Robert Motherwell Paintings and Collages: A Catalogue Raisonné 1941 – 1991 Volume 3 - Flipbook - Page 389
c826
Columbia University, exh. cat. 1997,
color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio);
Caws 2003, p. 136.
comments
This collage was exhibited at Knoedler
& Company in April 1988 under its
original title, Over the Edge. Around the
same time, Motherwell began a series
of stylistically related collages that he
first referred to as the In Black and Tan
series, but which he would eventually
call Night Music and sequence with
opus numbers. The title may refer to
Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A
Little Night Music; k. 525) or to Béla
Bartók’s style known as “night music.”
Motherwell titled an earlier collage
Night Music (c668).
Under Motherwell’s supervision,
the works in this series were all framed
in mats that cover the uneven borders of
the black paint on the support. Although
the boards that serve as the supports
extend farther than the painted areas,
the area visible within the mat is considered the image of each picture.
We do not know whether this work
still exists in the form illustrated here.
c827
c826
c827
Night Music Opus No. 2
Night Music Opus No. 3
1988
Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas
mounted on board
32¼ x 26¼ in. (81.9 x 66.7 cm)
1988
Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas
mounted on board
32¼ x 26¼ in. (81.9 x 66.7 cm)
inscriptions
Recto, upper left: R. Motherwell 88
inscriptions
Recto, upper left: RM 88
artist’s studio number
c88-3462
artist’s studio number
c88-3463
present owner
Collection of Peter and Linda Bren
present owner
Private collection
provenance
Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Peter and
Linda Bren, 2001
provenance
Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private
collection, 2000
group exhibitions
Provincetown Art Association and
Museum, Mass., 1989 (traveling), illus.
n.p.
solo exhibitions
Knoedler & Company, New York, April
1989, cat. no. 7, color illus. n.p.
references
Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209
(in studio); Caws 1996b, illus. p. 142
(in studio); Miriam & Ira D. Wallach
Art Gallery, Columbia University, exh.
cat. 1997, color illus. p. 192 (pl. 135,
in studio).
& Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia
University, exh. cat. 1997, color illus.
p. 192 (pl. 135, in studio); Caws 2003,
pp. 116, 124, illus. 126 (ill. 85).
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles,
2000, cat. no. 17.
references
Pleynet 1989b, color illus. p. 209
(in studio); Caws 1996b, p. 145, illus.
p. 142 (in studio), illus. p. 148; Miriam
co lla ges
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