343 \ “Beside the Sea, #15” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1962 \ [oil] Present Owner Weiss Family collection Provenance Private collection, 1969; Weiss Family collection, 1970 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 20, illus. n.p. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 23. New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963.
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Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating). Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 22, illus. n.p.; Caracas, cat. no. 77; Bogotá, cat. no. 77; Mexico City, cat. no. 22, illus. p. 24; as Al borde del mar (Beside the Sea).
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Beside the Sea No. 17
Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, 1992, color illus. p. 26.
1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
group Exhibitions Reese Palley Gallery, San Francisco, 1968.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62
References Tillim 1963, illus. p. 40.
Recto, lower center [partially painted over]: [Motherwell] Recto, lower right: 17 Verso (on backing board) [circled ]: photo. No. 342 \ [oil] \“Beside the Sea, #17” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1962 Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Buchanan
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Buchanan, 1963
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Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 33 (on checklist; not in catalogue).
1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Group Exhibitions Art Institute of Chicago, January 1963, cat. no. 61. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1972, cat. no. 70.
Beside the Sea No. 18
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62 Recto, lower center [partially painted over]: [Motherwell] Recto, lower right: 18 Artist’s Studio Number p62-5110 Present Owner Collection of Alex Grass Provenance Sophie and Boris Leavitt, Hanover, Pa., 1964; [Christie’s, New York, November 20, 1996, lot 2, illus.]; Alex Grass, 1996
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Solo Exhibitions Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 24. New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 68, illus. p. 33; Amsterdam, cat. no. 61, illus. n.p.; Essen, cat. no. 61; Turin, cat. no. 61, illus. p. 106 (pl. 46). Group Exhibitions Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., 1981, cat. no. 8, color illus. p. 24, erroneously as By the Sea #18. References Willard 1965, illus. sec. Magazine, p. 4; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 62); Qin 1996, illus. p. 102 (fig. 41); Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 43 (pl. 42).
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Beside the Sea No. 19 1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62 Recto, lower center [painted over]: [Motherwell] Verso not seen [“signed ‘Robert Motherwell,’ ‘beside the sea #19,’ and ‘1962’ on the back of the frame,” per Rothschild Fine Arts records]
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New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963. Gallery 30, San Mateo, Calif., 1984. References Life 1963, illus. sec. NY, p. 7; Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 139); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 147 (pl. 175); San Mateo Times 1984, illus. Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Juley photo no. 377; j0005162).
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Beside the Sea No. 20 1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62 Recto, lower center [painted over]: [Motherwell] Recto, lower right: 20 Verso (on backing board) [circled]: photo #376 \ “beside the sea, #20” \ R Motherwell 1962 \ [oil]
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Collection of Kenneth Noland
Provenance New York Hilton, ca. 1963; private collection; [Christie’s, New York, November 2, 1984, lot 170, illus.]; unknown owner, 1984
Provenance Kenneth Noland, 1967
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 37 (on checklist; not in catalogue).
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Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 38 (on checklist; not in catalogue). References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 140); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 147 (pl. 176).
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Comments On August 16, 1967, Motherwell traded this work with Kenneth Noland in exchange for Hub, a 1961 acrylic painting on canvas that measures 84 inches square.
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Beside the Sea No. 21 1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62 Recto, lower center [painted over]: [Motherwell] Recto, lower right: 21 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, ca. 1963; unknown owner, ca. 1969; Marisa del Re Gallery, Inc.; Greenberg Gallery, Saint Louis, 1982; [Christie’s, New York, November 11, 1982, lot 108, illus.]; Isabella del Frate Rayburn, 1982; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 5, 1994, lot 108, illus. (not sold)]; [Christie’s, New York, November 15, 1995, lot 195, illus.]; private collection, 1995
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Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 35 (on checklist; not in catalogue). New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963. Group Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, March 1982.
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Beside the Sea No. 22 1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62 Recto, lower center [partially painted over]: [Motherwell]
References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 141); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 147 (pl. 177).
Recto, lower right: 22 Verso not seen [“signed on reverse with title and photography notes,” per Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh. cat., 1997] Artist’s Studio Number d62-548 Present Owner Collection of Skip Paul and Van Fletcher, Beverly Hills, Calif. Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Skip Paul and Van Fletcher, Beverly Hills, Calif., 1997
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475
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Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 32 (on checklist; not in catalogue). Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 69, illus. p. 33.
References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 142); Motherwell 1978, p. 17; Arnason 1982, illus. p. 147 (pl. 178); Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 61); Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 43 (pl. 41); Caws 2003, p. 131, color illus. p. 132 (ill. 87).
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Beside the Sea No. 23 1962 Acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62
William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 19 (catalogue).
Recto, lower right: 23
Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 30, illus. n.p.; illus. n.p. (in exhibition).
Provenance Private collection; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 7, 1990, lot 189, illus.]; unknown owner, 1990; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 18, 1998, lot 250, illus.]; private collection, 1998; private collection, New York, 1998
Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. V.2, color illus. p. 128 (pl. 54). Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 29, color illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Mass., 1978.
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Present Owner Private collection, New York
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 39 (on checklist; not in catalogue). Group Exhibitions Art Institute of Chicago, January 1963, cat. no. 59, illus. n.p.
References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 143); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 149 (pl. 180).
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Beside the Sea No. 24 1962 Acrylic on paper 28⅞ x 23 in. (73.3 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62 Recto, lower right: 24 Artist’s Studio Number p62-549 Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Museum purchase and gift of the artist Provenance Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1985 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 21, illus. n.p. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell, September 1965 (traveling), New York, cat. no. 70, illus. p. 33.
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Beside the Sea No. 25
Beside the Sea No. 26
1962 Oil and acrylic on paper 29 x 22¾ in. (73.7 x 57.8 cm)
1962 Acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62
Fort Worth Art Museum, September 1985, cat. no. 1, color illus. p. 7.
Present Owner Unknown
Recto, lower right: 26
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993.
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Barry R. Peril, 1965; private collection, 1975; unknown owner
William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 17 (brochure); cat. no. 20 (catalogue), illus. p. 47 (in exhibition), illus. p. 48 (in exhibition), illus. p. 87. Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 31, illus. n.p.; illus. n.p. (in exhibition).
References Robertson 1966a, illus. p. 93, as Beside the sea; Wohl 1973, illus. p. 44; Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 144); Devade 1977, illus. p. 23; Millet 1977, illus. pp. 6–7; Arnason 1982, illus. p. 149 (pl. 181); Bonet 1983, illus. p. 137; Fort Worth Art Museum Calendar 1985b, p. 2, color illus. p. 3; Kutner 1985a, sec. C, p. 3, illus. sec. C, p. 1; Sewell 1985, p. 21; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 49, color illus. p. 106; Poesia y Poética 1990, illus. p. 20; Ross 1990, illus. p. 108; Harrison 1991, illus. p. 98; Caws 1996b, illus. p. 151.
Solo Exhibitions Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 25. Group Exhibitions Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1966. Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1975.
Artist’s Studio Number d62-550 Present Owner Renate Ponsold Motherwell Provenance Renate Ponsold Motherwell, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 42 (on checklist; not in catalogue). New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963.
References Arnason 1966b, illus. p. 34; Jacobs 1974, illus. sec. E, p. 2 (in exhibition).
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William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 18 (brochure); cat. no. 21 (catalogue), illus. p. 47 (in exhibition), illus. p. 48 (in exhibition), illus. p. 86. Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 32, illus. n.p.; illus. n.p. (in exhibition).
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Beside the Sea No. 27 1962 Oil and acrylic on paper 28¾ x 22¾ in. (73 x 57.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62
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New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963. Art Center in Hargate, St. Paul’s School, Concord, N.H., 1970, cat. no. 3.
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Beside the Sea No. 28 1962 Oil and acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62
Group Exhibitions Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, September 1964 (traveling), cat. no. 81, illus. n.p.
Recto, lower right: 27
Recto, lower right: 28
Verso (on backing board): photo #341 \ “Beside the Sea, #27” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1962
Artist’s Studio Number p62-1471
References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 108.
Artist’s Studio Number d62-1505 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2001 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 18, illus. n.p. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 26, illus. n.p.
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Present Owner Unknown Provenance The artist Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 22, illus. n.p. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 27. New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963.
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References E[dgar] 1963, p. 10, color illus. p. 10; Wasserman 1965, illus. p. 19; Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 145); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 149 (pl. 182). Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Juley photo no. 353; j0005138). It was consigned to MarlboroughGerson Gallery in 1964, sold in 1965 to a buyer who did not pay for it, and returned to the artist in 1972. Motherwell stored it at the Santini Brothers warehouse in New York in 1972, and its current whereabouts are unknown.
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Beside the Sea No. 30 1962 Acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62 Recto, lower right: 30 Artist’s Studio Number d62-551 Present Owner Collection of Skip Paul and Van Fletcher, Beverly Hills, Calif. Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Skip Paul and Van Fletcher, Beverly Hills, Calif., 2000 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 26, illus. n.p. Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. V.3, color illus. p. 129 (pl. 55).
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Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 6, cover illus.
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Group Exhibitions Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, September 1964 (traveling), cat. no. 82.
1962 Acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2000, cat. no. 89. References National Museum of Contemporary Art exh. cat. 1988, color illus. p. 644 (fig. 1); Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 63); Qin 1996, pp. 24, 41, 54, illus. p. 81 (fig. 16).
Beside the Sea No. 31
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62 Recto, lower right: 31 Artist’s Studio Number d62-5175 Present Owner Williams College Museum of Art. Gift of Professor and Mrs. S. Lane Faison Jr. Provenance S. Lane Faison Jr., 1966; Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Mass., 1986 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 44 (on checklist; not in catalogue). Group Exhibitions Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, September 1964 (traveling), cat. no. 83.
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Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn., September 1973 (traveling), cat. no. 94, illus. p. 203. Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 61, illus. p. 62. References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 146); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 149 (pl. 183); Faison 1991, illus., erroneously as Beside the Sea No. 32; Flam 1991, illus. n.p. (pl. 64); Qin 1996, pp. 24, 41, 54, illus. p. 81 (fig. 16).
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Beside the Sea No. 32
Beside the Sea No. 33
1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1962 Acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62
Recto, lower right: 32
Recto, lower right: 33
Present Owner Seattle Art Museum. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Liberman
Verso (on backing board): “beside the sea, no. 33” (acrylic) \ Robert Motherwell 1962
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Liberman; Seattle Art Museum, 1991
Present Owner Collection of Alex Grass
Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 43 (on checklist; not in catalogue). References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 147); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 149 (pl. 184).
Provenance Unknown owner; [Christie’s, New York, May 8, 1990, lot 110, illus.]; private collection, 1990; Alex Grass, 1990 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 23, illus. n.p. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 28. New Gallery, Charles Hayden Memorial Library, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1963.
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References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 148); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 149 (pl. 185).
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Beside the Sea No. 34 1962 Acrylic on paper 29 x 22¾ in. (73.7 x 57.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62
References Galerie im Erker exh. cat. 1971, illus. p. 12, as Beside the Sea; O’Hara 1975, p. 77, as Beside the Sea, illus. p. 77 (fig. 5); Moore 1980, cover illus.; Jennings 1991, p. 19; Caws 2003, illus. p. 90 (ill. 61).
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Beside the Sea No. 36 1962 Oil and acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 62
Recto, lower right: 34
Recto, lower right: 36
Present Owner The Art Institute of Chicago. Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York, Barbara Neff Smith and Solomon Byron Smith Purchase Fund, 1967.164
Present Owner Collection of Alex Grass
Provenance Art Institute of Chicago, 1967 Solo Exhibitions Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 1962, cat. no. 27, illus. n.p. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 29, illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 1965, cat. no. 66.
References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 149); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 149 (pl. 186).
Provenance Sophie and Boris Leavitt, Hanover, Pa., 1964; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, April 6, 1967, lot 71 (not sold)]; [Christie’s, New York, November 20, 1996, lot 1, illus.]; Alex Grass, 1996 Solo Exhibitions Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1963, cat. no. 30. Group Exhibitions Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., 1981, cat. no. 59, illus. p. 58, erroneously as By the Sea #36.
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Beside the Sea
Sky Blue, with Sand
Night Beside the Sea
1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower center: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, lower center: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper center: Motherwell
Present Owner Private collection
Verso (on backing board) [circled ]: photo #362 [oil] \ “sky blue, with sand” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1962
Verso (on backing board) [circled ]: “night beside the sea” \ Robert Motherwell \ [oil] 1962 \ photo #373
Artist’s Studio Number p62-545
Artist’s Studio Number d62-1188
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto, 2006
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 21, color illus. n.p.
Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 26.
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1977.
References Galerie im Erker exh. cat. 1971, illus. p. 12, erroneously as Beside the Sea.
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 28.
Provenance Knoedler & Company, 1981; private collection, 1981
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Group Exhibitions Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1999 (traveling), color illus. p. 137.
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Moonrise Beside the Sea 1962 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower center, incised: Motherwell 62 Verso (on backing board) [partially obscured by strainer]: [Juley photo #350] Verso (on backing board): Robert Motherwell \ for Frank O’Hara \ oil on rag paper Artist’s Studio Number d62-553 Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Frank O’Hara, ca. 1962; Robert Motherwell, 1966; Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Hackett|Mill, San Francisco, 2002; private collection, 2002 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating). References Arnason 1966b, p. 38, illus. p. 34; Caws 2003, illus. p. 88 (ill. 58). Comments The dedication on the verso of this work is to the poet Frank O’Hara (1926–1966), who was the curator of Motherwell’s exhibition at the São Paulo Biennale in 1961 and of his retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1965. It was returned to the artist shortly after O’Hara’s death.
Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating).
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The Abstract Heart 1963 Oil on paper 30 x 22¾ in. (76.2 x 57.8 cm)
Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 23; Caracas, cat. no. 78; Bogotá, cat. no. 78; Mexico City, cat. no. 23.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 63 Verso (on backing board): “the abstract heart” \ oil on rag paper \ Robert Motherwell \ 1963 Artist’s Studio Number p63-558 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments The title of this work refers to Tristan Tzara’s Cinéma calendrier du coeur abstrait (Cinema Calendar of the Abstract Heart), first published in 1920 with illustrations by Jean (Hans) Arp. The biomorphic shapes allude to Arp’s illustrations in a general way.
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Automatic Image No. 1
Automatic Image No. 2
1963 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1963 Oil on paper 28⅞ x 22⅞ in. (73.3 x 58.1 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 63
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM
Verso (on backing board): 23" x 30" \ Robert Motherwell \ “les ballets basques” \ 1963 \ oil
Artist’s Studio Number d63-1197
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Private collection, 1964; [Sotheby’s, Chicago, March 19, 2001, lot 803, illus.]; private collection, 2001
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007
Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating).
Group Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1963, cat. no. 87, illus. n.p. (pl. 35), as Automatic Image.
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 19.
Art Center in Hargate, St. Paul’s School, Concord, N.H., 1970, cat. no. 9.
Cleveland Museum of Art, 1972, cat. no. 69.
Comments During the summer of 1958, Motherwell and Helen Frankenthaler attended a performance of the Oldarra choral
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
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Les Ballets Basques 1963 Oil on paper 30½ x 23 in. (77.5 x 58.4 cm)
group with Les Ballets Basques de Biarritz in Saint-Jean-de-Luz. See the Comments for the related 1963 collage, Les Ballets Basques de Biarritz (c138).
Artist’s Studio Number d63-557 Present Owner Private collection
484
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References Hobbs 1975b, p. 245, illus. n.p. (pl. 31, as Untitled ); Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 152 (pl. 191, in studio). Comments Our reproduction of this work comes from the 2001 Sotheby’s auction catalogue.
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Automatic Image No. 3
Automatic Image No. 4
1963 Oil on paper 29 x 22⅞ in. (73.7 x 58.1 cm)
1963 Oil on paper 29 x 22⅞ in. (73.7 x 58.1 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM
Verso not seen [“signed, titled, and dated 1963 on reverse; titled and dated 1963 on the reverse of the backing board,” per Sotheby’s 2005]
Artist’s Studio Number d63-354
Present Owner Stanley and Pamela Chais
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, 2005; [Cornette de Saint Cyr, Paris, October 28, 2006, lot 37, illus. (not sold)]; Magnus Einar Konow, 2007
Provenance Private collection, 1965; private collection; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 11, 2005, lot 126, illus.]; Stanley and Pamela Chais, 2005 References Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 152 (pl. 191, in studio).
Present Owner Magnus Einar Konow
Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 18, color illus. p. 13. Group Exhibitions Marlborough Galleria d’Arte, Rome, 1965, cat. no. 26.
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References Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 152 (pl. 191, in studio, in early state).
Automatic Image No. 5
Comments In a photograph of Motherwell’s studio taken during the summer of 1963, this work is visible in an early state; the composition is already set, but it has an orange ground (see Arnason 1982, p. 152, pl. 191). Motherwell repainted the ground blue sometime after this photograph was taken. Automatic Image No. 6 (w169), another work from the same series that appears in the same studio photograph, underwent a similar revision.
1963 Oil on paper 28⅞ x 22⅞ in. (73.3 x 58.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1965; unknown owner References Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 152 (pl. 191, in studio). Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Nelson photo no. 19494). It is also visible in a 1963 color photograph of Motherwell’s studio (see Arnason 1982, p. 152, pl. 191); its color is similar to that of Automatic Image No. 2 (w165).
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485
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Automatic Image No. 6 1963 Oil on paper 29 x 22¾ in. (73.7 x 57.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM Verso (on backing board): 29" x 23" \ Robert Motherwell \ 1963 \ “automatic image #6” \ oil Artist’s Studio Number d63-355 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
References Bearden and Holty 1969, illus. p. 200; Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 152 (pl. 191, in studio, in early state). Comments In a photograph of Motherwell’s studio taken during the summer of 1963, this work is visible in an early state; the composition is already set, but it has an orange ground (see Arnason 1982, p. 152, pl. 191). Motherwell repainted the ground in blue sometime after that photograph was taken. Automatic Image No. 4 (w167), another work from the same series that appears in this same studio photograph, underwent a similar revision.
Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2006, cat. no. 9, color illus. p. 21. Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2008, cat. no. 13, color illus. p. 31.
486
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In Orange and Blue Alternative Title: In Vermilion Red 1963 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM Verso not seen [“signed and dated 1963 on the reverse,” per Sotheby’s 1986] Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, before 1967; [Kornfeld und Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland, June 15, 1972, lot 823]; unknown owner; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 11, 1986, lot 141, illus.]; unknown owner, 1986 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 27; Caracas, cat. no. 82; Bogotá, cat. no. 82; Mexico City, cat. no. 27.
References Arnason 1977b, p. 65, as In Vermilion Red; Arnason 1982, p. 65, as In Vermilion Red. Comments Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1986 Sotheby Parke Bernet auction catalogue.
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Untitled No. 1
Untitled II (In Blue and Orange)
1963 Oil on paper 28¾ x 23 in. (73 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: R Motherwell 63 Recto, lower right, incised: RM
1963 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Group Exhibitions Century Association, New York, 1986. André Emmerich Gallery, New York, 1990.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, in pen: RM 63
Present Owner Private collection
Verso not seen [“titled verso,” per document in the Dedalus Foundation Archives]
Provenance Private collection, 1964
Present Owner Private collection
Group Exhibitions Museum of Art, Munson-WilliamsProctor Institute, Utica, N.Y., 1963 (traveling), cat. no. 34.
Provenance André Emmerich Gallery; private collection, 1999
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
487
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[ Untitled (Orange and Brown)]
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
1963 Oil and ink on paper 14½ x 11⅜ in. (36.8 x 28.9 cm)
1963 Oil and ink on paper 14½ x 11½ in. (36.8 x 29.2 cm)
1963 Oil and ink on paper 14½ x 11⅜ in. (36.8 x 28.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 63
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 63
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 63
Artist’s Studio Number d63-73
Present Owner Collection Springfield Art Museum, Mo.
Artist’s Studio Number p63-72
1963 Oil and ink on paper 14½ x 11⅜ in. (36.8 x 28.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 63 Artist’s Studio Number p63-71 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions William Shearburn Gallery, Santa Fe, N.Mex., 2008, cat. no. 7.
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Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 1997; Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, 2000; private collection, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 7, color illus. n.p.
pain tin gs on paper a n d paperbo a rd
Provenance Springfield Art Museum, Mo., 1978
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
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La Mer 3 P.M.
The Dark Sea
Yellow Stripe
1963 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1963 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1960–63 Oil on paperboard 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM 63 \ Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: R Motherwell 63
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 60
Verso (on backing board): 1963 \ Robert Motherwell \ “la mer, 3 p.m.” \ oil 29" x 23"
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number d63-556 Present Owner Mato Family collection, Coral Gables, Fla. Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mato Family collection, Coral Gables, Fla., 2008 Group Exhibitions Marlborough Galleria d’Arte, Rome, 1965, cat. no. 27.
Provenance Private collection; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 11, 1986, lot 136, illus.]; unknown owner, 1986 References Arnason 1966b, pp. 37, 38, illus. p. 34; Arnason 1977b, p. 53; Arnason 1982, p. 53. Comments Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1986 Sotheby Parke Bernet auction catalogue.
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progress); Arnason 1982, illus. p. 138 (pl. 156, in studio, in progress), color illus. p. 152 (pl. 191, in studio); Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 66). Comments An early, very different version of this work appears in a 1960 studio photograph (see fig. 101 in volume 1). Motherwell subsequently painted over most of that composition, and the work appears in its completed form in a studio photograph taken during the summer of 1963 (see Arnason 1982, p. 152, pl. 191). Traces of the original composition are still partially visible in the pentimenti.
Artist’s Studio Number d60/63-5176 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1965; private collection, 1975 References Sidney Janis Gallery exh. cat. April 1961, illus. n.p. (in studio, in progress); Ashton 1964b, color illus. p. 105, erroneously as Untitled Painting; Museum of Modern Art, Robert Motherwell, exh. cat. September 1965, cover illus. (in studio, in progress); Galerie im Erker exh. cat. 1971, illus. p. 11 (in studio, in progress); Schmidt 1976, illus. p. 77 (in studio, in progress); Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 119, in studio, in
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
489
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Père Ubu
Sienna and Black
In Sienna and White
Untitled
1963 Oil and graphite on paper 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
1963 Acrylic and ink on paperboard 30 x 21¾ in. (76.2 x 55.2 cm)
1963 Acrylic and ink on paperboard 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
Ca. 1963 Acrylic and ink on paperboard 30 x 21¾ in. (76.2 x 55.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell 63
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number d58-541
Provenance The artist
Provenance Private collection, 1966; unknown owner
Verso (on backing board): Robert Motherwell \ 1963 \ “in sienna + white” \ 30 x 22" \ acrylic on rag board
Comments This work is known only from an early black-and-white photograph (Juley photo no. 322; j0005107), and may have subsequently been painted over. On the back of a print of this photograph in the Dedalus Foundation Archives is a written note that states: “May have been changed.” The title refers to the main character in Alfred Jarry’s play Ubu Roi. In 1958 Motherwell had done a brush and ink drawing in which the title “Père Ubu Roi” was written across the top part of the image (Juley photo no. 143; j0004934). 490
Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work (Nelson photo no. 19492).
p ain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
Artist’s Studio Number p63-555 Present Owner Collection Egidio Marzona Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Egidio Marzona, 2005 Group Exhibitions San Francisco Museum of Art, 1966. CDS Gallery, New York, 2005.
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
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Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Alternative Title: [Untitled (Brown, Tan)] 1963 Acrylic on paperboard 30 x 21¾ in. (76.2 x 55.2 cm)
Ca. 1963 Acrylic and charcoal on paperboard 20 x 15 in. (50.8 x 38.1 cm)
1963 Oil, acrylic, and ink on paper 29 x 22¾ in. (73.7 x 57.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 63
Alternative Title: [Untitled (Blue, Ochre)] 1963 Oil, acrylic, and ink on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 63
Artist’s Studio Number p61-2604; p63-2604
Artist’s Studio Number d63-3299
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 63
Artist’s Studio Number d63-1273
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number p63-351
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Solo Exhibitions William Shearburn Gallery, Santa Fe, N.Mex., 2008, cat. no. 9.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
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491
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The Figure No. 4
Anchor No. 1
1963 Oil on paper 28⅞ x 22⅞ in. (73.3 x 58.1 cm)
1963 Oil on paper mounted on panel 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 63
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised and inscribed: RM 63
Verso (on backing board): Robert Motherwell \ 29 x 23" 1963 \ “the figure #4” \ oil
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(p271), and in another large unfinished painting on canvas (p272). Motherwell later referred to a variation of this motif as a “primal sign”; see Primal Sign (p1108). Within the Anchor series there are only two numbered works, Anchor No. 1 and No. 3 (w190).
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Anchor No. 3 1963 Oil on paper mounted on panel 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised and inscribed: Motherwell 63
Verso: “anchor, #1” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1963 \ oil on board
Verso: “anchor, #3” \ Robert Motherwell \ 1963 \ oil on board
Present Owner Collection of Mimi Fullerton, Toronto
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number d63-373
Provenance Private collection, 1965; Mimi Fullerton, Toronto, ca. 1970
Provenance Private collection, 1967; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 16, 2007, lot 119, illus.]; unknown owner, 2007
Present Owner Private collection
Comments The title of this painting refers to the blue figure 4 and is not meant to connote a series. Regarding Motherwell’s use of the figure 4 in his works, see the Comments for The Figure 4 on an Elegy (w104).
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Comments The anchorlike form in this work has clear precedents in Motherwell’s use of the figure 4 in his paintings (see w104), and was used in a number of paintings on paper done around this time (see w190–w194). It was also used in Motherwell’s large-scale 1963–64 painting Dublin 1916, with Black and Tan
pain tin gs on paper a n d paperbo a rd
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2008, cat. no. 3, color illus. p. 11. Group Exhibitions J. L. Hudson Gallery, Detroit, 1966. Montclair Art Museum, N.J., 1970.
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[ Untitled (Blue, Anchor Figure in Ochre)]
[ Untitled (Primal Ochre Sign on Blue)]
Untitled (Anchor)
[ Untitled (Ochre 4 on Blue)]
Alternative Title: {Primal Sign Anchored} 1963 Oil on paper mounted on panel 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Alternative Title: {Primal Sign on Blue } 1963 Oil on paper mounted on panel 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1963 Oil on paper mounted on panel 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1964 Acrylic on paper mounted on panel 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 63
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R Motherwell 64
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 63
Present Owner Benoit De Landsheer
Artist’s Studio Number p64-3306
Artist’s Studio Number d63-3307
Provenance Private collection, 1967; [Sotheby’s, London, February 7, 2003, lot 257, illus.]; Benoit De Landsheer, 2003
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised and inscribed: R Motherwell 63 Artist’s Studio Number p63-372
Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. John W. Jordan II
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mr. and Mrs. John W. Jordan II, 2008
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
References Henric 1989, p. 113.
