Robert Motherwell Paintings and Collages: A Catalogue Raisonné 1941 – 1991 Volume 3 - Flipbook - Page 458
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Figuration, with Green
The Mystery of the Night
1958–59
Oil on paper
22 x 30 in. (55.9 x 76.2 cm)
1958/ca. 1961
Oil on paperboard
14⅞ x 17⅞ in. (37.8 x 45.4 cm)
inscriptions
Recto, upper right, incised and
inscribed: RM
inscriptions
Recto, lower right, incised: RM
Verso [revised ]: Figuration, with
Green Robert Motherwell 195[8]9
oil on rag paper
present owner
Private collection
provenance
Private collection, 1959; private collection, ca. 1989
comments
Motherwell originally inscribed the
verso of this work with a 1958 date but
later changed it to read 1959. We do not
know what kind of revision may have
been done in 1959.
446
Verso: R. Motherwell 1958 St-Jeande-Luz France
Verso: “the mystery of the night”
artist’s studio number
p58-27
present owner
Collection of Donald T. Meder, Los
Angeles
photographed in the fall of that year
(Juley photo no. 81; j0004873). He subsequently added the ochre paint, further emphasizing the central diamond
form, along with the white lines. The
exact date of this revision is not
known, but it appears to have been
done around 1961, while Motherwell
was still preoccupied with the View
series. The work was photographed in
its final state in 1972 (studio inventory
photo no. ph 9-2). Its composition is
related to the artist’s View series, begun
in 1958, which included works done on
canvas, paper, and paperboard; see the
Comments for A View No. 1 (p182).
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Cock Looking Backwards
1958/ca. 1961/after 1972
Oil and acrylic on paperboard
16 x 13 in. (40.6 x 33 cm)
inscriptions
Recto, lower left, incised [painted over]:
[RM]
Recto, lower right, incised [painted
over]: [RM]
Verso [circled ]: [oil on rag board]
1958 “cock looking backwards”
Robert Motherwell st-jean-de-luz,
france
artist’s studio number
d58-22
provenance
Dedalus Foundation, 1991; Donald T.
Meder, Los Angeles, 2005
present owner
Private collection
solo exhibitions
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles,
2005, cat. no. 1, cover color illus.
provenance
Dedalus Foundation, 1991; private
collection, 2000
comments
Motherwell began this work in
Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer
of 1958, and an early version of it was
comments
Motherwell set the basic composition
of this work in Saint-Jean-de-Luz during the summer of 1958, and subse-
paintings on p a p e r an d p a p e r b o a r d
