Robert Motherwell Paintings and Collages: A Catalogue Raisonné 1941 – 1991 Volume 2 - Flipbook - Page 43
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between one’s self and everything outside and an impulse to bridge it. I’m
not interested in painting the embellishments of reality, but in finding a
direct, intense single sense of oneness
with it. This picture is of the West,
where I come from—no shadows,
dryness, big shapes—made lyrical”
(Louchheim 1951a).
A wall label from Motherwell’s
1965 Museum of Modern Art retrospective reads: “If you ask the painter
why he called his picture Western Air,
he explains that the name has a double
meaning: when he was painting it he
had in mind the clear dry air and clean
color of the southwestern states; at
the same time, ‘air’ means ‘tune’ and
‘Western Air’ suggests that his painting
is to be enjoyed not as a representation
of a scene, but as a kind of visual
music” (Research Library, The Getty
Research Institute, Los Angeles).
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In Blue with Crosses
Figuration
The Red Stripe
1947
Oil on canvas
54 x 38 in. (137.2 x 96.5 cm)
1947
Oil on Masonite
20¾ x 15⅜ in. (52.7 x 39.1 cm)
1947
Oil on canvas
37 x 31 in. (94 x 78.7 cm)
inscriptions
Recto, lower right, incised: RM 47
inscriptions
Recto, lower right: 47 RM
inscriptions
Recto, lower right: R.M. 47
Verso not signed, not dated
Verso not seen [“signed and dated ’47,”
per Christie’s 1987]
Verso not seen
present owner
Private collection
provenance
Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1947;
unknown owner; Northeastern
University Libraries, Archives and
Special Collections Department, 1956;
[Robert W. Skinner, Boston, May 19,
2006, lot 438, illus.]; private collection,
2006; [Christie’s, New York, November
14, 2007, lot 156, illus. (not sold)]
solo exhibitions
Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York,
April 1947, cat. no. 12.
comments
This painting underwent significant
restoration in 2006, when major paint
loss, cracking, and two punctured areas
on the canvas were repaired.
present owner
Solomon & Company Fine Art, Inc.
(present whereabouts unknown,
stolen, 1988)
provenance
Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1947;
unknown owner; [Christie’s, New York,
February 21, 1987, lot 11, illus. (not
sold)]; Solomon & Company Fine Art,
Inc., 1987; present whereabouts
unknown (stolen from Solomon &
Company Fine Art, Inc., 1988)
comments
Our reproduction of this painting
comes from the 1987 Christie’s auction
catalogue. The painting was stolen
from Solomon & Company Fine Art
in July 1988.
artist’s studio number
p46-5058
present owner
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rowan
provenance
Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1947; private
collection, 1947; Mr. and Mrs. Robert
Rowan, 1959
solo exhibitions
Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York,
April 1947, cat. no. 7.
Pasadena Art Museum, Calif.,
February 1962, cat. no. 3, illus. n.p.
Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1974,
cat. no. 6, illus. n.p.
pai ntin gs on c anvas and panel
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