References McCormick Gallery 2007, color illus. n.p., as Primal Sign on Blue.
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Untitled
Africa No. 3
Alternative Title: [Untitled (ochre, blue)] 1964 Oil on paperboard 22 x 30 in. (55.9 x 76.2 cm)
Alternative Title: Acrobatic Wave 1964 Acrylic on paperboard 30 x 53 in. (76.2 x 134.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R.M. 64
Recto, upper right, incised [painted over]: [RM]
Verso (on backing board): Africa #3 \ 1964
Artist’s Studio Number d64-542
Artist’s Studio Number p64-1583
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating), as Acrobatic Wave. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 25, illus. n.p.; Caracas, cat. no. 80; Bogotá, cat. no. 80; Mexico City, cat.
494
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no. 25; as Ola acrobática (Acrobatic Wave).
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Art Center in Hargate, St. Paul’s School, Concord, N.H., 1970, cat. no. 6, illus. n.p. (in exhibition).
1965/after 1975 Oil on paperboard 30 x 53 in. (76.2 x 134.6 cm)
Group Exhibitions Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1969.
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM 65
Comments Originally titled Acrobatic Wave, this work was retitled to become part of the Africa series when it was consigned to the Marlborough-Gerson Gallery in 1969 (see the Comments for p338). A painting on canvas from 1975–76 shares the title Africa No. 3 (p829).
The Figure 4 on Black
Artist’s Studio Number d65-702 Present Owner Renate Ponsold Motherwell Provenance Renate Ponsold Motherwell, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating) (shown in early state). Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 28; Caracas, cat. no. 83; Bogotá, cat. no. 83; Mexico City, cat. no. 28; shown in early state.
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Comments An early version of this work, painted in 1965, was exhibited a number of times between 1965 and 1970. A photograph of the artist’s studio shows it still in that early form as late as April 1975. Motherwell subsequently revised the work, extending the black painted areas to the upper areas of the composition. Our reproduction comes from a Polaroid photograph of this painting on the storage racks in Motherwell’s Greenwich studio.
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In Ochre with Black
Covering Black
Alternative Title: In Black with Ochre Ca. 1965 Acrylic on paperboard 30 x 53 in. (76.2 x 134.6 cm)
1965 Acrylic on paperboard 26⅞ x 39½ in. (68.3 x 100.3 cm)
The Figure 4 on an Orange Ground
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM Recto, lower left, incised: RM Present Owner Unknown Provenance Jacques Kaplan, ca. 1975; Solomon & Company Fine Art, Inc., 1978; private collection, ca. 1979; unknown owner Group Exhibitions Solomon & Company Fine Art, New York, ca. 1975–76.
1965 Acrylic on paperboard 39¾ x 27 in. (101 x 68.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 65 Present Owner Collection of Didrichsen Art Museum Provenance Didrichsen Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland, 1968 Group Exhibitions Tampere Art Museum, Finland, 1975.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 65 Artist’s Studio Number d65-562 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments Regarding Motherwell’s use of the figure 4 in his works, see the Comments for The Figure 4 on an Elegy (w104).
Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., 1981, cat. no. 56, illus. p. 57, as In Black with Ochre. Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this work.
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Blue Chevron
Automatism No. 1
Spontaneity with Blue Stripe
1965 Acrylic on paperboard 21¾ x 30 in. (55.2 x 76.2 cm)
1965 Acrylic on paperboard 30⅛ x 20⅛ in. (76.5 x 51.1 cm)
1966 Acrylic and ink on paper 30¾ x 22½ in. (78.1 x 57.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 65
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 1966
Artist’s Studio Number p65-2672
Present Owner Lise Motherwell
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Private collection, 1970; Lise Motherwell, 1998
Provenance Private collection, 1976; Judith and Mitchell Kramer, ca. 1979; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, October 31, 1984, lot 88, illus.]; unknown owner, 1984
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments In the mid-1960s, Motherwell began using an angled linear chevron motif in small paintings on paper, such as this one and Automatism No. 1 (w202). He eventually incorporated variations of this form into larger-scale paintings on canvas, most notably in some of the paintings in his New England Elegy series and related works (see, for example, p368–p372). This motif also appeared in a 1965 painting titled In Black with Ochre Chevron, which Motherwell later painted over and retitled Incline (see the Comments for p1123). 496
Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, Robert Motherwell:Works on Paper, September 1965 (circulating). Comments This is the first numbered work in the 1965 Automatism series. It is painted in acrylic while the other works in this series are drawings done in gouache and ink on paper.
pain tin gs on p aper a n d paperbo a rd
Group Exhibitions Herron Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1968, cat. no. 78. Comments This work (along with w204–w206) is part of a large group of automatist works that includes paintings on canvas and on paper, as well as drawings and lithographs, that Motherwell did before executing his large-scale mural for the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in
Boston, New England Elegy (p366). These works include the Lyric Suite drawings (see, for example, figs. 87 and 88 in volume 1), the 1966 numbered Spontaneity series of ink drawings, the 1966 In Black and White series of large paintings (p358–p362), and a pair of lithographs made in 1966 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 19 and 20). Our reproduction comes from the 1984 Sotheby Parke Bernet auction catalogue.
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Spontaneity with Blue Stripe No. 2
In Black with Blue Stripe
1966 Acrylic and ink on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 1966 Present Owner Fayez Sarofim Collection Provenance Private collection, 1969; Fayez Sarofim, 1969 Comments See the Comments for Spontaneity with Blue Stripe (w203).
1966 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 1966
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References Milwaukee Art Center 1975, color illus. n.p. Comments See the Comments for Spontaneity with Blue Stripe (w203).
Verso [set in triangle]: [#10] Present Owner Milwaukee Art Museum. Gift of Mrs. Harry Lynde Bradley, m1975.148 Provenance Mrs. Harry Lynde Bradley, 1966; Milwaukee Art Museum, 1975 Group Exhibitions Milwaukee Art Center, 1968, cat. no. 55, illus. p. 60. Southeastern Massachusetts University Gallery, North Dartmouth, 1975, illus. p. 25. Milwaukee Art Museum, 1994 (traveling), cat. no. 15, color illus. p. 13.
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Spontaneity No. 4 1966 Acrylic on paper 30¾ x 22 in. (78.1 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Present Owner Unknown Provenance Reese Palley Gallery, 1968; David Nisinson, 1969; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 33, as Espontaneidad (Spontaneity); Caracas, cat. no. 88, as Espontaneidad; Bogotá, cat. no. 88; Mexico City, cat. no. 33, as Espontaneidad.
series. It was given the number 4 in that series because it was done after three drawings in ink on paper (which are not included in this volume). This painting on paper and a large contemporaneous painting on canvas, In Black and White No. 1 (p358), are closely related to Motherwell’s 1966 lithograph Automatism B (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 20). Motherwell would develop this image in a series of large-scale canvases in 1966–67, including New Amsterdam Painting and New England Elegy No. 2 and No. 3, two untitled paintings, and Red, Cut by Black (p365, p368–p372).
Group Exhibitions Reese Palley Gallery, San Francisco, 1968. Comments This work is the first numbered painting on paper in the 1966 Spontaneity
498
pain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
w207
w208
w207
w208
Figure 4 with Blue Stripe
The Black X
1966 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm)
1966 Oil and acrylic on paper 30⅝ x 22¼ in. (77.8 x 56.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 1966
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 1966
Artist’s Studio Number d66-636
Verso [set in triangle]: [#28]
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 31; Caracas, cat. no. 86; Bogotá, cat. no. 86; Mexico City, cat. no. 31. References Eagle 1967, color illus. p. 56 (installation view). Comments Regarding Motherwell’s use of the figure 4 in his works, see the Comments for The Figure 4 on an Elegy (w104).
Present Owner Milwaukee Art Museum. Gift of Mrs. Harry Lynde Bradley, m1975.149 Provenance Mrs. Harry Lynde Bradley, 1966; Milwaukee Art Museum, 1975 Group Exhibitions Milwaukee Art Center, 1968, cat. no. 356, illus. p. 156. Southeastern Massachusetts University Gallery, North Dartmouth, 1975, illus. p. 24. Rahr-West Museum, Manitowoc, Wis., 1987 (traveling). Milwaukee Art Museum, 1994 (traveling), cat. no. 14, color illus. p. 12.
w209
References Milwaukee Art Center 1975, color illus. n.p.
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w210
w209
w210
w211
Two Pink Stripes
Two Pink Stripes with Negative Collage
Untitled
1966 Oil and acrylic on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 1966 Verso (on strainer): “two pink stripes” \ oil + acrylic on paper Artist’s Studio Number d61-3302 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2008 References Art in Embassies 1966, illus. p. 12.
1966 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm)
1966 Acrylic and ink on paper 30¾ x 22½ in. (78.1 x 57.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 66
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 1966 Present Owner Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. The John Barton Payne Fund Provenance Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1970 Group Exhibitions J. L. Hudson Gallery, Detroit, 1966.
Artist’s Studio Number p66-569 b147; p66-3870 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 17.
Artmobile Exhibition, 1972 (traveling). Peninsula Arts Association, Newport News, Va., 1979. Comments The title of this painting refers to pieces of pasted paper that were torn off by Motherwell in the process of creating it, leaving traces of the glue still visible on its surface. p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
499
w212
w213
w214
w215
w212
w213
w214
w215
Beside the Sea No. 41
The Green Beside the Sea
Untitled
1966 Oil and acrylic on paper 29 x 22⅞ in. (73.7 x 58.1 cm)
1966 Oil and acrylic on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm)
1966 Acrylic and watercolor on paper 29 x 22⅜ in. (73.7 x 56.8 cm)
Madrid Image with Green Stripe
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 66
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 66
Artist’s Studio Number p66-568; p66-569
Artist’s Studio Number d66-368
Artist’s Studio Number d66-3303
Present Owner David Lazoff
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; David Lazoff, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 32; Caracas, cat. no. 87; Bogotá, cat. no. 87; Mexico City, cat. no. 32.
Solo Exhibitions Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2002.
Comments Motherwell began his Beside the Sea series in 1962; see the Comments for Beside the Sea No. 1 (w127). He revisited the theme several times during the late 1960s (see the Comments for w254).
500
Comments The composition of this work is a variant of the Beside the Sea series (see the Comments for w127) and recalls the 1963 Throw of the Dice series of prints, numbers 1–7 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 9–15).
p ain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
1966 Acrylic and watercolor on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 66 Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “madrid image with green stripe” Robert Motherwell 1966 \ oil + acrylic on rag paper Artist’s Studio Number p66-570 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2007. References Art in Embassies 1966, illus. p. 11. Comments Motherwell created this work, along with four paintings on paper (w216–
w218
w216
w219) and Caribbean Collage (c159), on a Caribbean cruise that he and Frankenthaler took from December 18, 1965, to January 3, 1966. The central motif in this painting, of triangle and ovals, is related to Motherwell’s 1958 series of drawings titled Madrid, and to the 1966 Madrid Suite lithographs that were based on those drawings (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 21–30).
w219
w217
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
w216
w217
Madrid Image with Pink
Untitled
1966 Oil on paper 28¾ x 22¾ in. (73 x 57.8 cm)
1966 Oil and acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number d66-3305
Provenance The artist
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
1966 Oil and acrylic on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Group Exhibitions Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1966, cat. no. 160, illus. n.p.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 66
Comments Our reproduction comes from an early black-and-white photograph of this picture (Nelson photo no. 25602). This work was returned to Motherwell from the Marlborough-Gerson Gallery in 1972, but its present whereabouts are unknown. We do not know whether it still exists in the form illustrated here.
w218
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w219
Untitled
Artist’s Studio Number d66-3304
Untitled 1966 Oil and acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 66 Artist’s Studio Number d66-3301
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
501
w220
w221
w220
w221
w222
Black Image with Ochre
Black with Ochre
Beside the Sea No. 45
1967 Acrylic and ink on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
1967 Acrylic, ink, and graphite on paper 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
1967 Acrylic and ink on paper 30¼ x 21¾ in. (76.8 x 55.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67
Artist’s Studio Number c67-1495; d67-1495
Present Owner Collection Herman Krikhaar, Amsterdam
Present Owner Private collection, U.S.A.
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Art Center in Hargate, St. Paul’s School, Concord, N.H., 1970, cat. no. 24.
Provenance Private collection, 1969; private collection, ca. 1979; the Merryman Collection, 1981; Harriet Walker Henderson; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 9, 1990, lot 187, illus.]; Herman Krikhaar, Amsterdam, 1990
group Exhibitions Robert Miller Gallery, New York, 2008.
502
pain tin gs on paper a n d paperbo a rd
Provenance Private collection, 1968; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, May 12, 1981, lot 62, illus.]; unknown owner, 1981; [Sotheby’s, New York, February 27, 1990, lot 67, illus.]; Waddington Galleries, London, 1990; private collection, U.S.A., 1991 Comments Motherwell appears to have continued the general numbering of the 1962 Beside the Sea series here.
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w223
w224
w223
w224
w225
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
1967 Acrylic on paper 24 x 19¼ in. (61 x 48.9 cm)
1967 Acrylic on paper 23⅜ x 18⅜ in. (59.4 x 46.7 cm)
1967 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM
Artist’s Studio Number p67-1874
Artist’s Studio Number p67-1868
Artist’s Studio Number d67-1880
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w225
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 10, color illus. p. 12.
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
503
w226
w227
w228
w229
w226
w227
w228
w229
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
In Sienna with Black Stripe
1967 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm)
1967 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm)
1967 Acrylic on paper 24 x 19 in. (61 x 48.3 cm)
1967 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67
Artist’s Studio Number d67-1881
Artist’s Studio Number d67-1883
Artist’s Studio Number d67-2403
Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “in sienna with black stripe” \ 1967
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number p67-578
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 35; Caracas, cat. no. 90; Bogotá, cat. no. 90; Mexico City, cat. no. 35. group Exhibitions Reese Palley Gallery, San Francisco, 1968.
504
p ain tin gs on paper a n d paperbo a rd
w230
w232
w231
w233
w230
w231
w232
w233
Untitled
Automatism with Ochre Stripes
In Pink and Yellow Ochre
Spring with Green
1967 Acrylic on paper 24 x 19 in. (61 x 48.3 cm)
1967 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67
Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “in pink + yellow ochre” \ 1967
Verso (on strainer, reattached): “spring with green” \ 1967
Artist’s Studio Number d67-505
Artist’s Studio Number p67-579
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 38; Caracas, cat. no. 93; Bogotá, cat. no. 93; Mexico City, cat. no. 38.
Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 34; Caracas, cat. no. 89; Bogotá, cat. no. 89; Mexico City, cat. no. 34.
1967 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67 Artist’s Studio Number d67-1879 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
1967 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67 Artist’s Studio Number p67-577 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (circulating), Buenos Aires, cat. no. 36; Caracas, cat. no. 91; Bogotá, cat. no. 91; Mexico City, cat. no. 36. Group Exhibitions Galerie Klüser 2, Munich, 2007.
References Herner de Schmelz 1968, illus. p. 13.
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
505
w236
w234
w237
w235
w234
w235
w236
w237
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
1967 Acrylic on paper 23¾ x 19 in. (60.3 x 48.3 cm)
1967 Acrylic on paper 24 x 19 in. (61 x 48.3 cm)
1967 Acrylic on paper 22½ x 30½ in. (57.2 x 77.5 cm)
1967 Acrylic on paper 19 x 24 in. (48.3 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 67
Artist’s Studio Number p67-1869
Artist’s Studio Number p67-1867
Artist’s Studio Number d67-1884
Artist’s Studio Number p67-1866
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
506
p ain tin gs on p aper a n d paperbo a rd
w239
w238
w240
w241
w238
w239
w240
w241
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
1967 Acrylic on paper 30 x 22½ in. (76.2 x 57.2 cm)
1967 Acrylic on paper 19 x 24 in. (48.3 x 61 cm)
1967 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm)
1967 Acrylic on paper 22⅜ x 30½ in. (56.8 x 77.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67
Artist’s Studio Number d67-1877
Artist’s Studio Number p67-1872
Artist’s Studio Number d67-1878
Artist’s Studio Number d67-1882
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
507
w242
w242
Untitled
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
1967 Acrylic on paper 30 x 22½ in. (76.2 x 57.2 cm)
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67
w244
Artist’s Studio Number d67-1876
Ca. 1967 Acrylic on paperboard 29⅞ x 20 in. (75.9 x 50.8 cm)
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w243
Untitled 1967 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 67 Artist’s Studio Number d67-1885
508
Untitled
w243
w245
w246
[ Untitled (Red Figure on Black Ground)]
Untitled
Ca. 1967 Acrylic on paperboard 20 x 15 in. (50.8 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number p65-2603
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number p-3841
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Comments The date of this work is uncertain. In 1967, Motherwell utilized the figure 4 motif, first seen in his paintings on paper as early as 1960 (see w104), on pages from the Art Bulletin (see w246 and w247). The scale and colors of this work are similar to Motherwell’s 1967 Oval painting series (see p381–p388). The incised lines at the left and along the top are reminiscent of some of the works in the Alberti Suite (p522–p528). They may have been added in 1969 or 1970.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments The date assigned to this work is based on its relation to a number of the artist’s 1967 paintings that contain similar colors and oval forms (see p381–p388).
p ain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
w244
1967 Acrylic on paper 11⅜ x 10 in. (28.9 x 25.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Artist’s Studio Number d-3840b Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 196, in studio). Comments In 1967 Motherwell created a series of untitled works composed of gestural forms painted on pages torn from the March 1967 issue of the Art Bulletin. The entire group is visible in a photograph of Motherwell’s studio taken by Ugo Mulas in November 1967 (reproduced in Arnason 1977b, p. 199,
w245
fig. 196, where it is erroneously dated 1968). Only four of these works are known still to exist; since the others had no public life beyond the Mulas photograph, and their present whereabouts are not known, we have not assigned them catalogue raisonné numbers. Motherwell also did a collage that incorporated a page from the same issue of the journal: Art Bulletin Collage with Cross (c252). Regarding the use of the figure 4 in this work, see the Comments for The Figure 4 on an Elegy (w104).
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w247
w249
w247
w248
w249
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
1967 Acrylic on paper 11⅜ x 10 in. (28.9 x 25.4 cm)
1967 Acrylic on paper 11⅜ x 10 in. (28.9 x 25.4 cm)
1967 Acrylic on paper 11⅜ x 10 in. (28.9 x 25.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Artist’s Studio Number d-3840d
Artist’s Studio Number d-3840c
Artist’s Studio Number d-3840a
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 196, in studio).
References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 196, in studio).
References Arnason 1977b, illus. n.p. (pl. 196, in studio).
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
509
w250
w250
Mural Sketch Alternative Title: Open No. 3: In Raw Sienna with Charcoal Line 1967 Acrylic, crayon, and graphite on paperboard 15 x 20 in. (38.1 x 50.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 67 Verso: R. Motherwell \ 1967 Present Owner Collection of Timoteus R. Pohl, Vermont Provenance Ulfert Wilke, 1969; [Christie’s, New York, February 14, 1991, lot 7, illus.]; unknown owner, 1991; private collection, 1991; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 5, 1994, lot 123, illus.]; Timoteus R. Pohl, Vermont, 1994 Solo Exhibitions Richard Feigen Gallery, Chicago, 1968 (traveling).
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Group Exhibitions University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 7, illus. p. 6. University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, 1975, cat. no. 374. Comments The title Mural Sketch refers to Motherwell’s use of this work as the basis for his large-scale 1969 painting Open No. 111: Big White and Ochre (p497). Numbers indicating measurements of “15½ cm,” “22 cm,” and “5½ cm” are written in pencil in Motherwell’s hand just under the bottom edge of the area painted in raw sienna. These were guidelines for scaling up the composition onto the canvas for the large painting. This work on paper was listed under an alternative title, Open No. 3: In Raw Sienna with Charcoal Line, on Motherwell’s May 26, 1970, “open Series, 1967–1970” list, indicating that it was one of the earliest of the Open works, probably done in November
p ain tin gs on paper a n d paperbo a rd
1967. Although it was given the number 3 on that list, it was exhibited only as Mural Sketch, both before and after that list was written.
w251
Open No. 31A: In Burnt Sienna 1967 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 17 x 37½ in. (43.2 x 95.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 67 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, New York; [Christie’s, New York, May 6, 1987, lot 116, illus.]; André Emmerich Gallery, 1987; private collection, 1988; private collection, 2005 Group Exhibitions Gallery One, Toronto, 1988. Comments This work and a related painting on paper, Open No. 31B: In Raw Sienna (w252), were among the earliest works done in the Open series, as seen in photographs of Motherwell’s studio taken by Ugo Mulas in November 1967 (see fig. 112 in volume 1), where both works are visible in their final states, pinned
w251
w252
to the wall. Their numbers within the Open series would seem to place them with works done the following year, but this is due to the fact that they were not numbered until the winter of 1968–69, when numbers were first given to works in the Open series. See the Comments for Open No. 1: In Yellow Ochre (p397).
w252
Open No. 31B: In Raw Sienna Alternative Title: Open No. 31 (b) blotting paper, raw sienna 1967 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 16¼ x 37½ in. (41.3 x 95.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 67
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References Marlborough-Gerson Gallery exh. cat. 1969, illus. n.p., as ‘Open’ No. 31 (b) blotting paper, raw sienna; Courthion 1970, illus. p. 9. Comments Regarding the date and the numbering of this work in the Open series, see the Comments for Open No. 31A: In Burnt Sienna (w251).
w253
[ Open] 1967 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Artist’s Studio Number p??-483
Artist’s Studio Number d67-1501
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance The artist
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments This work is seen pinned to a wall in photographs of Motherwell’s studio taken by Ugo Mulas in November 1967 (see fig. 112 in volume 1). The white paint over the horizontal charcoal line was added at an unknown later date. Notes on the artist’s studio card show that the work was still in Motherwell’s possession in 1987, but we do not know what happened to it thereafter. Our reproduction of this work comes from a Polaroid photograph.
Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 50, illus. n.p. (in exhibition). Group Exhibitions Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1969, cat. no. 261, illus. p. 236. Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-deVence, France, 1970.
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
511
w254
w254
Beside the Sea No. 1 (Summer 1968) 1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 68 Verso (on top horizontal strainer): R. Motherwell acrylic on Arches \ “Beside the Sea #1, (Summer, 1968)” Present Owner Michael and Sonja Koerner Provenance Private collection, 1970; Michael and Sonja Koerner, 1973 Solo Exhibitions Marlborough Galleria d’Arte, Rome, 1969 (traveling). Comments In 1968 Motherwell began a second numbered Beside the Sea series, based on the same motifs he employed in the 1962 pictures; see the Comments for Beside the Sea No. 1 (w127). Whereas
512
the 1962 works had been painted primarily in oil, the 1968 series was done in acrylic paint. Because Motherwell began the numbering of the 1968 works from the number 1 again, the numbers 1 to 5 were assigned to works in a Beside the Sea series for a second time, sometimes with the parenthetical subtitle “Summer 1968.” But the second series was short-lived, and apart from a leap to number 64 (see w258), in an apparent attempt to avoid further duplication of numbers, he numbered only a few of the later Beside the Sea pictures. A Marlborough-Gerson Gallery list of 1969 sales shows that a 1968 painting on paper titled Beside the Sea No. 2 was sold in January 1969 to the Reese Palley Gallery, Atlantic City, New Jersey (Dedalus Foundation Archives), but there is no further trace of any work by this title, and no known image of it survives.
pain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
w255
w256
w255
w256
Beside the Sea No. 3 (Summer 1968)
Beside the Sea No. 4
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 30¼ x 22⅛ in. (76.8 x 56.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 68 Present Owner Portland Art Museum, Ore. Purchased with funds from a matching grant from the NEA and anonymous donors Provenance Portland Art Museum, Ore., 1969
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 30½ x 22¼ in. (77.5 x 56.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 68 Artist’s Studio Number p68-1494 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004
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w258
w259
w257
w258
w259
Beside the Sea No. 5
Beside the Sea No. 64
Beside the Sea
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
1968 Acrylic on paper 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
1968 Acrylic on paper 30¼ x 21⅞ in. (76.8 x 55.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 68
Present Owner Marlborough-Gerson Gallery (present whereabouts unknown, stolen, 1970)
Present Owner David Nisinson
Present Owner The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist
Provenance Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, 1969; present whereabouts unknown (stolen from the Queen Elizabeth 2, 1970) Comments This work was consigned to the Marlborough-Gerson Gallery in November 1969 and was lost or stolen as it was being shipped to Marlborough Fine Art, London, aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2 sometime in early 1970. Our reproduction is from an early black-and-white photograph of the work (Nelson photo no. 36286).
Provenance Makler Gallery, Philadelphia, 1976; Eleanor Segal, Philadelphia, 1977; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 11, 2006, lot 254, illus.]; David Nisinson, 2006
Provenance Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1969 Group Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, June 1969, cat. no. 78.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
513
w260
w261
w262
w260
w261
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w263
Beside the Sea, with Sand Wave
[ Untitled (Beside the Sea)]
[ Study in Watercolor No. 1 (In Green and Blue)]
[ Study in Watercolor No. 2 (In Green and Blue)]
1968 Acrylic and watercolor on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
1968 Acrylic and watercolor on paper 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Artist’s Studio Number d68-597
Artist’s Studio Number d68-417
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2008
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
1968 Acrylic and gouache on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm) inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 68 Verso not seen [“inscribed with title on the stretcher,” per Christie’s 1982] present owner Unknown provenance Private collection, 1977; [Christie’s, New York, May 6, 1982, lot 85, illus.]; private collection, 1982; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 3, 1989, lot 156, illus.]; unknown owner, 1989
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 30½ x 22⅛ in. (77.5 x 56.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68 Artist’s Studio Number p68-3003 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2003, cat. no. 14, as Untitled.
group exhibitions Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, N.Y., 1977 (traveling), illus. p. 231, erroneously as Beside the Sea,With Sea Wave. comments Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1982 Christie’s auction catalogue. 514
pain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
Comments Although the works in this numbered series are titled Study in Watercolor (see also w263–w267), they also contain acrylic paint. The blues are usually drawn in watercolor, but the other colors are painted in acrylic.
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w264
[ Study in Watercolor No. 3 (In Orange and Blue)] Alternative Title: {Study in Watercolor No. 3} 1968 Acrylic, watercolor, and graphite on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68 Artist’s Studio Number d68-418 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; David Dufour LLC, 2007; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 15, 2007, lot 269, illus.]; private collection, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, November 2002, cat. no. 6, as Study in Watercolor #3.
