Robert Motherwell Paintings and Collages: A Catalogue Raisonné 1941 – 1991 Volume 3 - Flipbook - Page 10
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).
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key to the catalo gu e e n t r i e s
