Robert Motherwell Paintings and Collages: A Catalogue Raisonné 1941 – 1991 Volume 3 - Flipbook - Page 223
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
co lla ges
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