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 13, as Study in Watercolor #3. Group Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1998, cat. no. 17, as Study in Watercolor #3. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, February 1999, cat. no. 1, as Study in Watercolor #3.
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w265
[ Study in Watercolor No. 4 (In Orange and Blue)] Alternative Title: {Study in Watercolor No. 4} 1968 Acrylic and watercolor on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 68 Artist’s Studio Number d68-586 Present Owner Thomas Baron, Waukegen, Ill. Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Thomas Baron, Waukegen, Ill., 2009 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, November 2002, cat. no. 9, as Study in Watercolor #4. Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, December 2005 (traveling), cat. no. 1.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
515
w266
w267
w268
w266
w267
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w269
[ Study in Watercolor No. 5 (In Green and Blue)]
[ Study in Watercolor No. 6 (In Green and Blue)]
[ Untitled (Ochre, Black, Green)]
Elegy to the Spanish Republic
1968 Acrylic, watercolor, and graphite on paper 30¼ x 22 in. (76.8 x 55.9 cm)
1968 Acrylic, watercolor, and graphite on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
1968 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 30¾ x 22 in. (78.1 x 55.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 68
Artist’s Studio Number d68-595
Artist’s Studio Number d68-596
Artist’s Studio Number p/d68-598
Present Owner Marilyn and Charles Baillie
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Marilyn and Charles Baillie, 2007
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2008
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
516
pain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [painted over]: [RM] Recto, upper left: RM 68
1968 Acrylic (?) and graphite on paper 7¼ x 11½ in. (18.4 x 29.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right [partially erased ]: RM [68] Present Owner Unknown Provenance Octavio Paz, 1972; unknown owner, ca. 1998 Comments In 1972, Motherwell gave this small Elegy to the poet Octavio Paz (1915– 1998). In a 1984 letter to Motherwell, Paz described the work as an oil painting, but it was more likely done in acrylic, which was Motherwell’s preferred painting medium at this time (Dedalus Foundation Archives). We have not been able to verify the medium, as the current location of the work is unknown.
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Our reproduction comes from a black-and-white photograph of the work taken in 1972 (studio inventory photo no. ph 23-6).
w271
w270
w271
w272
{ Elegy Study}
Elegy Study
Blue Elegy
Ca. 1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 7 x 10⅛ in. (17.8 x 25.7 cm)
Ca. 1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 7 x 10¼ in. (17.8 x 26 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM
Alternative Title: Study for Blue Elegy 1968 Acrylic on cardboard 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number d76-3678
Artist’s Studio Number p-3142
Present Owner Denver Art Museum Collection. For a full list of donors, see the entry for p22.
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Denver Art Museum, 1994
Provenance Private collection
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 68 Artist’s Studio Number p66-1956 Present Owner Renate Ponsold Motherwell Provenance Renate Ponsold Motherwell, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Denver Art Museum, 1995, illus. n.p.
Solo Exhibitions William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, May 1979.
References Tieken 2000, illus. n.p.; Caws 2003, illus. p. 153 (ill. 101).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 104, as Study for Blue Elegy.
Comments Although the studio card places this work in 1976, we have assigned it an earlier date, based on its stylistic affinities with works done around 1968.
References Gaugh 1985, p. 74, as Study for Blue Elegy; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 81); Chalumeau 1998, color illus. p. 28 (pl. 24).
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
517
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Comments Blue Elegy is the first work in the Elegy to the Spanish Republic series where the main forms in the final version are not black. (The first version of At Five in the Afternoon, w10, had been painted with blue but was subsequently repainted in black.) This work is painted on the cardboard back panel of a watercolor block, most likely the Sennelier watercolor block whose label was used in French Collage (c249). The following sixteen works in our catalogue (w273– w288) all measure approximately 6 x 8 inches and appear to have been painted on watercolor paper from the same block; the variety of these works illustrates the fluidity with which Motherwell moved from series to series—in this case, from Elegies to Opens to various kinds of gestural imagery. This small work later became the model for a large-scale 1981 painting, also called Blue Elegy (p1026), and was later sometimes referred to as a “study” for the larger work. In 1987 it was also used as the basis for a number
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of prints: Blue Elegy; Blue Elegy, State I; and Blue Elegy, State II (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 379–81).
pain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
w273
Elegy to the Spanish Republic with Blue No. 110A 1968 Acrylic on paper 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Mrs. M. E. Pyrch, 1973; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 15. Comments This work is one of several small 1968 paintings on paper and drawings related to a large-scale painting on canvas, Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110 of 1971 (p607). In fact, the work that had originally been titled Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110 was a 1968 drawing in gouache on paper (Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art). But in
1988 Motherwell assigned the number 110 to the 1971 painting on canvas, which he had modeled on the 1968 drawing, and that drawing was consequently retitled as a study. He also assigned the numbers 110A–110E to this work and to four other related, small-scale Elegy paintings on paper (w274–w277), three of which he designated as studies. Our reproduction is from an early black-and-white photograph of this work; the color of the rectangular area on the left is blue.
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w276
Study for Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110B
Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110C
Study for Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110D
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 8 x 6 in. (20.3 x 15.2 cm), irreg.
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm)
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 68
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 68
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 68
Artist’s Studio Number d68-1946
Artist’s Studio Number d68-3809
Artist’s Studio Number d68-1976
Present Owner Maureen Shapiro
Present Owner Pascal de Sarthe Fine Art
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, 2002; Maureen Shapiro, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Pascal de Sarthe Fine Art, 2004
Present Owner Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchased with funds from an anonymous donor, with support from the Dedalus Foundation, 1998
Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 49.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1995
References Hobbs 1975b, p. 274, illus. n.p. (pl. 49).
Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 14.
Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 13. Group Exhibitions Danese, New York, 2003, as Elegy to the Spanish Republic (#110B). References Glenn 1984, color illus. p. 88 (installation view).
Comments This work later served as a model for Spanish Elegy with Orange No. 4 (p645).
Knoedler & Company, New York, 1994, cat. no. 16, as Elegy to the Spanish Republic #110D. References Hobbs 1975b, pp. 274–75, illus. n.p. (pl. 50).
William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, June 1979.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
519
w279
w277
w280
w278
w277
w278
Study for Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110E
Open with Elegy
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 68 Present Owner Private collection, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Provenance Mrs. M. E. Pyrch, ca. 1973; private collection, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 2001 Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 16. References Wohl 1973, illus. p. 43, erroneously as Study for Elegy 1968.
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 6 x 7⅝ in. (15.2 x 19.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM Verso not seen [“R. Motherwell \ 1966,” per studio card] Artist’s Studio Number d66-2626
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Silent Form No. 1 1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 68 Artist’s Studio Number d68-222 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection, New York
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Private collection; private collection, New York, 1981
Solo Exhibitions William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, May 1979.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1993, cat. no. 10.
Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, February 1989.
References Caws 1996b, p. 169. Comments The title of this work, Open with Elegy, was given around 1981, when Motherwell, at the request of the owner
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of the work, signed it on the verso and added the approximated date of 1966. This work, however, was almost certainly among the numerous similar Elegies painted on paper roughly measuring 6 x 8 inches that Motherwell painted in 1968, after he had begun the Open series. The isolation of the Elegy image within a linear Open form drawn in graphite further links this work to other paintings on paper done in 1968.
p ain tin gs on paper a n d paperbo a rd
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w283
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Silent Form No. 2
Silent Form No. 3
Study for Open Series
Black on White No. 2
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm)
1968 Acrylic on paper 8 x 6 in. (20.3 x 15.2 cm)
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm)
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R. Motherwell
Artist’s Studio Number d68-387
Artist’s Studio Number d68-221
Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “black on white #2” \ 1968
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, June 1979.
Solo Exhibitions William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, May 1979.
Provenance Mrs. M. E. Pyrch, 1973; private col lection, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 2001 Group Exhibitions Musée Galliera, Paris, 1974, illus. p. 71. Comments This work shares the same dimensions and compositional format as the Black on White series, which was also painted in 1968 (see w283–w288). Although this work is not titled as such, it may have been intended as a part of that series.
Artist’s Studio Number d68-1179 Present Owner Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchased with funds from an anonymous donor, with support from the Dedalus Foundation, 1998 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1998 Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 5. William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, June 1979.
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w284
Comments This painting is the earliest numbered work in Motherwell’s Black on White series; no work was assigned the number 1. The works in this series were closely related to his Open series, and one work, number 4 in the series, was first published in 1969 under the title Open: Black and White Series No. 18 (see the Comments for w285). By the spring of 1970, however, when a number of these works were exhibited for the first time, the first three numbered works in the series had been assigned their definitive titles.
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Black on White No. 3
Black on White No. 4
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm)
Alternative Title: Open: Black and White Series No. 18 1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 68 Present Owner Brooklyn Museum. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Liberman, 1991.277 Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Liberman; Brooklyn Museum, 1991 Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 6.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 68 Present Owner Helen Frankenthaler Provenance Helen Frankenthaler, ca. 1968 Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 7. References Andreae 1969, illus. p. 8, as Open Black and White Series No. 18; MarlboroughGerson Gallery exh. cat. 1969, illus. n.p., as ‘Open’ Black and White Series No. 18.
522
p ain tin gs on p aper a n d paperbo a rd
Comments This work was first published as ‘Open’ Black and White Series No. 18 in the catalogue for Motherwell’s first exhibition of his Open series (see MarlboroughGerson Gallery exh. cat. 1969). The number 18 was likely related at that time to the numbering of his Open studies. By the spring of 1970, however, when this piece appeared in a traveling solo exhibition originating at the University of Wisconsin, Motherwell had retitled it Black on White No. 4; two other works from this series, Black on White No. 2 and No. 3 (w283 and w284), also appeared in that exhibition.
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Black on White No. 5
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Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 26.
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm)
Group Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, January 1999, cat. no. 18.
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
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Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “black on white #5” 1968 Artist’s Studio Number d68-219 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003 Solo Exhibitions William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, May 1979. Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 53, illus. n.p.; illus. n.p. (in exhibition). Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 37, color illus. n.p.
Black on White No. 6 Alternative Title: Untitled 1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 68
Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. VI.1, color illus. p. 134 (pl. 63). Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, 1999.
Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 54, illus. n.p.; illus. n.p. (in exhibition).
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 25. References Caws 2003, illus. p. 156 (ill. 103).
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Black on White No. 7
Artist’s Studio Number d68-218
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm)
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Artist’s Studio Number d68-220
Solo Exhibitions William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, May 1979.
Present Owner Private collection
Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 52, illus. n.p. (in exhibition), as Untitled.
Solo Exhibitions William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, May 1979.
Provenance Private collection, 1981
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Open Study No. 5 Alternative Titles: Open Drawing No. 4; Open Drawing with Charcoal Lines 1968 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 22 x 30¼ in. (55.9 x 76.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 68 Recto, lower right: 5 Verso (on strainer, reattached): motherwell Artist’s Studio Number d68-1498 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Robischon Gallery, Denver, 2001, cat. no. 12. Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2002. Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, October 2008.
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Group Exhibitions Institut Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt, Germany, 1970, cat. no. 369, illus. p. 150, as Open drawing with charcoal lines. Marlborough Galleria d’Arte, Rome, 1972, cat. no. 23, illus. n.p., as Open Drawing with Charcoal Lines. References Marlborough-Gerson Gallery exh. cat. 1969, illus. n.p., as ‘Open’ Drawing No. 4; Chandler 2001a, sec. D, p. 4; MacMillan 2001a, sec. FF, p. 4; MacMillan 2001b, illus. sec. H, p. 2; Paglia 2001, p. 53; Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 22. Comments This work and related paintings on paper began as charcoal drawings, to which Motherwell subsequently added small but very significant strokes of white paint (see also w291 and w293– w295). This work is the first numbered painting on paper in the Open Study series; the works with lower numbers are not included here because they
p ain tin gs on p aper a n d paperbo a rd
were not painted on and remain classified as drawings. In fact, this work was given two different numbers. It was published as ‘Open’ Drawing No. 4 in the catalogue for the first exhibition of the Open series (Marlborough-Gerson Gallery exh. cat. 1969), and it was also later exhibited as Open Drawing with Charcoal Lines. The “5” inscribed in the lower right corner, however, shows that Motherwell designated it as number 5 in the series. The numbering of the Open Study works was quite irregular, full of gaps and repetitions. Some of the works were also given descriptive subtitles. To further complicate matters, Motherwell did studies for his Open series in various mediums—paintings, paintings on paper, and drawings—so the numbering of them within any given medium is inherently prone to irregularity. Some of the works in this series, such as this one, had series numbers inscribed in pencil very near a corner; but these numbers were sometimes ignored as a result of being cropped out of reproductions.
This painting on paper served as a model for three large canvases: Open No. 124, Open White and Black, and Open No. 184 (p506–p508).
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w290
Open Study No. 6 Alternative Title: Study for “Open Series” No. 17 1968 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 22 x 30½ in. (55.9 x 77.5 cm)
Group Exhibitions American Federation of Arts, New York, 1970 (circulating), cat. no. 48, illus. p. 29 (upside down), as Study for “Open Series” No. 17. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, May 1973.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 68
References Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 21.
Recto, lower right: 6
Comments This work was used as a model for Open No. 35: In Raw Umber on Sized Canvas (p429).
Artist’s Studio Number d68-410; p68-410 Present Owner Collection Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2008 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 60, illus. n.p. (in exhibition). Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2002. Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, October 2008.
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w292
Open Study No. 8
Open Study No. 8A: In Blue with Black Lines
1968 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 22⅛ x 30⅝ in. (56.2 x 77.8 cm)
Alternative Title: Untitled (Charcoal Line) 1968 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 22⅛ x 30⅝ in. (56.2 x 77.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68
Recto, lower right: 8 Artist’s Studio Number d68-1500 Present Owner The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection, gift
Artist’s Studio Number d68-421 Present Owner The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection, gift
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Judith Rothschild Foundation, 2003; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2008
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Judith Rothschild Foundation, 2003; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2008
Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 24.
Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 25.
Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2002.
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1973, cat. no. [23 or 24], as Untitled (charcoal line).
References Rattemeyer 2009, illus. p. 200.
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w294
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w295
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w295
Open Study No. 13
Open Study No. 14
Alternative Title: {Untitled (Open)} 1968 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 22⅛ x 30½ in. (56.2 x 77.5 cm)
Alternative Title: Untitled (charcoal line) 1968 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 22 x 30½ in. (55.9 x 77.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 68
Recto, lower right: 12
Recto, lower right: 13
Recto, lower right: 14
Artist’s Studio Number d68-416; d68-3598
Artist’s Studio Number d68-1497
Artist’s Studio Number d68-413
Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Schneider
Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Museum purchase, the Friends of Art Endowment Fund
Present Owner Private collection, Paris
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Open Study No. 12 Alternative Title: Black Line Open 1968 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 22 x 30½ in. (56.3 x 77.5 cm)
Group Exhibitions Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, May 1973.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, New York, 1999; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 13, 2004, lot 199, illus.]; Mr. and Mrs. Jack Schneider, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, 1990, as Black Line Open. Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 10.
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Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1999 Solo Exhibitions Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. VI.4, color illus. p. 137 (pl. 66), as Untitled (Open).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Paris, 2006 Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 26. John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1973, cat. no. [23 or 24], as Untitled (charcoal line). Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2005.
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Open Study No. 19: In Blue with White Line Alternative Title: Untitled (Blue with white line) 1968 Acrylic on paper 22 x 30 in. (55.9 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R Motherwell 68 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Jack Glenn Gallery, Corona del Mar, Calif., 1973; private collection, before 1983; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 13, 2002, lot 296, illus. (not sold)] Solo Exhibitions University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1970 (traveling), cat. no. 27. John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, 1973, cat. no. 22, as Untitled (blue with white line).
Comments Our reproduction of this work is from an early black-and-white photograph. The ground color is blue and the linear forms are rendered in white paint, as per a color slide.
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w298
Untitled
Untitled
1968 Acrylic on paper 30¼ x 22 in. (76.8 x 55.9 cm)
1968 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 68
Present Owner Private collection of Mike Elliott
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Unknown owner; Mike Elliott, ca. 1999
Provenance David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, 1970; Dunkelman Gallery, New York, ca. 1973; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, March 30, 1978, lot 11, illus.]; Dart Gallery, Inc., Chicago, 1978; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, February 27, 1980, lot 59, illus.]; unknown owner, 1980; [Christie’s East, New York, November 6, 1990, lot 74, illus.]; unknown owner, 1990 Comments Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1978 Sotheby Parke Bernet auction catalogue. The ground color is painted beige, and the linear forms are rendered in white paint, as in w299.
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w302
[ Open Study (White Line on Beige No. 1)]
[ Open Study (White Line on Beige No. 2)]
[ Open Study (White Line on Beige No. 3)]
Untitled
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 30½ x 22 in. (77.5 x 55.9 cm)
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 22 x 30½ in. (55.9 x 77.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R Motherwell 68
Artist’s Studio Number d68-420
Artist’s Studio Number d68-419
Artist’s Studio Number d68-408
Artist’s Studio Number d68-1499
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, October 2008.
Solo Exhibitions Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, October 2008.
Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, June 2009.
References Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 41.
References Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 40.
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1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 22 x 30 in. (55.9 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 68 Recto, lower right: 15
Group Exhibitions Institut Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt, Germany, 1970, cat. no. 370, illus. p. 151. Comments The number 15 in the lower right corner may refer to a number in the Open Study series, but it was never shown as such.
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w305
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w305
[ Untitled (Open)]
Untitled
Untitled
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paper 11½ x 14½ in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm)
1968 Acrylic and graphite on paperboard 11¾ x 10 in. (29.8 x 25.4 cm)
1969 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 61½ x 31¼ in. (156.2 x 79.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 68
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 69
Artist’s Studio Number d68-2855
Present Owner Kafka Family Collection
Recto, lower right [partially erased ]: [RM]
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Kafka Family Collection
Artist’s Studio Number d69-690
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments This painting was done on a proof of an unpublished print that contained a grayish green ground and a black horizontal stripe. Motherwell subsequently added the brighter green rectangular U shape, which is outlined in graphite.
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Solo Exhibitions Bendheim Gallery, Greenwich, Conn., 2008.
that would be framed in a new Kulicke product called Plas-Par-Tout. The linear Open forms in this work were rendered in charcoal with a strip of white acrylic paint applied along the right vertical line. The sheet of paper was mounted on board and encased in the Plas-Par-Tout plastic wrap, which was removed from the work in 2009 to arrest discoloration caused by the direct contact of the plastic with the paper.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Group Exhibitions James Graham & Sons Gallery, New York, 1969. Comments Motherwell created this unusually sized work for an exhibition called The Big Drawing, organized by the framer Barbara Kulicke and the James Graham & Sons Gallery. The exhibiting artists were asked to contribute works with dimensions between 2 x 5 and 4 x 8 feet p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
529
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w306
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w309
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Juilliard School Poster Sketch
1969 Acrylic and graphite on paper 9 x 12 in. (22.9 x 30.5 cm)
Ca. 1969 Acrylic and graphite on paper 9 x 11⅞ in. (22.9 x 30.2 cm)
Ca. 1969 Acrylic and graphite on paper 8⅞ x 11¾ in. (22.5 x 29.8 cm)
Ca. 1969 Acrylic and graphite on canvas paper 11½ x 9 in. (29.2 x 22.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 69
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Robert Motherwell
Present Owner Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto
Artist’s Studio Number p-3829
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number d**-2798
Provenance Audrey and David Mirvish, Toronto
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Private collection
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Comments The composition of this small painting on paper is similar to that of a contemporaneous painting on canvas, Open No. 90 (p480).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1993, cat. no. 9.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
530
Comments The date assigned to this work is based on the similarity of its compositional format and size to a 1969 painting on paper, Untitled (w306).
p ain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
Comments The date assigned to this work is based on the similarity of its compositional format and size to a 1969 painting on paper, Untitled (w306).
Comments Motherwell did this small painting on paper as a sketch for a poster commissioned for the dedication ceremony for the new location of the Juilliard School on October 26, 1969. But he eventually chose to base the final screen-printed design, Juilliard School (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 64), on a collage that had been created in 1969 (see the Comments for c265). The inscription “juilliard school” and the sketched-in musical notes on the recto are in Motherwell’s hand.
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[ Open Study (In Blue with Pencil Lines)]
[ Gesture Series (A)]
[ Gesture Series (B)]
1969 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm)
1969 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22¾ in. (77.5 x 57.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 69
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 69
Artist’s Studio Number d69-602
Artist’s Studio Number d69-603
w314
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
1969 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 23 in. (77.5 x 58.4 cm)
Comments The composition of this work anticipates the 1971 lithograph Samurai (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 104), and the 1974 Samurai series of paintings (p775–p780).
Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 63, illus. n.p. (in exhibition).
1969 Acrylic, ink, and graphite on paper 23 x 31½ in. (58.4 x 80 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 69 Artist’s Studio Number d69-608 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments The diagonally sloping vertical line at the left side of the Open form in this work relates it to a large-scale contemporaneous painting, Open No. 97: The Spanish House (p486), which was the first Open painting on canvas to introduce this form.
w313
[ Gesture Series (C)] 1969 Acrylic on paper 30¾ x 23 in. (78.1 x 58.4 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number d69-604 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
[ Gesture Series (D)]
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 69 Artist’s Studio Number d69-605 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 69
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
531
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w316
I.H. Series No. 2 w315
w315
I.H. Series No. 1 1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22¼ x 17 in. (56.5 x 43.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number p70-460 Present Owner Private collection, California Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, California, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Fendrick Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1972. Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2002.
532
Comments This is the first numbered work in the I.H. series, which was painted over proofs of a lithograph printed by Irwin Hollander (the “I.H.” referred to in the title) in 1967 (see Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 56). Motherwell first reworked the print images with brush and black ink, then painted some with various colors of acrylic paint. A number of works in this series became the basis for the Basque Suite screen prints that were published by Marlborough Graphics (see Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 79–88). Some of the works in the I.H. series were later given Basque Suite titles, some were left untitled, and a torn fragment of a work that had formerly been I.H. Series No. 3 was later incorporated into a collage (see c705). As a result there are gaps in the numbering of the series.
pain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
The I.H. series also includes a number of drawings, done in black ink over the same lithographic image, but not worked further with paint.
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22¼ x 17 in. (56.5 x 43.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number d70-452 Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. David M. Draime Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mr. and Mrs. David M. Draime, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Fendrick Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1972.
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w318
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w319
I.H. Series No. 4
I.H. Series No. 5
I.H. Series No. 6
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22¼ x 17 in. (56.5 x 43.2 cm)
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22¼ x 17 in. (56.5 x 43.2 cm)
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell
Artist’s Studio Number d70-629
Artist’s Studio Number d70-454
Artist’s Studio Number d70-458
Present Owner Unknown (said to have been destroyed, 1984)
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Current Editions, Seattle, 1973.
Solo Exhibitions Current Editions, Seattle, 1973.
Provenance The artist Solo Exhibitions Tirca Karlis Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1973. Comments A note on the studio card for this work says that it was destroyed in January 1984. Our reproduction comes from a Polaroid photograph of the painting taken in Motherwell’s Greenwich studio.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
533
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w323
I.H. Series No. 8
I.H. Series No. 12
I.H. Series No. 15
I.H. Series No. 16
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell
Artist’s Studio Number d70-455
Artist’s Studio Number d70-457
Artist’s Studio Number d70-459
Artist’s Studio Number d70-456
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection, California
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Tirca Karlis Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1973.
Solo Exhibitions Current Editions, Seattle, 1973.
Solo Exhibitions Current Editions, Seattle, 1973.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, California, 2003
534
p ain tin gs on p aper a n d paperbo a rd
Solo Exhibitions Current Editions, Seattle, 1973.
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w327
I.H. Series No. 18
I.H. Series No. 22
I.H. Series No. 24
I.H. Series No. 26
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Mrs. Geraldine Sakwa
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance The artist
Provenance Geraldine Sakwa, 1970
Provenance The artist
Provenance Unknown owner, 1973; [Christie’s, New York, February 14, 1989, lot 110, illus. (not sold)]
Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white photograph of this work taken around 1973 (unnumbered studio inventory photograph). We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white photograph of this work taken around 1973 (unnumbered studio inventory photograph). We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Solo Exhibitions Fendrick Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1972. Tirca Karlis Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1973. Comments Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1989 Christie’s auction catalogue.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
535
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w331
I.H. Series No. 27
I.H. Series No. 29
I.H. Series No. 30
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 1967
Alternative Title: I.H. Series No. 25 1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
Green and Black (The Basque Suite)
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Private collection, California
Provenance Unknown owner; [Sotheby’s, New York, October 5, 1989, lot 83, illus.]; unknown owner, 1989
Provenance Gertrude Kasle Gallery; private collection, ca. 1985; [Frank H. Boos Gallery, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., December 9, 1998, lot 228, illus.]; Bruce and Kathryn Wenokur, 1998; [Butterfield & Butterfield, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago, April 18, 2000, lot 2076, illus.]; private collection, California, 2000
Comments Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1989 Sotheby’s auction catalogue.
References Micucci 2002, p. 52, back cover color illus., color illus. p. 52, erroneously as Untitled. Comments The 1967 date in the signature on this work refers to the date of the lithograph that Motherwell painted over in 1970. 536
p ain tin gs on p a per a n d paperbo a rd
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco
Provenance The artist
Provenance Private collection, 1970; New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting & Sculpture, 1997; Mark Borghi Fine Art, Inc., 2005; Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2005; Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, 2006; private collection, 2006; Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, 2009
Comments This work is known only from a blackand-white photograph taken around 1973 (unnumbered studio inventory photograph). There are two studio cards for this work; one identifies it as I.H. Series No. 25, the other as I.H. Series No. 30. We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Comments The descriptive titles assigned to this and other Basque Suite paintings on paper (see w332–w335) were most likely given at a later date. This work was used as the basis for a 1971 screen print, The Basque Suite: Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 86).
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Yellow and Black (The Basque Suite)
Green and Black (The Basque Suite)
Basque Suite
Basque Suite
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell
Present Owner Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco
Present Owner Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco
Present Owner Collection of Matt Vaccaro
Present Owner Stephen and Madeline Anbinder
Provenance Private collection, 1970; New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting & Sculpture, 1997; Mark Borghi Fine Art, Inc., 2005; Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2005; Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, 2006; private collection, 2006; Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, 2009
Provenance Private collection, 1970; New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting & Sculpture, 1997; Mark Borghi Fine Art, Inc., 2005; Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2005; Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, 2006; private collection, 2006; Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, 2009
Provenance Private collection, 1970; New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting & Sculpture, 1997; Mark Borghi Fine Art, Inc., 2005; Matt Vaccaro, 2005
Provenance Private collection, 1970; New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting & Sculpture, 1997; Mark Borghi Fine Art, Inc., 2005; Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2005; Stephen and Madeline Anbinder, 2005
Comments This work was used as the basis for a screen print, The Basque Suite: Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 82); the print version does not include the yellow area at the bottom.
