Robert Motherwell Paintings and Collages: A Catalogue Raisonné 1941 – 1991 Volume 3 - Flipbook - Page 100
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.
88
collages
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.
