Robert Motherwell Paintings and Collages: A Catalogue Raisonné 1941 – 1991 Volume 3 - Flipbook - Page 252
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.
240
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.