References Van Syckle 1975, illus. sec. C, p. 20. Comments This work was used as the basis for a 1971 screen print, The Basque Suite: Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 85).
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
537
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w337
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w339
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22¼ x 17¼ in. (56.5 x 43.8 cm)
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm), approx.
1970 Acrylic, ink, and lithograph on paper 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell
Inscriptions Unknown
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell
Present Owner National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Gift of David and Renee McKee, 2001.140.1
Present Owner David McKee Gallery
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance David McKee Gallery, New York; [Sotheby’s, New York, October 6, 1992, lot 47, illus. (not sold)]
Provenance The artist
Provenance Unknown owner; [Christie’s, New York, May 13, 1981, lot 46, illus.]; unknown owner, 1981
Provenance David and Renee McKee; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2001 Comments This work was the basis for a 1971 screen print, The Basque Suite: Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 88).
538
Comments This work was the basis for a 1971 screen print, The Basque Suite (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 83). Our reproduction comes from the 1992 Sotheby’s auction catalogue.
p ain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
Solo Exhibitions Fendrick Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1972. Comments Our reproduction of this work has been extracted from a black-and-white installation photograph of Motherwell’s 1972 exhibition at Fendrick Gallery. We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Comments Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1981 Christie’s auction catalogue.
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[ Untitled (Green on Blue)]
[ Untitled (Green on Blue)]
1970 Acrylic on paperboard 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
1970 Acrylic on paperboard 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 9 Aug 70
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 9 Aug 70
Artist’s Studio Number p70-1339
Recto, lower left: Motherwell 70
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w341
Artist’s Studio Number p70-1340 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
539
w343
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w342
Africa Suite No. 1 1970 Acrylic and ink on paper 41 x 28¼ in. (104.1 x 71.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 70 Artist’s Studio Number d70-613 Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ackerman Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ackerman, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2006 (color illus. in brochure).
540
Comments This is the first work in the Africa Suite series, paintings on paper (w342–w352) that were done as studies for silkscreen prints given the same title (see Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 69–78). In fact, Motherwell took the paintings on paper with him when he went to London to work on the prints between February 24 and March 10, 1970. These paintings on paper sometimes include taped or pasted papers that Motherwell utilized not as true collage elements but as a means of masking sections of the image in the process of composing the imagery for the prints. All of the works in this series are therefore included here as paintings on paper rather than as collages. This work served as the model for Africa Suite: Africa 1 (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 69).
p ain tin gs on paper a n d paperbo a rd
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Africa Suite No. 2 1970 Acrylic and ink on paper 40 x 28 in. (101.6 x 71.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 70 Artist’s Studio Number d70-614 Present Owner Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, LLC Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Los Angeles, 2006; Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, LLC, 2008 Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 46 (brochure); cat. no. 53 (catalogue), illus. p. 75. Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2006, cover color illus. References Lewis 1982, illus. sec. D, p. 4. Comments This work served as the model for Africa Suite: Africa 2 (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 70).
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w346
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w346
Africa Suite No. 3
Africa Suite No. 4
Africa Suite No. 5
1970 Acrylic and ink on paper 40 x 28 in. (101.6 x 71.1 cm)
1970 Acrylic, taped papers, and ink on paper 40 x 28 in. (101.6 x 71.1 cm)
1970 Acrylic, taped papers, and ink on paper 40¼ x 28½ in. (102.2 x 72.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 70
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 70
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 70
Artist’s Studio Number d70-615
Artist’s Studio Number d70-616
Artist’s Studio Number c70-617; d70-617
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2006, color illus. n.p.
Solo Exhibitions Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2006.
Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
Comments This work served as the model for Africa Suite: Africa 3 (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 71).
Comments This work served as the model for Africa Suite: Africa 4 (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 72).
Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2006. Comments This work served as the model for Africa Suite: Africa 5 (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 73).
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
541
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w350
Africa Suite No. 6
Africa Suite No. 7
Africa Suite No. 8
Africa Suite No. 9
1970 Acrylic, pasted paper, and ink on paper 40 x 28 in. (101.6 x 71.1 cm)
1970 Acrylic, taped paper, and ink on paper 40 x 28 in. (101.6 x 71.1 cm)
1970 Acrylic and ink on paper 40 x 28 in. (101.6 x 71.1 cm)
1970 Acrylic and ink on paper 40 x 28 in. (101.6 x 71.1 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 70
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 70
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 70
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 70
Artist’s Studio Number c70-618; d70-618
Artist’s Studio Number c70-1249; d70-1249
Artist’s Studio Number d70-619
Artist’s Studio Number d70-1248
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
Solo Exhibitions Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2006.
Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977.
Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2006.
Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2006, color illus. n.p.
Comments This work served as the model for Africa Suite: Africa 6 (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 74).
Comments This work served as the model for Africa Suite: Africa 7 (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 75).
Comments This work served as the model for Africa Suite: Africa 8 (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 76).
William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 47 (brochure); cat. no. 54 (catalogue), illus. p. 72. Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2006. References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 63.
542
p ain tin gs on p aper a n d paperbo a rd
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Comments This work served as the model for Africa Suite: Africa 9 (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 77).
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w353
Africa Suite No. 10
Africa Suite No. 11
1970 Acrylic, taped paper, and ink on paper 40 x 28 in. (101.6 x 71.1 cm)
1970 Acrylic and ink on paper 40 x 28 in. (101.6 x 71.1 cm)
Study for State II “Elegy No. 100”
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 70
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell 70
Artist’s Studio Number d70-620
Artist’s Studio Number d70-621
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ c. 70 \ Study for State II \ “Elegy #100”
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number p70-2186
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Solo Exhibitions Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2006.
Solo Exhibitions Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2006.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments This work served as the model for Africa Suite: Africa 10 (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 78).
Comments This work is the only Africa Suite painting that was not used as a model for a print.
Ca. 1970/before 1978 Acrylic, chalk, and graphite on paper 14¼ x 22 in. (36.2 x 55.9 cm)
Solo Exhibitions Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. pp. 154–55. Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, May 2005, cat. no. 5. References Motherwell in Arnason 1977b, n.p.; Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 151; Pleynet 1989b, illus. p. 93 (in studio, in progress).
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
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Comments This painting was done on the upper left corner of a larger, vertically oriented sheet of paper, which Motherwell cropped to its present size and signed and dated “c. 70” sometime between 1975 and 1978. It was originally painted as a small study for the large painting Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 100 (p850), which Motherwell had started in 1962; this picture gives some idea of what that large Elegy painting looked like in an early state. This painting on paper appears, still uncropped, in a 1975 photograph of Motherwell’s studio (see fig. 240 in volume 1), along with Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 100 (still in progress), and two other studies (p605 and p849). It was first photographed cropped as a horizontal work in November 1978 (Sloman photo no. 757). Motherwell used this work not only as the model for the middle state of Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 100, but also as the initial composition of another large-scale painting, Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 126 (p851).
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Untitled
Untitled
Ca. 1970 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 20⅜ x 29½ in. (51.8 x 74.9 cm)
Ca. 1970 Acrylic and charcoal on paperboard 22 x 30 in. (55.9 x 76.2 cm)
[ Open Study (In Blue and Pink)]
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Artist’s Studio Number d-3826; p-3596
Artist’s Studio Number p71/72-1091
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments The color and composition of this painting on paper recall those of small works on canvas board done around 1970, such as Open No. 144: Blue on Scarlet (p549), Untitled (Red Open) (p575), and The Red Wall (p576). We do not know whether Motherwell painted the black form at the center of this work around 1970 or added it at a later date, perhaps as late as 1979 (see a similarly painted form in Blue Open with Ochre, p980).
1970 Acrylic and graphite on paper 31 x 23 in. (78.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 70 Artist’s Studio Number p70-655 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, October 2008. Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, June 2009. References Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 95.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
545
w357
Elegy Sketch Alternative Title: {Untitled (Elegy Lines)} 1970 Acrylic on paper 11½ x 14½ in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm)
w357
w359
w358
w360
Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 67, illus. n.p. (in exhibition), as Untitled. Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, February 1989. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1992, cat. no. 8, as Untitled (Elegy Lines).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 65, illus. n.p.; illus. n.p. (in exhibition).
w360
Sepia Shape with Black and Blue Ca. 1970 Acrylic and ink on paper 11½ x 14½ in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 70
Knoedler & Company, New York, 1994, cat. no. 12, as Untitled (Elegy Lines).
w359
Artist’s Studio Number d70-510
References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 41, as Untitled (Elegy Sketch).
1970 Acrylic on paper 11½ x 14½ in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm)
w358
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 70
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Artist’s Studio Number d70-224
Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, 1990.
Present Owner Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchased with funds from an anonymous donor, with support from the Dedalus Foundation, 1998
Untitled
Untitled
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1998
1970 Acrylic on paper 11½ x 14½ in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm)
Solo Exhibitions William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 48 (brochure); cat. no. 52 (catalogue), illus. p. 89.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 70
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Artist’s Studio Number d70-223
Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 66, illus. n.p. (in exhibition).
546
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
p ain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number d67-3613 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
w361
w362
w363
w364
w361
w362
w363
w364
[ Untitled (Open & Brushstrokes)]
The Blue Window
The White Window
Untitled
1970 Acrylic on paper 11⅝ x 7¾ in. (29.5 x 19.7 cm), irreg.
1971 Acrylic and crayon on cardboard 14 x 8½ in. (35.6 x 21.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 70
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ July, 1971
Alternative Title: {Open Study (Brown)} 1971 Acrylic and graphite on paper 11½ x 14½ in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm)
1970 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 11½ x 14½ in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 70 Artist’s Studio Number p70-2857 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Artist’s Studio Number d70-281 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 71. Comments Motherwell considered the torn edge of this work as integral to it, and exhibited it in its present form at Princeton in 1973.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 71
Artist’s Studio Number p71-464
Artist’s Studio Number d71-2402
Present Owner Collection of Alice and Nahum Lainer Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Alice and Nahum Lainer, 2005
Present Owner Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchased with funds from an anonymous donor, with support from the Dedalus Foundation, 1998
Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 70, illus. p. 52.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1995
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
547
w365
w367
w366
w368
w365
w366
w367
[ Untitled (Open)]
Open Study with Blue Lines
Untitled (Open)
1971 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 12 x 16 in. (30.5 x 40.6 cm)
Alternative Title: {Open Study in Blue} 1971 Acrylic and charcoal on canvas paper 11½ x 14½ in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm)
1971 Acrylic and charcoal on canvas paper 11⅞ x 15⅞ in. (30.2 x 40.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 71 Artist’s Studio Number d71-276 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Fendrick Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1972.
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 71 Present Owner University of Michigan Museum of Art. Gift of Herbert C. Barrows
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell 71 Present Owner Private collection, Germany Provenance Private collection, Germany, ca. 1974
Provenance Herbert C. Barrows, 1972; University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, 2000
Solo Exhibitions Fendrick Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1972.
Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1972, cat. no. 23.
w368
Group Exhibitions University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, 2002, as Open Study in Blue.
Untitled Alternative Title: {Untitled (Orange and Tan Open)} 1971 Acrylic and graphite on canvas paper 12 x 16 in. (30.5 x 40.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 71
548
p ain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
Artist’s Studio Number p71-465 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, October 2008, as Untitled (Orange and Tan Open). References Glover 2009, p. 138, color illus. p. 139, referred to in text and in illus. as Untitled (Orange and Tan Open); Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 117, as Untitled (Orange and Tan Open).
w369
w371
w370
w372
w369
w370
w371
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
1971 Acrylic and graphite on canvas paper 11¾ x 15½ in. (29.8 x 39.4 cm)
Alternative Title: {Untitled (Orange and Tan Open)} 1971 Acrylic, ink, and graphite on canvas paper 12 x 16 in. (30.5 x 40.6 cm)
Alternative Title: {Open} 1971 Acrylic and ink on canvas paper 12 x 15⅞ in. (30.5 x 40.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 71
Artist’s Studio Number d71-277
Ca. 1971 Acrylic and graphite on paper 11½ x 14½ in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number p71-467
Present Owner Private collection, Palermo, Italy
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Palermo, Italy, 2006
Artist’s Studio Number d70-229
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell 71 Artist’s Studio Number p71-466 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, October 2008. References Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 116.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, October 2008, as Untitled (Orange and Tan Open). References Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 116, as Untitled (Orange and Tan Open).
Comments Motherwell used this work as the model for the early state of a large-scale painting, Hoppla, wir leben! (p620). w372
Inscriptions Recto, upper center: Motherwell 71
Solo Exhibitions Fendrick Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1972.
Open Study
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 12, color illus. p. 14, as Open. Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2006, cat. no. 3, color illus. p. 13, as Open.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
549
w373
w373
Gesture Series No. 1 1971 Acrylic on canvas paper 19½ x 15⅞ in. (49.5 x 40.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 71 Artist’s Studio Number p71-441 Present Owner The collection of Mr. and Mrs. Scott W. Seaton Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mr. and Mrs. Scott W. Seaton, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Tirca Karlis Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1973. Comments This painting is the first numbered work in Motherwell’s 1971 Gesture series, which was numbered from 1 to 17 (w373–w388); there is no known work designated as number 15 in the
550
w374
series. All of the works in this series were done on canvas paper; some were mounted on board after the artist’s death.
w375
w376
w375
w376
Gesture Series No. 3
Gesture Series No. 4
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper 19½ x 16 in. (49.5 x 40.6 cm)
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper 19½ x 16 in. (49.5 x 40.6 cm)
Gesture Series No. 2
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 71
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 71
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper 19½ x 16 in. (49.5 x 40.6 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number p71-439
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance The artist
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white photograph of this work taken around 1972 (studio inventory photo no. ph 22-5). We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
w374
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 71 Artist’s Studio Number p71-436 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 42. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 30.
p ain tin gs on p aper a n d paperbo a rd
Solo Exhibitions Tirca Karlis Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1973.
w377
w378
w379
w380
w377
w378
w379
w380
Gesture Series No. 5
Gesture Series No. 6
Gesture Series No. 7
Gesture Series No. 8
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper mounted on board 19⅝ x 15½ in. (49.8 x 39.4 cm)
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper mounted on board 19½ x 15¾ in. (49.5 x 40 cm)
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper 19½ x 16 in. (49.5 x 40.6 cm)
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper mounted on board 19¼ x 15½ in. (48.9 x 39.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 71
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 71
Artist’s Studio Number p71-438
Artist’s Studio Number p71-443
Present Owner Private collection, London
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, London, 2006
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 41, illus. p. 60.
Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 38.
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 71
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 71
Artist’s Studio Number p71-440
Artist’s Studio Number p71-445
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 43.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
References Princeton Alumni Weekly 1973, p. 7, cover color illus., illus. p. 7.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
551
w381
w382
w383
w384
w381
w382
w383
w384
Gesture Series No. 9
Gesture Series No. 10
Gesture Series No. 11
Gesture Series No. 12
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper 19½ x 16 in. (49.5 x 40.6 cm)
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper 19½ x 16 in. (49.5 x 40.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 71
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 71
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper mounted on board 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper mounted on board 19¼ x 15½ in. (48.9 x 39.4 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number p71-435
Artist’s Studio Number p71-434
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 71
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 71
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number p71-446
Artist’s Studio Number p71-444
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 40. Tirca Karlis Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1973.
552
p ain tin gs on p a per a n d paperbo a rd
Solo Exhibitions Tirca Karlis Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1973. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 31.
w385
w386
w387
w388
w385
w386
w387
w388
Gesture Series No. 13
Gesture Series No. 14
Gesture Series No. 16
Gesture Series No. 17
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper 19½ x 16 in. (49.5 x 40.6 cm)
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper 19¾ x 16 in. (50.2 x 40.6 cm)
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper 19½ x 15⅞ in. (49.5 x 40.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 71
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 71
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 71
1971 Acrylic on canvas paper mounted on board 19¼ x 15½ in. (48.9 x 39.4 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number p71-442
Artist’s Studio Number p71-437
Artist’s Studio Number p71-433
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner The collection of Mr. and Mrs. Scott W. Seaton
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 71
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mr. and Mrs. Scott W. Seaton, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Tirca Karlis Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1973.
Artist’s Studio Number p71-447 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Art Museum, Princeton University, N.J., 1973, cat. no. 39.
References Advocate Summery 1973, illus. p. 11, as Gesture No. 16.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
553
w389
w389
Untitled Alternative Title: {Untitled (Samurai)} 1972 Acrylic on paper 22 x 11½ in. (55.9 x 29.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 72 Artist’s Studio Number d72-3254 Present Owner Collection of David and Susan Goode Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; David and Susan Goode, 2001
Comments This painting served as the maquette for a tapestry commissioned by Westinghouse Broadcasting in Philadelphia, and fabricated by Gloria F. Ross Tapestries. Motherwell also created four other paintings on paper as studies for this tapestry (w390–w393). This painting, although not titled as part of the numbered Tapestry Study series, was in fact the first work done in that series. This group of five paintings was a precursor to what would later become known as the Samurai series of 1974 (see the Comments for p775).
Solo Exhibitions Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. VIII.3, color illus. p. 152 (pl. 81), as Untitled (Samurai). References Cotter 1997, illus. sec. C, p. 30, as Untitled (Samurai).
554
p ain tin gs on p a per a n d paperbo a rd
w390
w391
w390
w391
Tapestry Study No. 2
Tapestry Study No. 3
1972 Acrylic on paper 21¾ x 14¼ in. (55.2 x 36.2 cm)
1972 Acrylic on paper 22 x 11½ in. (55.9 x 29.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 72
Present Owner Collection of Galerie Berès, Paris
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Private collection, 1972; [Sotheby’s, New York, October 5, 1989, lot 79, illus.]; unknown owner, 1989; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 15, 2008, lot 176, illus.]; Galerie Berès, Paris, 2008
Provenance Private collection, 1973; unknown owner
Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1972, cat. no. 13.
Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1972, cat. no. 14. Comments Our reproduction comes from an unnumbered studio inventory photograph of this work taken around 1972.
w392
w392
Greenwich Sculpture Alternative Title: Tapestry Study No. 4 1972 Acrylic on paper 22 x 11½ in. (55.9 x 29.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 72 Artist’s Studio Number p72-961 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 1997
References Cameron 1978, sec. 2, p. 22, illus. sec. 2, p. 22; Raynor 1978b, sec. 23, p. 10; McKenna 1997, illus. p. 66. Comments This work, originally titled Tapestry Study No. 4 (see the Comments for w389), came to be known as Greenwich Sculpture after the image was used in a poster for an exhibition called Sculpture ’76 organized by the Greenwich Arts Council (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 202).
w393
w393
Tapestry Study No. 5 1972 Acrylic on paper 22 x 11½ in. (55.9 x 29.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 72 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Lee V. Eastman; [Christie’s, New York, November 9, 2005, lot 234, illus.]; unknown owner, 2005; [Christie’s, New York, May 14, 2008, lot 221, illus. (not sold)]
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 13. Group Exhibitions Carlson Gallery, University of Bridgeport, Conn., 1978 (traveling), cat. no. 71, illus. n.p.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
555
w394
w395
w396
w397
w394
w395
w396
w397
[ Untitled (Pink, Green, Blue)]
[ Untitled (Grey, Pink, Green, Blue)]
[ Untitled (Black and Red Gestural)]
[ Untitled (Black and Red Gestural)]
1972 Acrylic and crayon on paperboard 20 x 15 in. (50.8 x 38.1 cm)
1972 Acrylic on paperboard 20 x 15 in. (50.8 x 38.1 cm)
1972 Acrylic on paperboard 20 x 14⅞ in. (50.8 x 37.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 9 July 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 9 July 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 9 July 72
Artist’s Studio Number d72-262
Artist’s Studio Number d72-259
Artist’s Studio Number d72-260
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
1972 Acrylic on paperboard 20 x 15 in. (50.8 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 9 July 72 Artist’s Studio Number d72-261 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2008
556
p ain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
w398
w399
w400
w401
w398
w399
w400
w401
Blue Gesture Series No. 1
Blue Gesture Series No. 2
Blue Gesture Series No. 3
Blue Gesture Series No. 4
1972 Acrylic on paper 22¼ x 11½ in. (56.5 x 29.2 cm)
1972 Acrylic on paper 22 x 11½ in. (55.9 x 29.2 cm)
1972 Acrylic on paper 22 x 11½ in. (55.9 x 29.2 cm)
1972 Acrylic on paper 22 x 11½ in. (55.9 x 29.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 72
Artist’s Studio Number d72-264
Artist’s Studio Number d72-257
Artist’s Studio Number d72-263
Artist’s Studio Number d72-256
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance The artist
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance The artist
Solo Exhibitions Tirca Karlis Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1973.
Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white photograph of this work taken around 1973 (studio inventory photo no. ph 58-11). We do not know whether the work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Solo Exhibitions Tirca Karlis Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1973.
Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white photograph of this work taken around 1973 (studio inventory photo no. ph 31-5). We do not know whether the work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Comments This work and w400 were shown together in 1973 as Blue Gesture Series No. 1 and Blue Gesture Series No. 3, but we do not know which number was assigned to which work. It is therefore possible that this work was originally meant to be number 3 in the series, and that w400 was originally number 1.
Comments Regarding the numbering of this work, see the Comments for w398.
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
557
w402
w403
w402
w403
w404
Blue Gesture Series No. 5
Blue Gesture Series No. 6
Blue Gesture Series No. 7
1972 Acrylic on paper 11½ x 22 in. (29.2 x 55.9 cm)
1972 Acrylic on paper 22 x 11½ in. (55.9 x 29.2 cm)
1972 Acrylic on paper 22 x 11½ in. (55.9 x 29.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 72
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 72
Artist’s Studio Number d72-253
Artist’s Studio Number d72-255
Artist’s Studio Number d72-254
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance The artist
Provenance The artist
Provenance The artist
Comments Our reproduction comes from an early Polaroid photograph of this work. We do not know whether the work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Solo Exhibitions Tirca Karlis Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1973.
Comments Our reproduction comes from an early Polaroid photograph of this work. We do not know whether the work still exists in the form illustrated here.
558
Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white photograph of this work taken around 1973 (studio inventory photo no. ph 58-12). We do not know whether the work still exists in the form illustrated here.
p ain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
w404
w405
w405
w406
Untitled
Untitled
Alternative Title: [Untitled (Black Cloud Shape)] 1972 Acrylic on paper 37¾ x 25⅝ in. (95.9 x 65.1 cm)
Alternative Title: [Untitled (Black Cloud Shapes)] 1972 Acrylic on paper 37¾ x 25½ in. (95.9 x 64.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 8 Aug 72
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 72
Artist’s Studio Number d72-670
Artist’s Studio Number d72-669
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w406
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
559
w407
w408
w407
Study for Shem the Penman 1972 Acrylic and graphite on paperboard 8¼ x 11 in. (21 x 27.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 72
Comments The title of this work refers to Shem the Penman, the archetypal artist character from James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake; see also the Comments for the large 1972 painting on canvas Shem the Penman (p679).
w409
Group Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, February 1999, cat. no. 20.
w409
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 31 x 41¾ in. (78.7 x 106 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number d72-282
w408
Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Museum purchase, the Friends of Art Endowment Fund
1972 Acrylic on paperboard 8¼ x 11 in. (21 x 27.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ Feb 73
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 72
Artist’s Studio Number d73-5603
Artist’s Studio Number d72-268
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments This work is one of a group of paintings on paper Motherwell executed in early 1973 that were based on variations of the linear forms developed in his Open series. A number of these works were painted on proofs for unpublished
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1999 Solo Exhibitions Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. VI.7, color illus. p. 140 (pl. 69).
{ Untitled (Open Ochre)}
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 36, color illus. n.p. Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2002.
560
p ain tin gs on p aper a n d paperbo a rd
screen prints that Motherwell had done in 1970, which contained red or blue linear forms (see the Comments for w429). The artist dated many of these works to February 1973, but some were left undated. In the spring of 1973, shortly after Motherwell executed this series of paintings on paper, he made his first prints done in collaboration with Catherine Mosley at his Greenwich studio. These prints included variations of the motifs seen in paintings on paper such as this one (see, for example, Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 134 and 135, and related works). Around the same time Motherwell also made a lithograph called Hommage à Picasso: Window (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 141) at Gemini G.E.L. That print was included in a five-album group of prints by various artists created to commemorate Picasso after his death on April 8, 1973.
w410
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 29½ x 41½ in. (74.9 x 105.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ Feb 73 Artist’s Studio Number d73-5613 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
w410
w412
w414
w411
w413
w415
Artist’s Studio Number d73-5612
w413
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
1973 Acrylic on paper 31⅛ x 41⅞ in. (79.1 x 106.4 cm)
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell \ 18 Feb 73
w415
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w412
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 31⅛ x 41⅞ in. (79.1 x 106.4 cm)
Untitled
Artist’s Studio Number d73-5621 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 18 Feb. 73
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w411
Artist’s Studio Number d73-5607
w414
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
1973 Acrylic on paper 31⅛ x 41⅞ in. (79.1 x 106.4 cm)
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 29½ x 41½ in. (74.9 x 105.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ Feb 73
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 31⅛ x 41⅞ in. (79.1 x 106.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R. Motherwell \ 18 Feb 73 Artist’s Studio Number d73-5608 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Untitled
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 18 Feb 73 Artist’s Studio Number d73-5605 p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
561
w416
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 31⅛ x 41⅞ in. (79.1 x 106.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R. Motherwell \ 18 Feb 1973 Artist’s Studio Number d73-5604 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
w416
w418
w420
w417
w419
w421
Artist’s Studio Number d73-5620
w419
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
1973 Acrylic on paper 31 x 41⅞ in. (78.7 x 106.4 cm)
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w418
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 31⅛ x 41⅞ in. (79.1 x 106.4 cm)
Untitled
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 18 Feb 73 Artist’s Studio Number d73-5602 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number d73-5614 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w421
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 29½ x 41½ in. (74.9 x 105.4 cm)
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Robert Motherwell \ 18 Feb 1973
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 20 Feb 73
w417
Artist’s Studio Number d73-5606
w420
Artist’s Studio Number d73-5617
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 31⅛ x 41⅞ in. (79.1 x 106.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Robert Motherwell \ 18 Feb 73
562
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
p ain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 29½ x 41½ in. (74.9 x 105.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 20 Feb 73
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w422
w422
w424
w426
w423
w425
w427
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
w425
1973 Acrylic on paper 29½ x 41½ in. (74.9 x 105.4 cm)
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
1973 Acrylic on paper 29½ x 41½ in. (74.9 x 105.4 cm)
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 20 Feb 73
w424
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 20 Feb 73
w427
Artist’s Studio Number d73-5615
1973 Acrylic on paper 29½ x 41½ in. (74.9 x 105.4 cm)
Untitled
Artist’s Studio Number d73-5616 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w423
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 29½ x 41½ in. (74.9 x 105.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 20 Feb 73 Artist’s Studio Number d73-5609
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 29½ x 41½ in. (74.9 x 105.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 20 Feb 73 Artist’s Studio Number d73-5611 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Untitled
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Untitled
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 20 Feb 73
w426
Artist’s Studio Number d73-5619
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 29½ x 41½ in. (74.9 x 105.4 cm)
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 20 Feb 73 Artist’s Studio Number d73-5610
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
563
w428
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 29½ x 41½ in. (74.9 x 105.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 20 Feb 73 Artist’s Studio Number d73-5618 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w429
[ Untitled (Open)] 1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 28¼ x 40¼ in. (71.8 x 102.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
w428
w430
w429
w431
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3708
w430
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 28¼ x 40⅜ in. (71.8 x 102.6 cm)
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments This 1973 work is one of a number of paintings that Motherwell executed in black acrylic paint applied over screenprinted trial proofs he had created in 1970 with Christopher Prater at the Kelpra Studio, London (w429–w449). The trial proofs, which contained red and blue linear forms, had been pulled for four print editions that were never published. Motherwell’s London Series I and II (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 89–98) had been done at the Kelpra Studio during that same period. The artist’s initials in the upper left corners of these 1973 paintings are part of the original 1970 screen-print images and are not unique signatures; but then Motherwell added the 1973 dates by hand.
Recto, upper left: 73
[ Untitled (Open)]
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
p ain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3707 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w432
Recto, upper left: 73
[ Untitled (Open)]
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3700
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40¼ x 28¼ in. (102.2 x 71.8 cm)
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M] Recto, upper left: 73
w431
[ Untitled (Open)] 1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 28½ x 40½ in. (72.4 x 102.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M] Recto, upper left: 73
564
w432
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3714 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w433
w434
w435
w436
w433
w434
w435
w436
[ Untitled (Open)]
Untitled
[ Untitled (Open)]
[ Untitled (Open)]
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40⅜ x 28¼ in. (102.6 x 71.8 cm)
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40 x 28 in. (101.6 x 71.1 cm)
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40⅜ x 28⅜ in. (102.6 x 72.1 cm)
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40⅜ x 28¼ in. (102.6 x 71.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Recto, upper left: 73
Recto, upper left: 73
Recto, upper left: 73
Recto, upper left: 73
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3704
Artist’s Studio Number d73-640
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3716
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3715
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
565
w437
w438
w439
w440
w437
w438
w439
w440
[ Untitled (Open)]
Untitled
[ Untitled (Open)]
[ Open (Black brush strokes)]
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40⅜ x 28¼ in. (102.6 x 71.8 cm)
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40½ x 28¼ in. (102.9 x 71.8 cm)
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40⅜ x 28⅜ in. (102.6 x 72.1 cm)
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40¼ x 28⅜ in. (102.2 x 72.1 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Recto, upper left: 73
Recto, upper left: 73
Recto, upper left: 73
Recto, upper left: 73
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3713
Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Vogel
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3701
Artist’s Studio Number d73-639
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
566
Provenance Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Vogel, 1973
p ain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
w441
w442
w443
w444
w441
w442
w443
w444
[ Untitled (Open)]
[ Untitled (Open)]
[ Untitled (Open)]
[ Untitled (Open)]
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40¼ x 28¼ in. (102.2 x 71.8 cm)
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40¼ x 28¼ in. (102.2 x 71.8 cm)
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40½ x 28¼ in. (102.9 x 71.8 cm)
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40¼ x 28¼ in. (102.2 x 71.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Recto, upper left: 73
Recto, upper left: 73
Recto, upper left: 73
Recto, upper left: 73
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3711
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3706
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3702
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3709
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
567
w445
w446
w447
w445
w446
w447
w448
[ Untitled (Open)]
[ Untitled (Open)]
[ Untitled (Open)]
[ Untitled (Open)]
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40⅜ x 28 in. (102.6 x 71.1 cm)
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40¼ x 28¼ in. (102.2 x 71.8 cm)
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40½ x 28¼ in. (102.9 x 71.8 cm)
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40½ x 28¼ in. (102.9 x 71.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Recto, upper left: 73
Recto, upper left: 73
Recto, upper left: 73
Recto, upper left: 73
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3705
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3710
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3712
Artist’s Studio Number d73-3703
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 27, color illus. p. 11.
568
p ain tin gs on paper a n d paperbo a rd
w448
w449
w450
w449
w450
w451
Bodensee
Untitled
Blue Wave
1973 Acrylic and screen print on paper 40¼ x 28¼ in. (102.2 x 71.8 cm)
1973 Acrylic and graphite on paper 31 x 22¾ in. (78.7 x 57.8 cm)
1973 Acrylic on paper 35 x 18 in. (88.9 x 45.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left [signed in screen]: [R.M]
Inscriptions Recto, lower right, incised and inscribed [partially painted over]: Motherwell \ 13 J[un] 73
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R. Motherwell 73
Artist’s Studio Number p73-3671
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collector, Dublin
Provenance Private collection, 1978; private collection
Recto, upper left: 73 Verso: #p73-2375 “badensee” Artist’s Studio Number p73-2375 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collector, Dublin, 2008
w451
Artist’s Studio Number p73-1275
Comments The title of this work refers to the Bodensee, known also as Lake Constance, which is bordered by Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. That word is misspelled in the inscription on the verso.
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
569
w452
w452
The Iron Crown 1973 Acrylic and charcoal on cardboard 25¾ x 29¼ in. (65.4 x 74.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 73 Recto, upper right [painted over]: [RM \ [illegible] July 73] Artist’s Studio Number p63-637-bi52; p73-637 Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Museum purchase and gift of the artist Provenance Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1985
570
Solo Exhibitions Fort Worth Art Museum, September 1985, cat. no. 2, color frontispiece, color illus. p. 9. Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 12, color illus. p. 51. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1994. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 2004. Group Exhibitions Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Tex., 1986, cat. no. 4, illus. p. 42.
p ain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
References Fort Worth Art Museum Calendar 1985b, p. 2; Kutner 1985b, sec. A, p. 31, color illus. sec. A, p. 29; Sewell 1985, p. 21; Tyson 1992, illus. sec. D, p. 1; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Calendar 1993, color illus. p. 20; Caws 2003, color illus. p. 145 (ill. 95, erroneously as The Iron Crown [Greenwich]). Comments The title of this work is taken from a passage in James Joyce’s Ulysses, in which a procession is described that includes “the high constable carrying the sword of state, saint Stephen’s iron crown, the chalice and bible.” This passage was underlined by Motherwell in his copy of the 1968 Bodley Head edition (p. 603). See also Stephen’s Iron Crown (p1030).
w453
w454
w455
w456
w453
w454
w455
w456
Je t’aime No. VI
Intrusion
Jet No. 1
Jet No. 2
1973 Acrylic and crayon on cardboard 24 x 29 in. (61 x 73.7 cm)
1973 Acrylic and crayon on cardboard 30⅛ x 36¼ in. (76.5 x 92.1 cm)
1973 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 22½ in. (77.5 x 57.2 cm)
1973 Acrylic on paper 30¾ x 22½ in. (78.1 x 57.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 73
Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM 73
Verso not seen [“signed, titled, and August 73 on the backing,” per Sotheby’s 1994]
Artist’s Studio Number p73-668
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 18 Nov 73
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 15 Nov 73
Artist’s Studio Number d73-672
Artist’s Studio Number d73-673
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Unknown owner, ca. 1978
Provenance Private collection, 1979; unknown owner
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1974; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 2, 1994, lot 196, illus. (not sold)]; private collection; private collection, 2000; Pascal de Sarthe Fine Art, 2000; private collection Comments This is the only numbered work from Motherwell’s Je t’aime series that is not painted on canvas. Regarding the Je t’aime series in general, see the Comments for Je t’aime No. II (p157).
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 References Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 135.
Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white photograph of this work taken around 1973 (studio inventory photo no. ph 38-9).
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
571
w457
w457
w458
Jet No. 3
Untitled (Samurai)
1973 Acrylic on paper 30¾ x 22½ in. (78.1 x 57.2 cm)
Alternative Title: {Untitled (Samurai Image)} 1973 Acrylic on paper 30⅜ x 22⅜ in. (77.2 x 56.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 14 Nov 73
w458
Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 113, as Untitled (Samurai Image). Annandale Galleries, Sydney, Australia, 2005, as Untitled (Samurai Image). References Stadel 2004, illus.; Via Rheinland 2004–5, illus. p. 25; S. 2005, illus.
w459
w459
[ Untitled (Samurai)] Alternative Title: {Untitled (Samurai No. 2)} 1973 Acrylic on paper 35½ x 18¼ in. (90.2 x 46.4 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number c73-674
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 17 Nov 73
Present Owner Unknown
Artist’s Studio Number p73-2991
Provenance Private collection, 1979; unknown owner
Present Owner Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Virginia Herrick Deknatel Purchase Fund
References Catoir 1980, p. 284, illus. p. 285 (fig. 9).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Charles Young, 2005; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2005
Solo Exhibitions Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 111, as Untitled (Samurai No. 2).
Solo Exhibitions Galería Joan Prats, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland, 1991, cat. no. 2 (sec. “Works on Paper”), color illus. n.p.
Group Exhibitions Galerie Contemporaine du Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nice, France, 2005, color illus. p. 49, as Untitled (Samurai #2).
Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2003, cat. no. 6, as Untitled (Samurai Image). 572
pain tin gs on paper a n d paperbo a rd
Comments Motherwell added the Samurai series subtitle to this and related works sometime after his first public use of the Samurai title at his 1976 Düsseldorf retrospective. For more on the Samurai series, see the Comments for Samurai No. 1 (p775).
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM 73 \ 2 Artist’s Studio Number d73-508 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w460
w461
Comments The numbers in the artist’s hand at the lower left corner of this work and of w460–w462 suggest that Motherwell at one time planned to include them in a numbered series.
Group Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, February 1999, cat. no. 17.
w460
[ Untitled (Samurai)] 1973 Acrylic on paper 35½ x 18¼ in. (90.2 x 46.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell 73 Recto, lower left: 4 Artist’s Studio Number d73-509 Present Owner Private collection. Courtesy of Locks Gallery, Philadelphia Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 15.
References Muchnic 1998, p. 178.
w461
Untitled 1973 Acrylic on paper 35¼ x 18½ in. (89.5 x 47 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: 3 Recto, lower right: RM 73 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 10, 2005, lot 224, illus.]; Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2005; private collection, 2007 Group Exhibitions Minnesota Museum of Art, Saint Paul, 1977 (traveling), cat. no. 62, illus. p. 23.
w462
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w462
w463
Black Guardian
Black Guardian
Alternative Title: {Black Samurai } 1973 Acrylic on paper 35½ x 18¼ in. (90.2 x 46.4 cm)
Alternative Title: {Black Samurai } 1973 Acrylic on paper 35 x 18 in. (88.9 x 45.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R Motherwell 73 \ 5
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 73
Artist’s Studio Number p73-1276
Artist’s Studio Number p73-1277
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2001; private collection, ca. 2001
Solo Exhibitions Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 108, as Black Samurai.
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 20, as Black Samurai.
Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2005. Group Exhibitions Brooklyn Museum, November 1980, cat. no. 86.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
573
w464
w465
w466
w464
w465
w466
w467
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
1974 Acrylic on paper 35½ x 23¾ in. (90.2 x 60.3 cm)
1974 Acrylic on paper 31 x 22½ in. (78.7 x 57.2 cm)
{ Untitled (Open in White on Ochre)}
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 20 March 74
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 74
Artist’s Studio Number p74-3670
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments The composition of this work is related to Waves I (p791), a painting begun in 1974, and to a number of prints done in 1974 (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 154, 156–58).
574
Provenance Unknown owner; Solomon & Company Fine Art, Inc.; Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, 1988; Michael Dunev Gallery, San Francisco, 1988; private collection, ca. 1989 Comments This work is related in composition and color to the contemporaneous Persian series (p789, p792, p795, and p797) and to The Wild Duck (p794).
pain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
1974 Acrylic and charcoal on cardboard 24 x 36 in. (61 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 2 Sept 74 Artist’s Studio Number d74-667 Present Owner Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchased with funds from an anonymous donor, with support from the Dedalus Foundation, 1998 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1998
1974 Acrylic on paper 11 x 11 in. (27.9 x 27.9 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R Motherwell \ 74 for Ken Tyler Present Owner Unknown Provenance Kenneth E. Tyler, 1974; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 18, 2000, lot 379, illus.]; unknown owner, 2000 Comments The dedication at the lower left of this picture is to Motherwell’s friend and collaborator, the printmaker Kenneth Tyler. This work was used as a model for a 1982 print published by Tyler Graphics Ltd., Alberti Elegy (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 288).
w467
w468
Elegy to the Spanish Republic 1975 Acrylic and graphite on paper 10 x 14½ in. (25.4 x 36.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: R. Motherwell
Comments This small painting on paper is based on At Five in the Afternoon of 1948–49 (w10), the composition of which Motherwell had revisited in 1971 in a large-scale version on canvas (see the Comments for p647).
w468
w469
w469
Gesture Paper Painting No. 1 1975 Acrylic on paper 26½ x 20½ in. (67.3 x 52.1 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 75 \ 8
Artist’s Studio Number d65/75-511
Present Owner Collection of Steve and Carla Schwartz
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Gertrude Kasle, 1975; [Christie’s, New York, November 19, 1992, lot 286, illus.]; Steve and Carla Schwartz, 1992
Provenance Private collection, 1981 Solo Exhibitions Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1975, cat. no. 40, as Elegía a la República Española (estudio) (Elegy to the Spanish Republic [study]). Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 75, illus. n.p.; illus. n.p. (in exhibition). References Kramer 1977a, color illus. p. 17 (in studio).
Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1975, cat. no. 4. References Miro 1975, illus. sec. D, p. 4 (upside down).
of this series was inconsistent—there are several gaps between numbers, and the numbers 10 and 12 were assigned twice. Many of the works include small numerical markings in pencil on the recto that do not correspond with their given series number as documented in Motherwell’s studio records. Those numbers may originally have been intended to indicate the order in which the works in the series were completed; but that order was not retained when the artist assigned official titles to the works in the series. Several similar gestural paintings on paper done in 1975 also bear penciled numbers but were not given titles or numbers in the Gesture Paper Painting series (see w484–w502).
Comments In 1975 Motherwell did a number of small works on sheets of unevenly shaped paper handmade by Tyler Graphics Ltd. Some of these works were grouped together as the Gesture Paper Painting series. The numbering p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
575
w470
w470
w471
w472
w473
Gesture Paper Painting No. 2
Gesture Paper Painting No. 3
Gesture Paper Painting No. 6
Gesture Paper Painting No. 7
1975 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 18¾ x 24½ in. (47.6 x 62.2 cm), irreg.
1975 Acrylic on paper 20 x 22½ in. (50.8 x 57.2 cm), irreg.
1975 Acrylic on paper 26 x 20½ in. (66 x 52.1 cm), irreg.
1975 Acrylic on paper 18 x 24 in. (45.7 x 61 cm), irreg.
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 75
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: 10 Motherwell 75
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: 3
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell 75
Present Owner Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Gift of William H. G. FitzGerald, Desmond FitzGerald, and B. Francis Saul II
Artist’s Studio Number d75-314
Recto, lower right: Motherwell 75
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978 Group Exhibitions Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1986 (circulating), cat. no. 69, illus. p. 110.
576
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1975, cat. no. 2.
p ain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
Artist’s Studio Number d75-313 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Gertrude Kasle Gallery, Detroit, 1975, cat. no. 3. References Miro 1975, illus. sec. D, p. 4 (upside down).
Provenance Private collection Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1976. Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white photograph taken of this work in September 1975 (Sloman photo no. 257).
w471
w473
w472
w475
w474
w476
References Lorber 1976, illus. p. 21.
w474
w475
w476
Gesture Paper Painting No. 9
Gesture Paper Painting No. 10
Gesture Paper Painting No. 10
1975 Acrylic on paper 22½ x 20 in. (57.2 x 50.8 cm), irreg.
1975 Acrylic on paper 26 x 21 in. (66 x 53.3 cm), irreg.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 75
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 75 \ 6
Artist’s Studio Number d75-1969
Present Owner Collection of Zane Bennett Contemporary Art
1975 Acrylic on paper 26 x 20½ in. (66 x 52.1 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 75 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1976; private collection; unknown owner, 1981
Present Owner Private collection
Solo Exhibitions B. R. Kornblatt Gallery, Baltimore, 1976.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2009
References Johnson 1976, sec. B, p. 1.
Solo Exhibitions Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, May 2005, cat. no. 23.
Comments Our reproduction comes from an early Polaroid photograph of this work.
Group Exhibitions Newcomb College, Tulane University, New Orleans, 1976 (traveling), cat. no. 23. Comments Motherwell assigned the number 10 to two works in the Gesture Paper Painting series (see w476).
Comments Motherwell assigned the number 10 to two works in the Gesture Paper Painting series (see w475).
Provenance Rosa Esman Gallery, New York, 1976; private collection, New York; [Rago Arts and Auction Center, Lambertville, Pa., October 29, 2005, lot 655, illus.]; private collection, 2005; Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2005; private collection, New York; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 16, 2007, lot 319, illus.]; Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, 2007 Group Exhibitions Rosa Esman Gallery, New York, 1975. Rosa Esman Gallery, New York, 1976.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
577
w477
w479
w478
w477
Gesture Paper Painting No. 11 1975 Acrylic on paper 18 x 25 in. (45.7 x 63.5 cm), irreg.
w480
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance The artist
w481
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments Motherwell also assigned the number 12 to another work in the Gesture Paper Painting series (see w478). We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
1975 Acrylic on paper 22 x 20 in. (55.9 x 50.8 cm), irreg.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell 75
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1976, cat. no. 5.
Artist’s Studio Number d75-2431
References Ratcliff 1976, p. 75.
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Comments Motherwell also assigned the number 12 to another work in the Gesture Paper Painting series (see w479).
w480
w479
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: [illegible in available image]
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
w478
Gesture Paper Painting No. 12 1975 Acrylic on paper 22 x 20 in. (55.9 x 50.8 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell 75 Artist’s Studio Number d75-319
578
w481
Gesture Paper Painting No. 12 1975 Acrylic on paper 20 x 22 in. (50.8 x 55.9 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell 75 Artist’s Studio Number p75-2430 Present Owner Unknown
pain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
Gesture Paper Painting No. 15
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell 75 Recto, lower left: 9
Gesture Paper Painting No. 13 1975 Acrylic on paper 20 x 22 in. (50.8 x 55.9 cm), irreg.
Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1976; unknown owner Comments Our reproduction comes from an early Polaroid photograph of this work.
Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, ca. 1976; Waddington Galleries, London, 1977; private collection, 1977; [Christie’s, New York, November 19, 1981, lot 233, illus.]; unknown owner, 1981 Comments Our reproduction comes from a blackand-white photograph of this work taken in September 1975 (Sloman photo no. 272).
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w484
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w485
w482
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w484
w485
Gesture Paper Painting No. 21
Gesture Paper Painting No. 22
Open Paper Painting No. 1
Drawing C
1975 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 18¼ x 24¼ in. (46.4 x 61.6 cm), irreg.
Alternative Title: {Untitled (Line Open)} 1975 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 18 x 24 in. (45.7 x 61 cm), irreg.
1975 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 18 x 24 in. (45.7 x 61 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 75 Artist’s Studio Number d75-966 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1976.
1975 Acrylic on paper 18 x 24 in. (45.7 x 61 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell 75 Artist’s Studio Number d75-310 Present Owner Sprengel Museum, Hannover Provenance Dr. Bernhard Sprengel, 1977; Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany, 1979 References Arnason 1977b, color illus. n.p. (pl. 287); Arnason 1982, pp. 93–94, illus. p. 93 (pl. 104); Clarke 1988, p. 205, illus. n.p. (pl. 97).
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 75 Artist’s Studio Number d75-1971 Present Owner The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection, gift Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Judith Rothschild Foundation, 2003; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2008
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell 75 Artist’s Studio Number d75-300 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, June 2009. References Mattison et al. 2009, color illus. p. 162, as Untitled (Line Open). Comments This work is one of two 1975 paintings on paper that Motherwell titled Drawing C (see w486).
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
579
w486
w488
w487
w489
w486
w487
w488
w489
Drawing C
[ Untitled (White Open)]
Untitled
Rough Open
1975 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 18 x 24½ in. (45.7 x 62.2 cm), irreg.
1975 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 17⅞ x 24⅜ in. (45.4 x 61.9 cm), irreg.
1975 Acrylic on paper 18⅛ x 24½ in. (46 x 62.2 cm), irreg.
1975 Acrylic on paper 20½ x 22½ in. (52.1 x 57.2 cm), irreg.
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 75
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 75
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 75
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell 75
Artist’s Studio Number d75-301
Artist’s Studio Number d75-318
Artist’s Studio Number d75-3117; p75-3680
Artist’s Studio Number d75-316
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Private collection, 1978; George P. Kroh, Kansas City, Mo.; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 14, 1991, lot 313, illus.]; unknown owner, 1991
Comments This work is one of two 1975 paintings on paper that Motherwell titled Drawing C (see w485).
Solo Exhibitions Douglas Drake Gallery, Kansas City, Mo., 1978. References Melcher 1978, p. 3, illus. p. 3.
580
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w491
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w493
[ Untitled (Open)]
[ Untitled (Black and White Strokes)]
[ Untitled (Black and White Strokes)]
Two Brush Strokes
1975 Acrylic on paper 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm), irreg.
1975 Acrylic on paper 24¾ x 18 in. (62.9 x 45.7 cm), irreg.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell 75
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 75
Artist’s Studio Number d75-315
Artist’s Studio Number d75-321
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
1975 Acrylic on paper 24¼ x 17⅞ in. (61.6 x 45.4 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell 75 Artist’s Studio Number d75-309 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments The forms in this painting resemble those in several works: a 1974 print, Dutch Linen Suite: Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 155); A la pintura No. 8 (p814); and Hello! (p885).
1975 Acrylic on paper 22¼ x 19½ in. (56.5 x 49.5 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 75 \ 11 Artist’s Studio Number d75-307; d75-307b Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2009
Solo Exhibitions William Shearburn Gallery, Saint Louis, 2006, cat. no. 9, as Untitled (Black,White Strokes). Bendheim Gallery, Greenwich, Conn., 2008.
Comments Motherwell numbered this work in pencil on the recto in the same way that he numbered the works in his contemporaneous Gesture Paper Painting series, but he did not make this work part of that series (see the Comments for w469).
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581
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w494
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w496
w497
Black Gesture
Black Gesture
Black Gesture
Black Gesture
1975 Acrylic on paper 26 x 20½ in. (66 x 52.1 cm), irreg.
1975 Acrylic on paper 26 x 20½ in. (66 x 52.1 cm), irreg.
1975 Acrylic on paper 22½ x 20 in. (57.2 x 50.8 cm), irreg.
1975 Acrylic on paper 20 x 22¼ in. (50.8 x 56.5 cm), irreg.
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 75 \ 5
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell 75
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell 75
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell 75
Artist’s Studio Number d75-305
Artist’s Studio Number d75-302
Artist’s Studio Number d75-303
Artist’s Studio Number d75-306
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Private collection, 1978; unknown owner
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2009
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
references Towle 1977, cover color illus. Comments Motherwell numbered this work in pencil on the recto in the same way that he numbered the works in his contemporaneous Gesture Paper Painting series, but he did not make this work part of that series (see the Comments for w469).
582
Comments Our reproduction comes from an early color slide of this work.
p ain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
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w500
w499
w498
Black Gesture 1975 Acrylic on paper 20 x 22¼ in. (50.8 x 56.5 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell 75
Present Owner Private collection, Duluth, Minn. Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Duluth, Minn., 2007
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Comments Our reproduction is from a black-andwhite photograph of this work taken in September 1975 (Sloman photo no. 269). We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
w500
Robischon Gallery, Denver, 2001, cat. no. 6. Group Exhibitions Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2007. References Chandler 2001b, illus.
[ Untitled (Black Shape)]
w501
[ Untitled (Black Shape)]
Present Owner Private collection
1975 Acrylic on paper 20½ x 26 in. (52.1 x 66 cm), irreg.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 1998
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 29 Aug 75
w499
Artist’s Studio Number d75-311
Artist’s Studio Number d75-317
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Private collection, England
Artist’s Studio Number d75-312
Provenance The artist
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004; private collection, England, 2007
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number d75-304
Hanging Gesture 1975 Acrylic on paper 20 x 22½ in. (50.8 x 57.2 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell 75 Artist’s Studio Number d75-308; d75-308b
w502
1975 Acrylic on paper 20 x 22½ in. (50.8 x 57.2 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 75
[ Untitled (Black Shape)] 1975 Acrylic on paper 26 x 20½ in. (66 x 52.1 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, lower left: 1 Recto, lower right: Motherwell/75
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 15. p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
583
w503
w503
Untitled 1976 Acrylic and graphite on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Comments This work is similar in color and composition to three paintings from Motherwell’s A la pintura series done in the same year (see p896–p898).
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell/8 June 76 Artist’s Studio Number d76-1326 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 25, color illus. p. 15. Group Exhibitions Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 1999, cat. no. 4.
584
p ain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
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w506
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w505
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w507
Open Study on Sienna
Elegy Study
[ Mardi Gras]
Red Wall Sketch
1976 Acrylic and graphite on paper 30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm)
1976 Oil, ink, crayon, and graphite on paper 29½ x 39½ in. (74.9 x 100.3 cm)
1976 Acrylic and graphite on paper 17½ x 24⅝ in. (44.5 x 62.5 cm)
1976 Acrylic and crayon on paper 18 x 24½ in. (45.7 x 62.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 76
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 12 June 76
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: 15 June \ Motherwell 76
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell/ \ 15 June 76
Artist’s Studio Number d76-1048
Artist’s Studio Number p76-2250
Artist’s Studio Number p76-1040
Present Owner Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchased with funds from an anonymous donor, with support from the Dedalus Foundation, 1998
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Private collection, 1978
Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 11 June 76 Artist’s Studio Number d76-1046 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, 1978; unknown owner Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1978. Group Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1984, cat. no. 15, color illus. n.p.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1978, cat. no. 30, illus. p. 21.
Comments This work is similar in color and composition to three paintings from Motherwell’s A la pintura series done in the same year (see p896–p898).
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas, Venezuela, 1979, cat. no. 9.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
585
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[ Green Open with Phoenician Letters]
Untitled
Elegy Drawing No. 28
Untitled
1976 Acrylic and ink on paper 9 x 12 in. (22.9 x 30.5 cm)
1976 Acrylic and graphite on paper 8¾ x 11¾ in. (22.2 x 29.8 cm)
Acrylic and graphite on paper 5⅜ x 8¾ in. (13.7 x 22.2 cm), irreg.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Aug 10
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 76
Recto, upper right: RM 76
Artist’s Studio Number d76-1060
1976 Acrylic, ink, and graphite on paper 9 x 12 in. (22.9 x 30.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 10 Aug 76 Artist’s Studio Number d76-2442 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments The composition of this work probably served as a model for the large-scale 1977 painting Phoenician Red Studio, in which Motherwell related similar charcoal forms to letters from the Phoenician alphabet (see the Comments for p924).
586
Artist’s Studio Number d76-1317 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, February 1989.
p ain tin gs on paper a n d paperbo a rd
Present Owner Unknown Provenance Unknown owner, ca. 1981; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, June 27, 1990, lot 16, illus.]; unknown owner, 1990 Solo Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., August 1978, cat. no. 13, as Untitled. Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 93, illus. n.p. (in exhibition), as Untitled. Comments This work was exhibited as Untitled in 1978 and 1979. Motherwell assigned its present title around 1981.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 18 Aug 76 Present Owner Collection of Marley Rabstenek and Richard Austin Provenance Burt Britton, 1976; [Bloomsbury Auctions, New York, September 24, 2009, lot 25, illus.]; Marley Rabstenek and Richard Austin, 2009 Comments This work was done at the request of Burt Britton of the Strand Book Store in New York, who asked many writers and artists for self-portrait drawings, either to be done on the spot or sent to him later. Motherwell offered this work, a fragment of what had once been a larger sheet of rectangular paper, as a rare instance of self-portraiture.
w512
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w513
Untitled
Totemic Figure
1976 Acrylic and graphite on paper 18½ x 26 in. (47 x 66 cm)
Alternative Title: {Totemic Figure (Arrow)} 1976 Acrylic and graphite on paper 14 x 10 in. (35.6 x 25.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM Recto, lower right: Motherwell 76 Artist’s Studio Number p76-2310 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 21, color illus. n.p. Group Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, February 1999, cat. no. 19. References McKenna 1997, illus. p. 66.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 76 Artist’s Studio Number d76-1041
w513
Comments This work is related to Totemic Figure (p212), Emblematic Presence (p904), and Totem No. 2 (p906), as well as to Totemic Emblem (w514) and Emblematic Presence III (w515).
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1978. Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 20, as Totemic Figure (Arrow). Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, December 2005 (traveling), cat. no. 11, as Totemic Figure (Arrow).
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
587
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w514
Totemic Emblem 1976 Acrylic and graphite on paperboard 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Comments This painting was done on a backing board previously used for a 1967 work. The recto signature with its 1967 date refers to the earlier composition.
Inscriptions Recto, lower center: R Motherwell 1967 \ acrylic on canvas Artist’s Studio Number p67-1232 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1977. Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. VIII.1, illus. p. 150 (pl. 79).
588
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Emblematic Presence III Alternative Title: Figaro in the Cemetery 1976 Oil and acrylic on paperboard 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 6 Aug 76 Verso (on top horizontal strainer): “emblematic presence iii” RM Artist’s Studio Number p76-1324; p76-2229 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 89 (catalogue), illus. p. 48 (in exhibition), as Figaro in the Cemetery.
Comments Motherwell painted a work titled Emblematic Presence (p904) in 1976, but there is no work titled Emblematic Presence II. The early title, Figaro in the Cemetery, may be a reference to an 1836 essay by the Spanish writer Mariano José de Larra (1809–1837) entitled “El Dia de Difuntos de 1836: Figaro en el cemeterio.”
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Elegy Study A 1977 Oil on paper 14¼ x 22¼ in. (36.2 x 56.5 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM 77
Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1999, cat. no. 59. Comments The composition of this work (and also of w517–w520) recalls that of a 1960 painting on paper, The Figure 4 on an Elegy (w104).
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Washington University Gallery of Art, Saint Louis, 1995, cat. no. 20, cover illus.
Elegy Study B 1977 Oil on paper 23 x 23 in. (58.4 x 58.4 cm)
References Washington University Gallery of Art Bulletin 1995, pp. 2, 3, illus. p. 2.
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 77
Artist’s Studio Number p77-1163
Artist’s Studio Number d77-1314
Present Owner Private collection, Lausanne
Present Owner Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in Saint Louis. University purchase, Charles H. Yalem Art Fund, and gift of the Dedalus Foundation, 1995
Provenance Knoedler & Company, 1985; private collection, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1988 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1978, cat. no. 28, illus. p. 5, illus. p. 21. Knoedler Zürich, 1984. Group Exhibitions Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, N.Y., 1979, cat. no. 35, illus. n.p. (sideways).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University, Saint Louis, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1978, cat. no. 29, illus. p. 21.
Turske & Turske, Zurich, 1987.
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589
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Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño, Mexico City, 2008, color illus. p. 57.
w519
1977 Oil on paperboard 14¼ x 22¼ in. (36.2 x 56.5 cm)
Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., 2009, cat. no. 38.
1977 Oil on paper 23 x 24½ in. (58.4 x 62.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: 77 \ RM
Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1993.
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 77
Elegy Study C
Artist’s Studio Number p77-1162
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 2005.
Present Owner Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Gift of Margaret and Angus Wurtele and the Dedalus Foundation, 1995 Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1978, cat. no. 24, illus. p. 15 (in exhibition), illus. p. 21. Knoedler & Company, New York, 1994, cat. no. 14. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1996, cat. no. 27.
590
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Spanish Elegy Study D
Artist’s Studio Number p77-1944 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Unknown owner, 1979 References Fundació Antoni Tàpies exh. cat. 1996, illus. frontispiece (in studio).
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Elegy Study
Elegy Sketch with Amber
1977 Oil on paper 22 x 29½ in. (55.9 x 74.9 cm)
1977 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 77
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 77
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number p77-1334
Provenance Private collection; private collection; Ronnie Meyerson, Inc., 1988; private collection, 1988
Present Owner Private collection
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Provenance Private collection, 1978 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1978, cat. no. 26, illus. p. 10, illus. p. 21.
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
591
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Untitled
[ Untitled (Samurai)]
Ominous Black
The Blue Wall
1977 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm)
1977 Acrylic on paper 30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
1977 Acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1977 Acrylic and graphite on paper 11 x 13¾ in. (27.9 x 34.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 77
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 77
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM \ 77
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 77
Artist’s Studio Number d77-1045; d77-3584; d77-3667
Artist’s Studio Number p77-1335
Artist’s Studio Number d77-1323; d77-3683; p77-1323
Artist’s Studio Number p77-1182
Present Owner Collection of Vincent Burgos Jr.
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection, Minneapolis
Present Owner Emily Mason and Wolf Kahn
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Vincent Burgos Jr., 2000
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Minneapolis, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Emily Mason and Wolf Kahn, 1996
Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1978.
Solo Exhibitions William Ehrlich Gallery, New York, June 1979.
Comments Motherwell used this work as the basis for a 1990 etching titled España (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 496).
Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., July 1983. Pace Wildenstein Gallery, New York, 1996 (traveling).
592
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Blue Form with Wedge
Untitled
Alternative Title: {Blue Figure with Wedge} 1977 Acrylic and graphite on paper 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm)
Alternative Title: {Untitled (Blue and Yellow Elegy Drawing)} 1977 Acrylic and graphite on Mylar 8½ x 26½ in. (21.6 x 67.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ Dec 77
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Artist’s Studio Number d77-3599 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 26, as Blue Figure with Wedge. Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2006, cat. no. 11, color illus. p. 23, as Blue Figure with Wedge. Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2008, cat. no. 9, color illus. p. 23, as Blue Figure with Wedge.
Artist’s Studio Number p77-1038; d80-3551
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An undated Polaroid photograph shows an early version of this work without the yellow paint, signed and dated “77” in the lower right corner. It is not known whether the yellow paint was added soon after that Polaroid photograph was taken or at a later date. This work was later used as the basis for the 1991 lithograph Mediterranean Light (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 524).
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Untitled (Study for The Hollow Men) Alternative Title: Untitled 1977 Acrylic and graphite on Mylar 13⅝ x 23 in. (34.6 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM 77 Artist’s Studio Number d77-1062
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Lori Sklar Art Consulting, 1991; private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Robert Henry Adams Fine Art, 2001; [Wright, Chicago, November 19, 2002, lot 202, illus. (not sold)]; [Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, Chicago, September 21, 2004, lot 1690, illus.]; unknown owner, 2004
Comments This work was done as a study for Reconciliation Elegy (p956), a large-scale painting commissioned by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Although the mural was painted in black and white, Motherwell used a good deal of color in his early studies for it: see Maquette for the National Gallery Mural (c616).
Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 98, illus. n.p. (in exhibition), as Untitled.
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593
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Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 28. Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., August 1978, cat. no. 13, as Untitled. Comments In 1987 Motherwell designated this previously untitled 1977 work as a study for his Hollow Men series, which was begun in 1983, and which was indeed inspired by this work and several other automatist studies done in 1977 for Reconciliation Elegy (p956).
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, 1998 (traveling), illus. p. 173.
w530
1977 Acrylic and ink on Mylar 13¾ x 23¼ in. (34.9 x 59.1 cm)
Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, Japan, 2003 (traveling), cat. no. 71, color illus. p. 77.
1977 Acrylic and graphite on paper 11¾ x 17½ in. (29.8 x 44.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 77
References Jaffe and Korshak 1983, p. 130, illus. p. 131 (pl. 59); Wolfe 1984, illus. p. 74 (pl. 67).
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM 7 Aug 77
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Elegy Drawing No. 17
Artist’s Studio Number p77-1053 Present Owner Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection. Purchase, Tabriz Fund and Museum Purchase Plan of the NEA, 1978.013.001 Provenance Arkansas Arts Center Foundation, Little Rock, 1978 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1978. Group Exhibitions Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, 1984 (circulating), cat. no. 67, illus. p. 74. Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, 1988, color illus. p. 85.
594
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p ain tin gs on p aper a n d paperbo a rd
Comments This work was done as a study for Reconciliation Elegy (p956). Although Motherwell designated this work as Elegy Drawing No. 17, there are only a few numbered works with the title Elegy Drawing; since they are not paintings, they are not included in this publication.
[ Untitled (Elegy)]
Artist’s Studio Number d77-1333 Present Owner Collection of Donald T. Meder, Los Angeles Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Donald T. Meder, Los Angeles, 2006 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 11, color illus. p. 6. Comments Motherwell did this painting as a study for the large Reconciliation Elegy (p956).
w531
w532
w531
w532
Mural Study
Mural Study
1978 Oil on paperboard 13½ x 40 in. (34.3 x 101.6 cm)
1978 Oil and graphite on paperboard 13½ x 40 in. (34.3 x 101.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 78
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ April 78
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 78
Artist’s Studio Number p78-2490
Verso: Robert Motherwell \ April 1978
Artist’s Studio Number d78-2172
Present Owner Dina and Jerry Wind Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Dina and Jerry Wind, 2002 Solo Exhibitions Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2002, as Untitled (Elegy Study). References Arnason 1982, illus. p. 219 (pl. 305). Comments Motherwell painted this work as a study for the large Reconciliation Elegy (p956). It was used as a model for the 1983 lithograph Black with No Way Out (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 313).
Artist’s Studio Number p78-2489
It was used as the model for a 1981 etching and aquatint, The Black Wall (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 275) and for a 1983 lithograph, Elegy Black Black (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 309).
w533
Elegy Study 1978 Acrylic and ink on paper 13⅞ x 16¾ in. (35.2 x 42.5 cm)
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. James R. Patton Jr.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2002
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mr. and Mrs. James R. Patton Jr., 2004
References Arnason 1982, illus. p. 219 (pl. 306).
Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 111, illus. n.p. (in exhibition), as Untitled.
Comments This work is related to the large Reconciliation Elegy (p956). Though the finished mural was installed in the National Gallery of Art in March 1978, this smaller work was completed the following month and dated “April 1978” on both the recto and the verso.
Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., August 1978, cat. no. 10. Knoedler & Company, New York, 2004, cat. no. 5.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
595
w533
Comments This work was used as the model for two prints that Motherwell made in 1991 to help raise funds for the Paris Review (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 518–19).
w534
Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 150 Ca. 1978 Acrylic and lithograph on paper 18 x 31 in. (45.7 x 78.7 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell Artist’s Studio Number p78-2182 Present Owner Universidad de Salamanca. Colegio Mayor Fonseca Provenance Universidad de Salamanca, Spain, 1978 Group Exhibitions Palacio de la Lonja, Sala Luzán, Caja de Ahorros de la Inmaculada, and Palacio de Montemuzo, Zaragoza, Spain, 1996, cat. no. 95, color illus. n.p., as Elegía a la República Española (Elegy to the Spanish Republic). Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Esteban Vicente, Segovia, Spain, 2003, color illus. p. 105, as Elegía a la
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República española (Elegy to the Spanish Republic). Comments Motherwell painted this work in black and white over an impression of his 1975 lithograph Spanish Elegy I (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 174), which was based on his 1975 drawing Elegy Sketch (Collection of Mason H. Drake). Motherwell did a number of paintings over Elegy lithographs in 1978 (see also w535–w540). These works have previously been dated to 1975, the year the print impression was created, but apparently the acrylic paint was added to most of the lithographic impressions around 1978 (as noted by Motherwell when he gave this work to the University of Salamanca). Motherwell presented this work to the University of Salamanca, in Spain, at the same time that he presented a closely related work, Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 151 (w535), to the University of Coimbra, in Portugal, on the occasion of the “Conference on Communications and Political Culture:
The Iberian Peninsula in Transition” held at Columbia University, New York, on October 23–25, 1978. (This conference was held just weeks before the ratification of the new Spanish constitution and two years after the election of a democratic government in Portugal, its first since the coup that brought the dictator António de Oliveira Salazar to power in 1932.) Motherwell was unable to attend the ceremonies because of an illness in his family, but he sent a statement to be read on his behalf, explaining his gifts of these two works to universities: “I wanted to give them to universities because the search for the truth, and not political position, is what makes men ultimately free—internally and externally” (statement dated October 1978; see “Writings by the Artist,” in the Bibliography).
w534
w536
w535
w535 (no image)
w536
Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 151
Untitled
Ca. 1978 Acrylic and lithograph on paper 22½ x 32½ in. (57.2 x 82.6 cm), irreg.
Ca. 1978 Acrylic and lithograph on paper 17½ x 30½ in. (44.5 x 77.5 cm), irreg.
Inscriptions Unknown
Inscriptions Recto, lower right [partially painted over]: Motherwell [archive]
Artist’s Studio Number g78-2183
Artist’s Studio Number d89-3685
Present Owner University of Coimbra, Portugal
Present Owner Catherine and Samuel Epstein
Provenance University of Coimbra, Portugal, 1978
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, 2003; Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2006; Catherine and Samuel Epstein, 2006
Comments Motherwell painted this work in black and white over an impression of his 1975 lithograph Spanish Elegy II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 175). See the Comments for w534. The work was given to the University of Coimbra but its present whereabouts are unknown and we have no image of it.
Comments Motherwell painted this work in black and white over an impression of his 1975 lithograph Spanish Elegy I (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 174). The signature on the lower right is from the original impression of the print, and the word archive, also
w537
inscribed in the print, is obscured by the black paint. This painting was later scaled up and became the basis for a 39¼ x 61–inch lithograph done in 1989, Elegy Study I (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 488).
w537
Untitled Ca. 1978 Acrylic and lithograph on paper 18 x 31 in. (45.7 x 78.7 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell a. p. V Artist’s Studio Number p75-2274 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments Motherwell painted this work in white over an impression of his 1975 lithograph Spanish Elegy I (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 174). See the Comments for w534.
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
597
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w538
w540
w538
w539
w540
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Ca. 1978 Acrylic and lithograph on paper 22 x 32 in. (55.9 x 81.3 cm), irreg.
Ca. 1978 Acrylic and lithograph on paper 22½ x 32½ in. (57.2 x 82.6 cm), irreg.
Ca. 1978 Acrylic and lithograph on paper 22½ x 32½ in. (57.2 x 82.6 cm), irreg.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell a. p. V
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell a. p. V
Artist’s Studio Number d79-3684
Artist’s Studio Number p75-2271
Artist’s Studio Number p75-2274
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance The artist
Provenance Dedalus Foundation
Comments Motherwell painted this work in black and white over an impression of his 1975 lithograph Spanish Elegy II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 175).
Comments Motherwell painted this work in black over an impression of his 1975 lithograph Spanish Elegy II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 175). This work is known only from an early Polaroid photograph of it. We do not know whether this work still exists in the form illustrated here.
Comments Motherwell painted this work in black over an impression of his 1975 lithograph Spanish Elegy II (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 175).
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w541
w541
The Black Sun II 1979 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 79 Artist’s Studio Number p79-2251 Present Owner Collection Bill and Anne Gregory, Annandale Galleries, Sydney Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Bill and Anne Gregory, Annandale Galleries, Sydney, Australia, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 113, illus. n.p.
Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1981, cat. no. 15. Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 30, color illus. p. 23. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 12. Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2003, cat. no. 3. Annandale Galleries, Sydney, Australia, 2005. Group Exhibitions Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern, Germany, 1997, color illus. p. 66.
composition The Black Sun (w101). In 1979 he produced a large number of gestural black paintings on paper that employed a similar effect, perhaps instigated and inspired in part by that earlier work. The majority of these works came to be known as the Drunk with Turpentine series (see the Comments for w542). In 1984 Motherwell created a print loosely modeled on The Black Sun II that he titled Blackened Sun (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 343).
References Tennant 1979, illus. p. 14. Comments The way the oil has bled into the paper surrounding the black paint in this work recalls Motherwell’s 1959
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599
w542
w542
Drunk with Turpentine No. 2 (Stephen’s Gate) Alternative Title: Drunk with Turpentine No. 2 1979 Oil and graphite on paper 28¾ x 22¾ in. (73 x 57.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell/1979 Artist’s Studio Number p79-2244 Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum Fort Worth. Museum purchase and gift of the artist Provenance Modern Art Museum Fort Worth, 1985 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 114, as Drunk with Turpentine No. 2. Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, 1983, as Drunk with Turpentine No. 2. Fort Worth Art Museum, September 1985, cat. no. 5, color illus. p. 17. Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 21, color illus. p. 85. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1993. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1994. References Fort Worth Art Museum Calendar 1985b, p. 2, illus. p. 5; Kutner 1985a, sec. C, p. 3, illus. sec. C, p. 1; Sewell 1985, p. 21, erroneously as Drunk with Turpentine No. 2 (Stephen’s Iron Gate); Thierolf 2002, p. 318, illus. p. 318 (fig. 2), color illus. p. 319. Comments In 1979 Motherwell produced a large number of gestural paintings on paper that would come to be known as the Drunk with Turpentine series. The majority of the works in this series were executed with black oil paint on paper, but the series gradually grew to include a number of works painted in acrylic and on canvas, panel, canvas board, and Mylar. The oil-on-paper paintings are all marked by a visible yellowish halo around the black paint, which is the result of the oil being absorbed by the paper over time.
The title of the series was derived from “Ebrio de trementina” (Drunk with Turpentine), the ninth poem in Pablo Neruda’s Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (1924). The numbering of the Drunk with Turpentine series is inconsistent, with many gaps between numbers and many works left unnumbered. Many works were signed and dated, but the series numbers do not correspond to the chronological sequence in which those works were done. Drunk with Turpentine No. 25 and Drunk with Turpentine (w560 and w588) were the first works from the series to be shown in public, when they were included in the artist’s March 1979 solo exhibition at the University of Connecticut in Storrs; both works, however, were still untitled at that time. Motherwell appears to have first assigned the Drunk with Turpentine titles and numbers to works in the series around the end of May 1979, when Drunk with Turpentine No. 16 (w553) and Drunk with Turpentine No. 24 (w559) were sent with their present titles to the Galerie Veith Turske, Cologne, for exhibition at the Basel Art Fair that June. The first numbered work in the Drunk with Turpentine series, Drunk with Turpentine No. 1, 24 x 20 inches, was consigned to Turske in October 1979, but its present whereabouts are unknown, and there is no known photographic record of it. We thus begin our sequence with Drunk with Turpentine No. 2 (Stephen’s Gate). The parenthetical portion of this work’s title was added at a later date, sometime after Motherwell based a larger-scale 1981 painting, Stephen’s Gate (p1040), on it. During the 1980s, Motherwell would use many of the works from the Drunk with Turpentine series as models for large-scale paintings on canvas. Motherwell later compared the process of painting the Drunk with Turpentine series to the making of the Lyric Suite drawings in 1965: “Perhaps I feel happiest when, during the creative process, I simply let work ‘pour out,’ so to speak, without critical intervention or editing. . . . Fourteen years later, in a larger format and with oil paint mixed with turpentine to, roughly, the consistency of ink, I had a similar ‘outpouring,’ though I made less than a hundred works which I call the Drunk with
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Turpentine series, a title that no matter how evocative, is also literal. I might add that I deeply regret the Occidental prejudice against painting on paper, which to me is the most sympathetic of all painting surfaces” (Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 221).
w543
Drunk with Turpentine No. 3 1979 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 7 March 79-E Artist’s Studio Number d79-2275 Present Owner Collection of Skip Paul and Van Fletcher, Beverly Hills, Calif. Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Skip Paul and Van Fletcher, Beverly Hills, Calif., 2000 Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979. Comments The letter E in the verso inscription on this work refers to the letters from A to E that Motherwell inscribed on the rectos of five works from the Drunk
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w544
with Turpentine series that he completed on March 7, 1979 (see also w548, w555, w560, and w588). Motherwell later used this work as the basis for an early version of the 1982 painting Portal (p1047).
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w545
w546
Drunk with Turpentine No. 4
Drunk with Turpentine No. 5
Drunk with Turpentine No. 6
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 18¼ x 35⅛ in. (46.4 x 89.2 cm), irreg.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ March/79
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 1979
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Robert Motherwell \ 2 May 79
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2303 Present Owner Private collection, Switzerland Provenance Private collection, Switzerland, 1980 Solo Exhibitions Galerie Veith Turske, Cologne, Germany, 1979.
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Artist’s Studio Number p79-2249 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2277 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979.
w547
w547
Drunk with Turpentine No. 8 1979 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 79 Artist’s Studio Number d79-2278 Present Owner The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist Provenance Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987 Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979. Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, 1983. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987.
Group Exhibitions Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 15, illus. n.p.
w548
w548
Drunk with Turpentine No. 9 1979 Oil on paper 35 x 18 in. (88.9 x 45.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 7 March 79-D Artist’s Studio Number p79-2245; p79-2276 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection, ca. 1979; Lever Meyerson, New York; private collection, New York; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 15, 1998, lot 104, illus. (not sold)]; unknown owner, 1998 Comments Regarding the letter D in the inscription on the recto of this work, see the Comments for Drunk with Turpentine No. 3 (w543). Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1998 Sotheby’s auction catalogue.
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
603
w549
w549
Drunk with Turpentine No. 11 1979 Oil on paper 15 x 22¼ in. (38.1 x 56.5 cm)
Comments This work was used as the model for a suite of three lithographs done in 1980: Rite of Passage I, Rite of Passage II, and Rite of Passage III (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 248–50).
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 79 Verso not seen [“on verso dated April 8 ’79, artist’s hand,” per studio card] Artist’s Studio Number p79-2254 Present Owner William G. Woodford Provenance William G. Woodford, 1985 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 115, illus. n.p.; illus. n.p. (in exhibition).
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w550
w551
w552
w550
w551
w552
Drunk with Turpentine No. 12
Drunk with Turpentine No. 14
Drunk with Turpentine No. 15
1979 Oil on paper 33 x 16 in. (83.8 x 40.6 cm)
1979 Oil on paperboard 19½ x 15½ in. (49.5 x 39.4 cm)
1979 Oil on paperboard 29⅞ x 16 in. (75.9 x 40.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ May 79
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 79
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2286
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2299
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2341
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2006
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979.
Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979.
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
605
w553
w554
w553
w554
w555
Drunk with Turpentine No. 16
Drunk with Turpentine No. 18
Drunk with Turpentine No. 20
1979 Oil on paper 22⅞ x 29 in. (58.1 x 73.7 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 34⅞ x 17¾ in. (88.6 x 45.1 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 79
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2304
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2279
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 7 March 79-B
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner The New Britain Museum of American Art. Museum purchase (Charles F. Smith Fund) and gift of the Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; New Britain Museum of American Art, Conn., 1995
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Artist’s Studio Number p79-2305 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979. Comments Regarding the letter B in the inscription on the recto of this work, see the Comments for Drunk with Turpentine No. 3 (w543).
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w556
w556
w557
Drunk with Turpentine No. 21
Drunk with Turpentine No. 22
1979 Oil on paper 30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 32 x 26 in. (81.3 x 66 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell 1979
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ May 1979
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2248
Recto, lower left: RM \ May 79
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 116, illus. n.p. (in exhibition). Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 12.
w557
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2288 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979.
p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
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w558
w560
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w559
w560
Drunk with Turpentine No. 23
Drunk with Turpentine No. 24
Drunk with Turpentine No. 25
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Not visible in available image
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 79
Alternative Title: Untitled 1979 Oil on paperboard 35 x 18 in. (88.9 x 45.7 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2388
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2314
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 7 March 79-C
Present Owner Unknown
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2222
Provenance Unknown owner, ca. 1980
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Private collection
Group Exhibitions Turske & Turske, Zurich, 1985, color illus. n.p. Comments Our reproduction of this work comes from the 1985 Turske & Turske exhibition catalogue.
Provenance Private collection, 1989 Solo Exhibitions William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 99 (catalogue), color illus. p. 90 (in exhibition), illus. p. 146, as Untitled. Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, February 1989.
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References Qin 1996, pp. 51, 56, illus. p. 105 (fig. 47), referred to in text and in illus. as Untitled. Comments Regarding the letter C in the inscription on the recto of this work, see the Comments for Drunk with Turpentine No. 3 (w543).
w561
w561
w562
Drunk with Turpentine No. 26
Drunk with Turpentine No. 27
1979 Oil on paper 29 x 22⅞ in. (73.7 x 58.1 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 1979
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 10 Aug 79
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2307
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2379
Present Owner Private collection, Birmingham, Ala.
Present Owner Adam Gallery, London
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Birmingham, Ala., 2004
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; [Christie’s, New York, May 12, 2005, lot 314, illus.]; Camilla Grimaldi, Rome, 2005; [Christie’s, London, February 7, 2008, lot 153, illus. (not sold)]; Adam Gallery, London, 2008
Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979. Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2003, cat. no. 4. References Arnason 1982, illus. p. 221 (pl. 311); Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 221.
Solo Exhibitions Harcus Krakow Gallery, Boston, 1980, cat. no. 14. Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 58, color illus. p. 199.
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Robischon Gallery, Denver, 2001, cat. no. 9.
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group Exhibitions Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling), cat. no. 4, color illus. n.p.
1979 Oil on paper 29 x 22⅞ in. (73.7 x 58.1 cm)
Drunk with Turpentine No. 28
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 10 March 79 Artist’s Studio Number d79-2302 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 117, illus. n.p. (in exhibition). Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, February 1989. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 11.
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w564
Drunk with Turpentine No. 30 1979 Oil on paper 23 x 28½ in. (58.4 x 72.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 29 Jan 79 Artist’s Studio Number d79-2308 Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. William Schaffel Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mr. and Mrs. William Schaffel, 1999 Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979.
References Arnason 1982, illus. p. 221 (pl. 309); Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 221; Drudi 1984, color illus. p. 69; Drudi 1988b, color illus. p. 69. Comments This work, dated “29 Jan 79” by the artist on the recto, is one of the earliest dated works from the Drunk with Turpentine series; an unnumbered work in the series, Drunk with Turpentine (w583) was dated “Jan 79.” Motherwell’s numbering of the works in the series, however, did not reflect the chronological sequence in which the works were created. Regarding the numbering of the series as a whole, see the Comments for Drunk with Turpentine No. 2 (Stephen’s Gate) (w542).
Knoedler & Company, New York, February 1981, cat. no. 17, as Untitled. Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 33, color illus. p. 25. Group Exhibitions Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern, Germany, 1997, color illus. p. 67. 610
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w566
w565
w566
Drunk with Turpentine No. 31
Drunk with Turpentine No. 32
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1979 Acrylic on Tycore panel mounted on Masonite 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 2 March 1979 Artist’s Studio Number p79-2255 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1979 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 118, illus. n.p. (in exhibition).
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ 9 Nov 79 Artist’s Studio Number p79-2414 Present Owner Private collection, Minnesota Provenance Private collection, Connecticut, ca. 1980; private collection, Minnesota References Winter 1982, color illus. p. 78.
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w567
w569
w567
w568
w569
Drunk with Turpentine No. 33
Drunk with Turpentine No. 37
Drunk with Turpentine No. 38
1979 Oil on paper 26 x 32 in. (66 x 81.3 cm)
1979 Acrylic on paper 15¾ x 20 in. (40 x 50.8 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 15¾ x 20 in. (40 x 50.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ May 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 1979
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2348
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2260
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 21 April 79
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Harcus Krakow Gallery, Boston, 1980, cat. no. 17.
Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 121, illus. n.p. (in exhibition).
Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, 1983.
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2313 Present Owner Elizabeth Cabot Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Elizabeth Cabot, 2001 Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979. References Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 221 (pl. 310); Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 221; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 156; Poesia y Poética 1990, illus. p. 70; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 125).
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w572
w570
w571
Drunk with Turpentine No. 40
Drunk with Turpentine No. 41
1979 Oil on paper 35 x 18 in. (88.9 x 45.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM
Alternative Title: Drunk with Turpentine No. 42 1979 Oil on paper 22¼ x 30 in. (56.5 x 76.2 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2284
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ June 79
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2340
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Private collection, ca. 1981
Present Owner The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist
Provenance Private collection, New York, 1980; [Christie’s, New York, September 9, 2008, lot 198, illus.]; unknown owner, 2008
Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 119, illus. n.p.; illus. n.p. (in exhibition). References Catoir 1980, p. 283, illus. p. 284 (fig. 7).
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Provenance Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987, as Drunk with Turpentine #42.
p ain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
Comments Motherwell initially gave this work to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1987 with the title Drunk with Turpentine No. 42, but he subsequently corrected it to Drunk with Turpentine No. 41; earlier studio documents show that Drunk with Turpentine No. 41 had been the original title.
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Drunk with Turpentine No. 42 1979 Oil and ink on paper 16 x 14 in. (40.6 x 35.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right, in pencil: RM \ 79 Artist’s Studio Number p79-2346
Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979.
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Drunk with Turpentine No. 43
Drunk with Turpentine No. 45
Drunk with Turpentine No. 46
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 20 x 16¼ in. (50.8 x 41.3 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 6 Aug 1979
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 79
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 1979
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2344
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2289
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Collection of Lucy Lanzar and Jennifer St. John, Weston, Fla.
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2382 Present Owner Marilyn and Charles Baillie Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Aaron Milrad, 2001; Marilyn and Charles Baillie, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, 1983. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 9. References Arnason 1982, color illus. p. 221 (pl. 308); Motherwell in Arnason 1982, p. 221; Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 160.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979.
References Drudi 1984, color illus. p. 68; Drudi 1988b, color illus. p. 68.
Provenance Private collection, 1980; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, November 11, 1986, lot 196, illus.]; Richard Himmel, 1986; [Christie’s, New York, September 26, 2002, lot 706, illus.]; Tim Misenhimer and David Wiggins, 2002; [Sotheby’s, New York, September 12, 2007, lot 339, illus.]; Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2007; Lucy Lanzar and Jennifer St. John, Weston, Fla., 2008
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References Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 126).
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Drunk with Turpentine No. 49
Drunk with Turpentine No. 50
Comments This is the only work in the series that Motherwell titled Drunk on Turpentine rather than Drunk with Turpentine. In 1981 this work served as the model for a large-scale painting, Procession, with Oil (p1033).
1979 Oil on paper 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 79
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ Aug 79
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2345
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2386
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2335
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004
Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2006
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Drunk on Turpentine No. 47 1979 Oil on paper 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 79 Verso (on backing board): “drunk on turpentine, #47”
Solo Exhibitions Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. IX.2, color illus. p. 163 (pl. 92). Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2003, cat. no. 2, as Drunk with Turpentine No. 47.
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Solo Exhibitions Harcus Krakow Gallery, Boston, 1980, cat. no. 15. Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, 1983. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 108. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 10. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 19.
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Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2003, cat. no. 22.
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Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, 2003.
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
References Gaugh 1985, p. 72. Comments In 1981 this work was used as the model for a large-scale painting, A Strange Kind of Music (p1031), and for two prints: Signs on White and Signs on Red (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 284–85).
Drunk with Turpentine No. 51
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Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. IX.3, color illus. p. 164 (pl. 93).
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Drunk with Turpentine No. 67
Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2002.
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 17 Aug 79
Group Exhibitions Phoenix Gallery, New York, 1985.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 79
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2389; p79-2380
Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling).
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2292
Present Owner Private collection
References Drudi 1984, color illus. p. 94; Drudi 1988b, color illus. p. 94.
Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. William Schaffel
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2002
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mr. and Mrs. William Schaffel, 1999
Solo Exhibitions Harcus Krakow Gallery, Boston, 1980, cat. no. 16.
Solo Exhibitions Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 32, color illus. p. 28.
Knoedler & Company, New York, 1982, cat. no. 11.
Comments This work follows number 51 in the Drunk with Turpentine series. There are no known works numbered between 52 and 66 in the series.
Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, 1983. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 137. Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 59, color illus. p. 201.
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Drunk with Turpentine No. 68 1979 Acrylic on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 21 July 79
Comments The “acr” inscribed on the recto of this work was meant to signify that this was one of the very few works in this series that was painted in acrylic rather than with oil and turpentine. Our reproduction comes from an early color slide of this work.
Recto, lower left: acr Artist’s Studio Number p79-2381 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Unknown owner, ca. 1983 Group Exhibitions Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques, Paris, 1983 (traveling), color illus. p. 70, erroneously as Drunk with Turpentine II 68. References Craven 1985, p. 100, illus. p. 99, erroneously as Drunk on Erasure Fluid.
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Drunk with Turpentine No. 70 1979 Oil on paper 23⅛ x 29 in. (58.7 x 73.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ Aug 79 Artist’s Studio Number p79-3092 Present Owner The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist Provenance Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987 Solo Exhibitions Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987.
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Drunk with Turpentine Alternative Title: {Drunk with Turpentine (Study for Stephen’s Iron Crown)} 1979 Oil on paper 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ Jan 79 Artist’s Studio Number p79-2656 Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Museum purchase, the Friends of Art Endowment Fund
Comments This work, dated by the artist on the recto to January 1979, is one of the earliest dated works from the Drunk with Turpentine series, but Motherwell did not give it a series number. (Another work, Drunk with Turpentine No. 30, was dated “29 Jan 79”; see w564.) In 1981 this work was used as the basis for a large-scale painting, Stephen’s Iron Crown (p1030); posthumously, it came to be known as Drunk with Turpentine Series (Study for Stephen’s Iron Crown). Motherwell also based a 1982 print, Stephen’s Iron Crown Etched, on this image (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 292).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1999 Solo Exhibitions Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, 1983. References Caws 2003, color illus. p. 144 (ill. 93).
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{ Untitled (Drunk with Turpentine)} 1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ Feb 79
Comments In 1982, Motherwell based a large-scale vertical painting titled Wall Fragment (p1046) on the forms at the right side of this painting on paper. Two later works were also based upon this composition: Untitled (w690) and Blue Drunk with Turpentine (p1118).
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[ Untitled (Drunk with Turpentine)]
Drunk with Turpentine
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ Feb 79
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2293
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2306
Present Owner Collection of John deC. Blondel Jr.
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Michael Sobczyk, 2004; [Sotheby’s, New York, November 10, 2005, lot 223, illus.]; John deC. Blondel Jr., 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 8, as Drunk with Turpentine Series.
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Comments This work served as the model for a large-scale 1981 painting, White Sanctuary (p1035).
1979 Oil on paper 28½ x 33 in. (72.4 x 83.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 79 Artist’s Studio Number p79-2334 Present Owner Marilyn and Charles Baillie Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Marilyn and Charles Baillie, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, December 2005 (traveling), cat. no. 5. Group Exhibitions Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, March 2005, color illus. n.p. Comments This work served as the model for a large-scale 1981 painting, Black Signs (p1032).
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[ Drunk with Turpentine (Spanish Death Figure)] 1979 Oil on paper 35½ x 18⅜ in. (90.2 x 46.7 cm)
Comments The title and composition of this work recall the motif employed by Motherwell’s 1975 painting The Spanish Death (p838) and related works.
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Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
Alternative Title: Untitled 1979 Oil on paper 35 x 18 in. (88.9 x 45.7 cm)
1979 Acrylic on paper 22⅛ x 15 in. (56.2 x 38.1 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Robert Motherwell \ 1979
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell \ 7 March 79-A
Artist’s Studio Number d79-3595
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2227
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 60, color illus. p. 203.
Solo Exhibitions William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 98 (catalogue), as Untitled.
Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, February 1989.
Robischon Gallery, Denver, 2001, cat. no. 10.
Comments Regarding the letter A in the inscription on the recto of this work, see the Comments for Drunk with Turpentine No. 3 (w543).
Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2007. References MacMillan 2001a, sec. FF, p. 4, illus. sec. FF, p. 1.
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2399
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Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
1979 Oil on paper 29 x 22¾ in. (73.7 x 57.8 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 14 x 16 in. (35.6 x 40.6 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 1979
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 79
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2300
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2347
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2393
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. IX.1, illus. p. 162 (pl. 91), as Drunk with Turpentine Series. Group Exhibitions Renee Fotouhi Fine Art East, East Hampton, N.Y., 1991.
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Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, February 1989.
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Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
1979 Oil on paper 30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 29¾ x 16 in. (75.6 x 40.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 79
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 79
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 79
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2394
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2391
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2336
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
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{ Drunk with Turpentine}
Untitled
1979 Oil on paper 18 x 35 in. (45.7 x 88.9 cm)
Alternative Title: May Day 1979 Oil on paper 20 x 26¼ in. (50.8 x 66.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R Motherwell \ 1979
Comments Motherwell painted this work on handmade Richard de Bas Inclusion Florales paper, which contains pressed flower petals and ferns that are visible on its surface. The alternative title May Day, which is based on Motherwell’s inscription, was probably meant to date the work rather than as a title.
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Drunk with Turpentine 1979 Oil on paper 12 x 18 in. (30.5 x 45.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 6 May 79 B
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2282
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell \ May Day, 1979
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2285
Verso (on backing board): for Stephanie Terenzio \ with love from her friend \ Robert Motherwell \ October 1979
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2342
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000
Present Owner Private collection
Solo Exhibitions Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 31, color illus. p. 26, as May Day. References Drudi 1984, color illus. p. 72; Drudi 1988b, color illus. p. 72.
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Provenance Stephanie Terenzio, 1979; private collection, ca. 1999; [Sotheby’s, New York, October 6, 2005, lot 59, illus.]; Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2005; private collection Comments Motherwell dedicated this work on the verso to Stephanie Terenzio, who curated his 1979 solo exhibition at the
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William Benton Museum of Art in Storrs, Connecticut. The artist dated four paintings on paper “6 May 79” and inscribed letter designations on the recto of three of these works that shared a similar composition. Two works, this one and Drunk with Turpentine (w599), were given the letter B, and Untitled (w600) was given the letter C. A fourth work done on the same day but unrelated to the Drunk with Turpentine series, Untitled (Elegy Study) (w632), was not given a letter designation. Motherwell had also given letter designations to five related Drunk with Turpentine works done on March 7, 1979 (see the Comments for w543).
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Drunk with Turpentine
Untitled
1979 Oil on paper 12 x 18 in. (30.5 x 45.7 cm)
1979 Oil and graphite on paper 12 x 17 in. (30.5 x 43.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 6 May 79 B
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 6 May 79 C
Verso not seen [“titled and signed again ‘drunk with turpentine’ 1979 (on the backing board),” per Christie’s 2004]
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2287; d79-2845
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2343
References Paglia 2001, illus. p. 53.
Present Owner Collection of John Daly, Dublin
Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. R. Leandro
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; John Daly, Dublin, 2004
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; [Christie’s, New York, November 11, 2004, lot 173, illus.]; Mr. and Mrs. R. Leandro, 2004
Solo Exhibitions Galería Joan Prats, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland, 1991, cat. no. 4 (sec. “Works on Paper”), color illus. n.p.
group Exhibitions Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling).
Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 36.
Comments Regarding the recto inscription on this work, see the Comments for Drunk with Turpentine (w598).
Comments Regarding the recto inscription on this work, see the Comments for Drunk with Turpentine (w598).
Robischon Gallery, Denver, 2001, cat. no. 11. Group Exhibitions Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin, August 2005.
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Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
1979 Oil on paper 22 x 30 in. (55.9 x 76.2 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ June 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ June 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ June 79
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 79
Artist’s Studio Number p79-3676
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2338
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2339
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2392
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
References Glenn 1984, color illus. p. 89 (installation view).
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 20, as Drunk with Turpentine Series. Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2008, cat. no. 11, color illus. p. 27. Group Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, January 2008, cat. no. 25.
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Solo Exhibitions Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 1997 (traveling), cat. no. IX.4, color illus. p. 165 (pl. 94).
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Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
1979 Oil on paper 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 22¼ x 30 in. (56.5 x 76.2 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ June 79
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ June 79
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2337
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2349
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Collection of Horst and Vivien Schmitter
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
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group Exhibitions Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling), cat. no. 2, color illus. n.p. Comments This work was used as the model for a large-scale 1981 painting, Signs on a White Field (p1029).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 13, 2004, lot 200, illus.]; Horst and Vivien Schmitter, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 57, color illus. p. 197. Robischon Gallery, Denver, 2001, cat. no. 8.
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Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
1979 Oil on paper 28 x 31½ in. (71.1 x 80 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 13⅝ x 11 in. (34.6 x 27.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ June 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 30 June 79
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 2 July 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 79
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2419
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2898
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2790
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2398
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection, Minneapolis
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Minneapolis, 2006
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2005.
Solo Exhibitions Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, 1983. Comments This work was used as the model for a large-scale 1981 painting, Forced Entry (p1034).
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Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
1979 Oil on paper 11 x 13½ in. (27.9 x 34.3 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 28½ in. (58.4 x 72.4 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 11 x 13¾ in. (27.9 x 34.9 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 3 July 79
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 79
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 79
Artist’s Studio Number p79-3328
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2396
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2378
Present Owner Collection of Jonathan Weiss
Verso (on backing board): Robert Motherwell \ “drunk with turpentine (3 July 79)” \ oil on laminated rag paper
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jonathan Weiss, 2004
Verso [circled]: [for Saul Steinberg \ with greetings + thanks \ from \ Renate + Bob M. \ 4 July 1985]
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2005, as Drunk with Turpentine Series.
Comments This work was used as the model for a 1981 painting, Stephen’s Harp (p1041).
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2646 Present Owner Stéphane Roman Provenance Saul Steinberg, 1985; Stéphane Roman, 1999 Comments The illustrator Saul Steinberg (1914– 1999), to whom this work is inscribed, was a longtime friend of Motherwell’s.
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Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
1979 Oil on paper 11 x 13¾ in. (27.9 x 34.9 cm)
1979 Acrylic on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1979 Acrylic on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1979 Acrylic on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 79
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 14 July 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 20 Aug 79
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 20 July 79
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2395
Recto, lower left: acr
Recto, upper right: ac
Recto, lower right: acr
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2387
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2377
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2390
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Michael Sobczyk
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments The “acr” inscribed on the recto of this work was meant to signify that this was one of the few works in this series that were painted in acrylic rather than with oil and turpentine.
Comments The “ac” inscribed on the recto of this work was meant to signify that this was one of the few works in this series that were painted in acrylic rather than with oil and turpentine.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Michael Sobczyk, 2005
Present Owner Sheldon Swope Art Museum. Gift of the Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Sheldon Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, Ind., 1997
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Solo Exhibitions Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, 1983. Comments The “acr” inscribed on the recto of this work was meant to signify that this was one of the few works in this series that were painted in acrylic rather than with
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oil and turpentine. This work was used as the model for a 1981 print, Signs on Copper (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 286). In the print, the image is reversed.
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Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
Drunk with Turpentine
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1979 Acrylic on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 7 Aug 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 15 July 79
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 18 Aug 79
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2383
Recto, upper right: acr
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2384
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments This work was the model for the initial version of a large-scale painting that Motherwell began in 1981 and continued to revise until 1988, which he eventually titled Broken Open (p1142).
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2894
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2008 Comments The “acr” inscribed on the recto of this work was meant to signify that this was one of the few works in this series that were painted in acrylic rather than with oil and turpentine.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 1999 Solo Exhibitions Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, 1983. Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 56, color illus. p. 195, as Drunk with Turpentine Series. Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 34, color illus. p. 27, as Drunk with Turpentine Series.
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group Exhibitions Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling), cat. no. 3, color illus. n.p. References Drudi 1984, color illus. p. 67; Drudi 1988b, color illus. p. 67. Comments This work served as the model for the composition of the 1988 painting Primal Image II (p1161).
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The War Machine
Untitled
[ Untitled (for Gabriella)]
1979 Oil on paper 30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm)
1979 Acrylic on paper 23¾ x 29¾ in. (60.3 x 75.6 cm)
1979 Acrylic on paper 5⅝ x 3¼ in. (14.3 x 8.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Motherwell \ 1979
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2230
Artist’s Studio Number d79-3020
Inscriptions Recto, not visible in available image [“signed UL corner RM,” per studio card]
Present Owner The Klüser Collection, Munich
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2413
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005
Present Owner Unknown
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Klüser Collection, Munich, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kans., 1979. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1983 (traveling), cat. no. 84, illus. p. 114; not shown in Los Angeles and Seattle. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 144. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 11. References Morgan 1997, p. 115. 630
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p ain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
Solo Exhibitions Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2005, as Drunk with Turpentine Series.
Provenance Unknown owner, ca. 1980 Comments The subtitle of this work refers to the writer Gabriella Drudi, who was a friend of Motherwell’s and who later wrote a book about him (Drudi 1984). Our reproduction comes from a Polaroid photograph.
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Brushstroke
[ Untitled (Brushstroke)]
Untitled
Spanish Wall No. 1
Alternative Title: Stroke 1979 Oil on paper 22½ x 17½ in. (57.2 x 44.5 cm), irreg.
1979 Acrylic on paper 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
1979 Acrylic on paper 9¾ x 9⅞ in. (24.8 x 25.1 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ Sept 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 79
Alternative Title: Drunk with Turpentine No. 7 1979 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2466
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2940
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell \ 79
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2301
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments This work is related to Motherwell’s 1979 Brushstroke series (see the Comments for p967 and w625). It also has affinities with the 1980 lithograph Brushstroke (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 251).
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, November 2002, cat. no. 37, erroneously as Drunk with Turpentine Series.
Present Owner The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 5 May 79 Artist’s Studio Number p79-2295; p79-3607 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, 1979, cat. no. 120, illus. n.p. (in exhibition), as Stroke. Comments This work is related to Motherwell’s 1979 Brushstroke series (see the Comments for p967). It was probably inspired by an anonymous seventeenthcentury Japanese ink painting consisting of a single horizontal brushstroke, Ichi (One), that Motherwell had acquired in 1968.
Provenance Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987 Solo Exhibitions Harcus Krakow Gallery, Boston, 1980, cat. no. 18, as Drunk with Turpentine #7. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987.
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Comments This work was originally number 7 in the Drunk with Turpentine series (see the Comments for w542). Motherwell retitled it Spanish Wall No. 1 just prior to its inclusion in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in December 1987, along with two other works designated as Spanish Wall No. 2 and Spanish Wall No. 4 (w629 and w630). There is no known work designated as number 3 in the Spanish Wall series.
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Spanish Wall No. 2
Spanish Wall No. 4
Alternative Title: Drunk with Turpentine 1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Alternative Title: Untitled 1979 Oil and ink on paper 18 x 35 in. (45.7 x 88.9 cm), irreg.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: Robert Motherwell \ 79
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2280 Present Owner The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist Provenance Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987 Solo Exhibitions Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, 1983, as Drunk with Turpentine. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987. Comments Regarding the title of this work, see the Comments for w628.
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p ain tin gs on p aper a n d paperbo a rd
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2228 Present Owner Worcester Art Museum. Eliza S. Paine Fund and gift of the Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Worcester Art Museum, Mass., 1997 Solo Exhibitions William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, cat. no. 97 (catalogue), as Untitled. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987.
Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., June 1988. Worcester Art Museum, Mass., 1998 (traveling). References Marks 1988, p. 20, illus. p. 20; Nickerson 1988, p. 11. Comments Regarding the title of this work, see the Comments for Spanish Wall No. 1 (w628). This work was used as the model for a 1991 print, Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 536), which was in the process of being editioned at the time of Motherwell’s death.
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Spanish Elegy Study
{ Untitled (Elegy Study)}
Brushy Elegy
1979 Oil on paper 18¼ x 35¼ in. (46.4 x 89.5 cm), irreg.
1979 Oil and graphite on paper 13½ x 19½ in. (34.3 x 49.5 cm)
1979 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ April 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 6 May 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 1979
Verso (on backing board, reattached) [set in square]: [RM invoice no.]
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2311
Artist’s Studio Number d79-3580
Verso (on backing board, reattached): “spanish elegy study” (April, 1979) \ oil on french handmade paper \ watermarked “rm” \ Robert Motherwell April 1979 \ for Marcia + Robert Seely \ with love + gratitude
Present Owner Denver Art Museum Collection. For a full list of donors, see the entry for p22.
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2247
Solo Exhibitions Denver Art Museum, 1995, illus. n.p.
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 17.
Present Owner Private collection
References Tieken 2000, illus. n.p.
Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 35, color illus. p. 24.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Denver Art Museum, 1994
Comments The composition of this work was used as the basis for three 1980 prints: Altamira Elegy, Automatism Elegy (State I White), and Automatism Elegy (State II Buff) (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 262, 271, and 272).
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004
Provenance Private collection, 1979
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, November 2002, cat. no. 48.
Comments Motherwell dedicated this work on the verso to his physician, Robert Seely, and Seely’s wife, Marcia.
Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2003, cat. no. 5.
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Studio with Green
{ Untitled (Drunk with Turpentine)}
James Joyce
1979 Acrylic and ink on paper 6⅝ x 10¾ in. (16.8 x 27.3 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM
1979 Oil and charcoal on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Recto, upper right: 1979
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R.M \ 79
Artist’s Studio Number d79-3554
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2294
Present Owner Private collection, Paris
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2005; private collection, Paris, 2006
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, November 2002, cat. no. 25. Group Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2003, cat. no. 17.
Alternative Title: Portrait of James Joyce 1979 Acrylic varnish and Conté crayon on paper 11⅜ x 14 in. (28.9 x 35.6 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM Verso (on backing board): R Motherwell \ 1979 Artist’s Studio Number d79-2627 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Mass., 1983 (traveling). Arthur A. Houghton Jr. Gallery, Cooper Union, New York, 1988, cat. no. 27, as Portrait of James Joyce. Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1991, cat. no. 13.
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Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, 1996 (traveling), cat. no. 61, color illus. p. 205. Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, 2001, cat. no. 19, color illus. p. 49. Bendheim Gallery, Greenwich, Conn., 2008. References Ashton 1989, illus. p. 17, as Portrait of James Joyce; Fundació Antoni Tàpies exh. cat. 1996, illus. n.p. (in studio); Caws 2003, color illus. p. 140 (ill. 89); Ashton and Banach 2007, illus. p. 321, as Portrait of James Joyce. Comments The acrylic medium used in this work is described in studio records as acrylic varnish, which appears to have been mixed with a small amount of pigment.
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Untitled
Mexican Prison
1979 Acrylic, ink, and graphite on paper 10 x 11 in. (25.4 x 27.9 cm), irreg. Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 79 Artist’s Studio Number d79-2860 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, February 1989, color illus. n.p.
Alternative Title: Mexican Bride 1979/1990 Oil on paper 35 x 18 in. (88.9 x 45.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 79 Artist’s Studio Number d79-2246; p79-2263 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1979, cat. no. 4 (shown in early state), as Mexican Bride.
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Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, May 2005, cat. no. 18.
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References Kutner 1992a, sec. C, p. 4; del Conde 1997, illus. n.p.
1979 Oil on monotype 28 x 22 in. (71.1 x 55.9 cm)
Comments Motherwell set the composition of this work in 1979, but the central figure 4 form was then painted in pink; that version of the work was exhibited at the Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, in September 1979 under the title Mexican Bride. In 1990 Motherwell repainted the figure 4 with ochre and retitled the work Mexican Prison. Regarding Motherwell’s use of the figure 4, see the Comments for The Figure 4 on an Elegy (w104).
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 8 Nov 79
[ Untitled (Black, Red)]
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2655 Present Owner Collection of John H. Walter and Joy Thornton-Walter Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; John H. Walter and Joy Thornton-Walter, 2006
Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 22, color illus. p. 63. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 5. Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 114.
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Untitled
Je t’aime in Black and Pink
Te Quiero
1979 Oil on monotype 30 x 22½ in. (76.2 x 57.2 cm)
1979 Acrylic and charcoal on paperboard 26 x 29¾ in. (66 x 75.6 cm)
1979–80 Acrylic on paper 32¾ x 15¾ in. (83.2 x 40 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 31 Oct 79
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 79
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2906
Artist’s Studio Number p79-2420; p91-3590
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2417
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Kirk Douglas
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2008, cat. no. 6, color illus. p. 17.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mr. and Mrs. Kirk Douglas, 1997 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 1, color illus. n.p. Comments This work is Motherwell’s last known Je t’aime painting (though he continued to rework some of the earlier canvases in the Je t’aime series during the 1980s). Regarding the Je t’aime series as a whole, see the Comments for Je t’aime No. II (p157).
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pain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling), cat. no. 20, illus. p. 80. References Kutner 1992a, sec. C, p. 4; Kutner 1992b, sec. G, p. 2, illus. sec. G, p. 2 (image reversed); Tyson 1992, sec. D, p. 5; Windrow 1992, color illus. p. 8. Comments Motherwell’s use of the phrase te quiero (“I love you” in Spanish) in this work
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is related to his use of the French term je t’aime in his extended series by that name (see the Comments for p157). An early version of this work, without the Spanish phrase, was photographed in November 1979 (Sloman photo no. 936); Motherwell reworked the colors and added the phrase by February 1980, when the work was photographed again (Sloman photo no. 982). Some minor adjustments to the white areas and the black circular form were made after that, but we do not know exactly when.
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Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
1980 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 19 in. (77.5 x 48.3 cm), irreg.
1980 Acrylic on paper 30 x 18 in. (76.2 x 45.7 cm), irreg.
1980 Acrylic on paper 30½ x 17¾ in. (77.5 x 45.1 cm), irreg.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ for Lindsay \ + Ken Tyler \ 1980
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 81
Alternative Title: {In Black with Blue “4”} 1980 Acrylic on paper 29 x 18 in. (73.7 x 45.7 cm), irreg.
Artist’s Studio Number d81-3681; p81-2845
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Artist’s Studio Number p81-2844; p81-2884
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number p86-2654
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Collection of Mrs. Nathalie Obadia, Paris
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Kenneth E. Tyler Provenance Kenneth E. Tyler; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 18, 2000, lot 401, illus. (not sold)] Comments This is one of a number of works that Motherwell painted in 1980 on multilayered handmade paper created by Tyler Graphics Ltd. (see w644–w646). Motherwell dedicated this work to Kenneth Tyler and his wife at the time, Lindsay Green.
Comments Although Motherwell dated this work 1981 on the recto, it appears in its final form in a November 1980 studio photograph (Sloman photo no. 1227). It was painted on a multilayered paper made by Tyler Graphics Ltd.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Nathalie Obadia, Paris, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2005, cat. no. 24.
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Comments Motherwell painted this work on a multilayered paper made by Tyler Graphics Ltd. Regarding his use of the figure 4, see the Comments for The Figure 4 on an Elegy (w104).
Comments Motherwell painted this work on a multilayered paper made by Tyler Graphics Ltd. Regarding his use of the figure 4, see the Comments for The Figure 4 on an Elegy (w104). p a in t ing s on pape r and pape rboard
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Untitled
Untitled
Drunk with Turpentine
1980 Acrylic and charcoal on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1980 Acrylic, china marker, and graphite on Mylar 16¼ x 13½ in. (41.3 x 34.3 cm)
1980 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Group Exhibitions Janie C. Lee Master Drawings, New York, 1984, cat. no. 28, color illus. n.p.
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 80
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 26 May 80
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Artist’s Studio Number d80-2899
Artist’s Studio Number d80-2775
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Kronenberg
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 12 May 80 Artist’s Studio Number p80-2758 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 References Drudi 1984, color illus. p. 79; Drudi 1988b, color illus. p. 79.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Mr. and Mrs. Richard Kronenberg, 2004 Solo Exhibitions Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, 1983. Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2002, as Drunk with Turpentine Series. Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, N.C., 2003.
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Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, 2003.
Untitled Ca. 1980 Acrylic on paper 23 x 24 in. (58.4 x 61 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Artist’s Studio Number d-3835 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
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{ Untitled (Drunk with Turpentine)}
{ Untitled (Drunk with Turpentine)}
Untitled
Drunk with Turpentine
1980 Acrylic on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1980 Acrylic on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1980 Acrylic on Mylar 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm)
1980 Acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 80
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 80
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 80
Artist’s Studio Number d80-3004
Artist’s Studio Number d80-3005
Artist’s Studio Number p80-3682
Artist’s Studio Number p80-2900
Present Owner Jennifer Bradford
Present Owner Private collection, Minneapolis
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Jennifer Bradford, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, Minneapolis, 2006
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Annandale Galleries, Sydney, Australia, 2005, as Drunk with Turpentine Series.
Solo Exhibitions Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2008, cat. no. 4, color illus. p. 13.
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Untitled
Untitled
[ Untitled (Brushy Elegy)]
Untitled
1980 Acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1980 Oil on paper 31½ x 26 in. (80 x 66 cm)
1980 Oil, ink, and china marker on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1980 Acrylic and graphite on paperboard 15 x 20 in. (38.1 x 50.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 80
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 1980
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 80
Inscriptions Recto, lower left, incised: R Motherwell
Artist’s Studio Number d80-3116
Artist’s Studio Number d80-2653; d80-3692; d80-3693
Artist’s Studio Number d80-2840
Recto, lower right: RM
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Private collection of Susan King Wit
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Susan King Wit, 2002
Present Owner Collection of the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio. Museum purchase and gift of the Dedalus Foundation, 1994
Solo Exhibitions Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2002. References Drudi 1984, color illus. p. 75; Drudi 1988b, color illus. p. 75.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, 1994 Group Exhibitions Phoenix Gallery, New York, 1985. Butler Trumbull County Branch Museum, Howland, Ohio, 1996. Massillon Museum, Ohio, 1999.
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Artist’s Studio Number p80-3088 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2003 Solo Exhibitions Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 123. Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., August 1991.
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Provincetown Blue 1980 Acrylic and charcoal on Tycore panel 24 x 36 in. (61 x 91.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left, incised: RM \ 80
Group Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, 1983, cat. no. 22, color illus. p. 19. References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 53; Flam 1991, color illus. n.p. (pl. 128); Caws 2003, p. 23, cover illus., color illus. p. 23 (ill. 14).
Verso: “provincetown \ blue” \ R. Motherwell \ 1980 Artist’s Studio Number p80-2528 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2001 Solo Exhibitions Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 1989, cat. no. 21, color illus. p. 45. Artcurial Centre d’Art Plastique Contemporain, Paris, 1990 (traveling), Paris, color illus. p. 25.
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Line and Brush Drawing
Untitled
Drunk with Turpentine
1981 Acrylic and colored pencil on paper 12 x 17½ in. (30.5 x 44.5 cm)
1981 Acrylic on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1981 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ June 81
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 81
Inscriptions Recto, lower left: RM \ 1981
Artist’s Studio Number d81-2794
Artist’s Studio Number d81-2707; d82-2707
Artist’s Studio Number p81-2841
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, 1990.
Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1991, cat. no. 3.
Solo Exhibitions Galleria d’Arte il Gabbiano, Rome, 2008, cat. no. 2, color illus. p. 9. Comments The composition of this work recalls Drunk with Turpentine No. 2 (Stephen’s Gate), 1979 (w542), and is very similar to a contemporaneous painting, Stephen’s Gate (p1040).
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Untitled
Untitled
Crete No. 1
Crete No. 2
1981 Acrylic on paper 26¼ x 36 in. (66.7 x 91.4 cm)
1981 Acrylic on paper 29⅞ x 32⅜ in. (75.9 x 82.2 cm)
1982 Acrylic and Conté crayon on cardboard 24 x 36 in. (61 x 91.4 cm)
1982 Acrylic and Conté crayon on cardboard 32½ x 38½ in. (82.6 x 97.8 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 1981
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ Sept 81
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 82
Verso: “crete #1” \ R. Motherwell
Recto, lower left [painted over]: [RM]
Artist’s Studio Number d81-2643
Artist’s Studio Number p82-2684
Verso: “crete #2” \ R. Motherwell
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Artist’s Studio Number d81-3661 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Artist’s Studio Number p82-2685 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 References Drudi 1984, color illus. p. 72; Drudi 1988b, color illus. p. 72.
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Mediterranean Figuration No. 1
Mediterranean Figuration No. 2
Alternative Title: Untitled 1982 Acrylic, Conté crayon, and graphite on paperboard 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Alternative Title: Untitled 1982 Acrylic and Conté crayon on paperboard 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 82
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 82
Artist’s Studio Number d82-2709
Artist’s Studio Number d82-2696
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Solo Exhibitions Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, 1983, as Untitled.
Solo Exhibitions Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, 1983, as Untitled.
group Exhibitions Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling), cat. no. 6, color illus. n.p., erroneously as Figuración mediterránea, n. 2 (Mediterranean Figuration No. 2).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 43, as Untitled.
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group Exhibitions Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling), cat. no. 5, color illus. n.p., erroneously as Figuración
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mediterránea, n. 1 (Mediterranean Figuration No. 1).
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References Drudi 1984, color illus. p. 79; Drudi 1988b, color illus. p. 79.
1982 Acrylic and Conté crayon on paper 28⅞ x 22⅞ in. (73.3 x 58.1 cm)
Achilles’ Heel
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 82 Verso (on backing board): achilles’ heel \ R. Motherwell \ 1982 Artist’s Studio Number d82-2708 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1987. References Bonetti 1987, sec. 3, p. 14; Nickerson 1987, p. 8.
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Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Drunk with Turpentine
1982 Oil, acrylic, and graphite on paper 9 x 12 in. (22.9 x 30.5 cm)
1982 Acrylic and Conté crayon on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1982 Acrylic on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 82
1982 Acrylic and Conté crayon on paperboard 21 x 29 in. (53.3 x 73.7 cm)
Recto, lower right: RM \ 82
Artist’s Studio Number d82-2710
Artist’s Studio Number p82-2713 Present Owner Unknown Provenance Private collection; unknown owner Comments Our reproduction comes from an early Polaroid photograph of this work.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 1982
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 82
Artist’s Studio Number p82-2939
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number d82-2712; d89-3692; d89-3780; d89-3803
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Private collection
Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, February 1989.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2002
Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 11, 2005, lot 251, illus.]; private collection, 2005
References Drudi 1984, color illus. p. 84; Drudi 1988b, color illus. p. 84; Caws 2003, illus. p. 55 (ill. 39). Comments The composition of this work served as the basis for a 1991 etching called Lament for Lorca (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 517).
p a in ting s on pape r and pape rboard
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[ Untitled (Black Gesture)]
Drunk with Turpentine
Untitled
1982 Acrylic on paper 29 x 23⅛ in. (73.7 x 58.7 cm)
1983 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
[ Brushy Open on Buff Ground]
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 82
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 1983
Artist’s Studio Number p82-2990
Artist’s Studio Number d79-2905
Present Owner Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Museum purchase and gift of the artist
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1985
group Exhibitions Sala Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1986 (traveling), cat. no. 1, color illus. n.p.
Solo Exhibitions Fort Worth Art Museum, September 1985, cat. no. 9, color illus. p. 27.
Provenance Private collection, 1987
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 2004. References Betti and Sale 1980, p. 83, illus. p. 85 (fig. 3.9); Fort Worth Art Museum Calendar 1985b, p. 2, cover color illus.; Sewell 1985, p. 21; Betti and Sale 2008, p. 71, illus. p. 73 (fig. 3.11). 646
pain tin gs on pa per an d pa perbo ard
Ca. 1983 Acrylic on paper 18 x 26 in. (45.7 x 66 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Artist’s Studio Number p83/84-3597 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
1984 Acrylic and ink on paper 11¼ x 14¼ in. (28.6 x 36.2 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 84 Artist’s Studio Number d84-3060 Present Owner Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gross Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2004; Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gross, 2005 Solo Exhibitions Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 128. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997, cat. no. 20 (color illus. in brochure). Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, November 2002, cat. no. 10. Rosenbaum Contemporary, Gallery Center, Boca Raton, Fla., 2004.
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Group Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, February 1999, cat. no. 21.
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Untitled 1984 Acrylic and ink on paper 11½ x 14½ in. (29.2 x 36.8 cm)
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Untitled (Elegy)
[ Untitled (Elegy Drawing)]
Untitled
1985 Oil stick and ink on paper 7 x 10⅛ in. (17.8 x 25.7 cm)
1985 Acrylic, oil stick, ink, and graphite on paper 5 x 7 in. (12.7 x 17.8 cm)
1985 Acrylic and crayon on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM Artist’s Studio Number d85-3270
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM
Present Owner The Century Association, New York
Artist’s Studio Number p84-3083
Provenance Century Association, New York, 1989
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 85
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3285
Artist’s Studio Number d85-3217 Present Owner Collection Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
Present Owner Collection of Dr. Wilfred and Gail Heilbut
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2008
Provenance Wilfred and Gail Heilbut, 1986
Solo Exhibitions Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, November 2002, cat. no. 33.
Solo Exhibitions Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1984, cat. no. 107.
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 85
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, February 1989.
Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany, 2004, color illus. p. 149.
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Untitled
[ Untitled (Drawing)]
Untitled
Untitled
1986 Acrylic, ink, and graphite on paper 6⅞ x 9¾ in. (17.5 x 24.8 cm)
1986 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1986 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 86
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 86
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 86
Alternative Title: {Untitled (Head of a Bull)} 1986 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number d86-3279
Artist’s Studio Number d86-3267
Artist’s Studio Number d86-3322
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 86
Present Owner Collection of Alice and Nahum Lainer
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Collection of Paula and Allan Rudnick
Artist’s Studio Number d86-3318
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Alice and Nahum Lainer, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Paula and Allan Rudnick, 2001
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, February 1989, color illus. n.p.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 40, as Untitled (Head of a Bull). Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 10, as Untitled (Head of a Bull).
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Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
1986 Oil on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1986 Oil and acrylic on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1986 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1986 Oil on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 86
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 86
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 86
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 86
Artist’s Studio Number d86-3317
Artist’s Studio Number d86-3319
Artist’s Studio Number d86-3321
Artist’s Studio Number d86-3655
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2007
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2002; private collection, 2002
Present Owner Collection of Marla & Jon Mehlman, Scarsdale, N.Y.
Solo Exhibitions Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, cat. no. 39, color illus. p. 29.
Solo Exhibitions Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2005.
Comments This work was used as the model for a 1991 print, Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 534), which was in the process of being editioned at the time of Motherwell’s death.
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2000, cat. no. 9.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Marla & Jon Mehlman, Scarsdale, N.Y., 2006 Comments This work was the model for a 1991 print, Untitled (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 535), which was in the process of being editioned at the time of Motherwell’s death.
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Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Ca. 1986 Acrylic and pen on Mylar 18 x 24 in. (45.7 x 61 cm)
1987 Acrylic on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
1987 Acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1987 Acrylic on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: Motherwell \ 1987
Artist’s Studio Number d-3834
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3492
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R. Motherwell \ 1987
Inscriptions Recto, lower right: R. Motherwell \ 1987
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Simon Goh
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3512
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3666
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Simon Goh, 2005
Present Owner Private collection
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Private collection, 1989
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments The composition of this work is modeled on forms in the 1979 painting on paper Untitled (Drunk with Turpentine) (w584). This work was probably done in 1986, when Motherwell painted Blue Drunk with Turpentine (p1118).
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Solo Exhibitions Annandale Galleries, Sydney, Australia, 2005. Group Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, April 1989, cat. no. 24, illus. n.p.
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Untitled
Lament for Hektor Slain
1987 Acrylic and china marker on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Alternative Title: Hector’s Corpse 1987 Acrylic and Conté crayon on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number d87-3282 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2008
Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated Verso (on backing board): lament for hektor slain \ R. Motherwell \ 1987 \ N.F.S. Artist’s Studio Number d87-3481 Present Owner Private collection
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References Nickerson 1987, p. 8. Comments The title of this painting refers to the Trojan warrior from The Iliad, who was slain by Achilles. On the verso, Motherwell titled it Lament for Hektor Slain, and he sent it under that title to the Homeric Themes exhibition at the Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, in August 1987. This work, however, was also referred to as Hector’s Corpse on a press release for that same exhibition; it is unclear whether this second title was erroneous or Motherwell had supplied it as well.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2009 Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, February 1989. Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2005. Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1987.
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The Blinding of the Cyclop 1987 Acrylic and oil crayon on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: Motherwell \ 87
References Nickerson 1987, p. 8.
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Untitled
Comments Like Lament for Hektor Slain (w695), this work was sent to the Homeric Themes exhibition at the Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, in August 1987.
1987 Acrylic and Conté crayon on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm)
Drawing with Black and Red Oval
Verso (on backing board): the blinding \ of the cyclop \ R. Motherwell \ 1987 Artist’s Studio Number d87-3284 Present Owner Private collection Provenance Private collection, 1990; [Christie’s, London, June 26, 1997, lot 127, illus. (not sold)]; [Christie’s, New York, November 16, 2000, lot 142, illus.]; Lillian Heidenberg Fine Art, 2000; private collection, 2002 Group Exhibitions Long Point Gallery, Provincetown, Mass., 1987.
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Inscriptions Recto, lower left: Motherwell \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number d87-3283 Present Owner Dore Ashton Provenance Dore Ashton, 1987
1987 Acrylic and graphite on Mylar 14½ x 22¾ in. (36.8 x 57.8 cm) Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 87 Artist’s Studio Number d87-3585 Present Owner Collection of the Arizona State University Art Museum. Gift of Friends of the ASU Art Museum Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, 1995 Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, 1990.
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[ Untitled (Black Gestural Drawing) No. 1]
[ Untitled (Black Gestural Drawing) No. 2]
[ Untitled (Black Gestural Drawing) No. 3]
1987 Acrylic and Conté crayon on Tycore panel 19⅞ x 16 in. (50.5 x 40.6 cm)
1987 Acrylic and Conté crayon on Tycore panel 19⅞ x 16 in. (50.5 x 40.6 cm)
1987 Acrylic and Conté crayon on Tycore panel 20 x 16⅛ in. (50.8 x 41 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 1 Sept 87
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 1 Sept 87
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 1 Sept 87
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3337
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3338
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3339
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Comments The technique of gestural black brushstrokes over automatist line drawing in sanguine that Motherwell uses in this and related works (w700–w710) informed a number of prints done two years later: Mirror, Mirror 1A, Calligraphy I, and the Beau Geste series (Engberg and Banach 2003, nos. 472, 473, 490, and 480–87).
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[ Untitled (Black Gestural Drawing) No. 4]
[ Untitled (Black Gestural Drawing) No. 5]
[ Untitled (Black Gestural Drawing) No. 6]
[ Untitled (Black Gestural Drawing) No. 7]
1987 Acrylic and Conté crayon on Tycore panel 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
1987 Acrylic and Conté crayon on Tycore panel 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
1987 Acrylic and Conté crayon on Tycore panel 20 x 15⅞ in. (50.8 x 40.3 cm)
1987 Acrylic and Conté crayon on Tycore panel and Plexiglas 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 1 Sept 87
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 2 Sept 87
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 2 Sept 87
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 2 Sept 87
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3340
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3341
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3342
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3343
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 References Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 182 (in studio). Comments This work is composed of a black acrylic painting on a transparent sheet of Plexiglas laid over another painting, done with black acrylic and red Conté crayon on a Tycore panel, visible beneath the Plexiglas. In Benoît
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Jacquot’s documentary film L’Atelier de Robert Motherwell (1988, see Filmography), Motherwell is seen painting on the Plexiglas surface. This is the only known work of its kind in Motherwell’s oeuvre; he later used it as the basis for a 1989 lithograph, Three Figures (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 489).
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[ Untitled (Black Gestural Drawing) No. 8]
[ Untitled (Black Gestural Drawing) No. 9]
1987 Acrylic and Conté crayon on Tycore panel 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
1987 Acrylic and Conté crayon on Tycore panel 19¾ x 15⅞ in. (50.2 x 40.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 2 Sept 87
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 3 Sept 87
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3344
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3345
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
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[ Untitled (Black Gestural Drawing) No. 10]
[ Untitled (Black Gestural Drawing) No. 11]
[ Untitled (Black Gestural Drawing) No. 12]
1987 Acrylic and Conté crayon on Tycore panel 19¾ x 15⅞ in. (50.2 x 40.3 cm)
1987 Acrylic and Conté crayon on Tycore panel 20 x 15⅞ in. (50.8 x 40.3 cm)
1987 Acrylic and Conté crayon on Tycore panel 20 x 15⅞ in. (50.8 x 40.3 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 3 Sept 87
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 3 Sept 87
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 3 Sept 87
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3346
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3347
Artist’s Studio Number d87-3348
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
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p ain tin gs on p a per an d pa perbo ard
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{ Untitled (Number 4 Sketch)}
Untitled
Untitled
1988 Acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm)
1988 Acrylic on cardboard mounted on Masonite 18¾ x 23 in. (47.6 x 58.4 cm)
1988 Acrylic, crayon, and ink on paper 11½ x 22¼ in. (29.2 x 56.5 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: R Motherwell \ 1988 Artist’s Studio Number d88-3665 Present Owner The Bright Family, Los Angeles Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; [Sotheby’s, New York, May 14, 2003, lot 234, illus.]; Leslie Sacks Fine Art, Los Angeles, 2003; Bright Family, Los Angeles, 2004
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised and inscribed: RM \ 88
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 88 Artist’s Studio Number d88-3504
Artist’s Studio Number p88-3548; p88-3779
Present Owner Hackett-Freedman Gallery
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; David Hale, 2005; Hackett-Freedman Gallery, 2005
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
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Study for Mask (for Ingmar Bergman) 1988 Acrylic on paper 29 x 23 in. (73.7 x 58.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 88
Comments Motherwell based this work—and also his 1989 lithograph Mask (for Ingmar Bergman) (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 474)—on his 1984 collage Yellow Form with Music (c710). The title refers to the Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman (1918–2007).
Present Owner Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. The Eunice and Hal David Collection of 19th- and 20th-Century Works on Paper. Partial and promised gift to the UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles Provenance Kenneth E. Tyler, ca. 1988; Eunice and Hal David, 1998; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2003 Group Exhibitions Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center, Los Angeles, 2003 (traveling), cat. no. 38, color illus. p. 173.
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Hollow Men’s Cave
Study for The Grand Inquisitor
Ca. 1988 Acrylic and china marker on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm) Inscriptions Recto not signed, not dated
Alternative Title: Study for Catalonia II 1988/1989 Acrylic and graphite on paper 12 x 28¾ in. (30.5 x 73 cm)
Artist’s Studio Number d91-3780
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 88
Present Owner Private collection
Artist’s Studio Number d88-3491
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 2000
Present Owner Private collection, England
Solo Exhibitions Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 2000. Comments Motherwell modeled this work on an early state of a larger painting on canvas, also called Hollow Men’s Cave (p1183). He used it as the basis for a print of the same title (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 523), which was executed at Tyler Graphics Ltd. in 1988 but not published until 1991.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, England, 2007 Solo Exhibitions Knoedler & Company, New York, April 1989, cat. no. 12 (shown in early state), as Study for “Catalonia” II. Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, 1991 (traveling). Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2005, as Study for Catalonia #II.
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Comments This work is one of a number of studies that Motherwell made for his largescale painting The Grand Inquisitor (p1182), which at one time was titled Catalonia. An early version of this work, which was painted with ochre along the bottom edge, was exhibited at Knoedler & Company in April 1989 under its original title, Study for “Catalonia” II. After the work was returned to Motherwell in October of that year, he extended the black painted areas to the bottom edges of the composition. The titles of both this and a related work (p1144) were changed by the artist to Study for The Grand Inquisitor in accordance with his retitling of the large Catalonia painting in 1990.
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Line Drawing with Blue
Untitled
Arabesque
1988 Acrylic and ink on Mylar 8½ x 11 in. (21.6 x 27.9 cm)
1988 Acrylic, ink, and graphite on Mylar 8½ x 11 in. (21.6 x 27.9 cm)
1989 Oil, acrylic, and graphite on paper 6 x 18 in. (15.2 x 45.7 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 88
Inscriptions Recto, upper left: RM \ 88
Inscriptions Recto, upper right, incised: RM
Artist’s Studio Number d88-3609
Artist’s Studio Number d88-3608
Verso: “arabesque” \ 6 x 18 (maquette) \ oil + acrylic \ R. Motherwell/1989
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Artist’s Studio Number p89-3541
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991
Present Owner Dedalus Foundation
Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, 1990.
Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, 1990.
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Comments This work was one of three studies Motherwell created for a large-scale mural titled Arabesque (p1172), commissioned for the lobby of the General Electric Corporation headquarters in Fairfield, Connecticut. See also Arabesque Mural Study No. 2 (p1173) and Mural Study III (p1174).
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Automatic Drawing with Blue Paint
Study for Hollow Men
1990 Acrylic and ink on Mylar 8 x 10 in. (20.3 x 25.4 cm) Inscriptions Recto, lower right: RM \ 90 Artist’s Studio Number d90-3615 Present Owner Dedalus Foundation Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991 Solo Exhibitions Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, 1990.
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1990 Acrylic and graphite on paper 11 x 13½ in. (27.9 x 34.3 cm)
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smaller work by extending the bluepainted area of the ground to the lower half of the composition, which had formerly been painted red.
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Study for Memory of Delos 1990 Acrylic, oil stick, and graphite on paper 13¾ x 11 in. (34.9 x 27.9 cm)
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 90
Inscriptions Recto, upper right: RM \ 90
Artist’s Studio Number d90-3578
Artist’s Studio Number d90-3577; p90-3726
Present Owner Dana and Rick Dirickson
Present Owner Private collection
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Dana and Rick Dirickson, 2001
Provenance Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private collection, 1999
Comments An early state of this work—in which the ground was divided into sections of blue, red, and yellow—served as a study for the final version of a large painting on canvas, Hollow Men’s Cave (p1183), which Motherwell had begun in 1986 and completed around 1990. Later in 1990, Motherwell revised this
Comments This work was used as the model for a 1990 collage, Memory of Delos (c866), and for a 1991 print, Delos (Engberg and Banach 2003, no. 525). Both the title and the imagery in these works refer to the stone phalluses on the Stoivadeion temple dedicated to Dionysos on the Greek island of Delos.
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