Robert Motherwell Paintings and Collages: A Catalogue Raisonné 1941 – 1991 Volume 3 - Flipbook - Page 522
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Mural Sketch
Alternative Title: Open No. 3: In Raw
Sienna with Charcoal Line
1967
Acrylic, crayon, and graphite on
paperboard
15 x 20 in. (38.1 x 50.8 cm)
inscriptions
Recto, lower right: RM 67
Verso: R. Motherwell 1967
present owner
Collection of Timoteus R. Pohl,
Vermont
provenance
Ulfert Wilke, 1969; [Christie’s, New
York, February 14, 1991, lot 7, illus.];
unknown owner, 1991; private collection, 1991; [Sotheby’s, New York, May
5, 1994, lot 123, illus.]; Timoteus R.
Pohl, Vermont, 1994
solo exhibitions
Richard Feigen Gallery, Chicago, 1968
(traveling).
510
group exhibitions
University of Iowa Museum of Art,
Iowa City, 1972 (traveling), cat. no. 7,
illus. p. 6.
University of Iowa Museum of Art,
Iowa City, 1975, cat. no. 374.
comments
The title Mural Sketch refers to
Motherwell’s use of this work as the
basis for his large-scale 1969 painting
Open No. 111: Big White and Ochre (p497).
Numbers indicating measurements
of “15½ cm,” “22 cm,” and “5½ cm”
are written in pencil in Motherwell’s
hand just under the bottom edge of
the area painted in raw sienna. These
were guidelines for scaling up the composition onto the canvas for the large
painting.
This work on paper was listed
under an alternative title, Open No. 3:
In Raw Sienna with Charcoal Line, on
Motherwell’s May 26, 1970, “open
Series, 1967–1970” list, indicating that
it was one of the earliest of the Open
works, probably done in November
paintings on pa p e r an d p a p e r b o a r d
1967. Although it was given the number
3 on that list, it was exhibited only as
Mural Sketch, both before and after that
list was written.
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Open No. 31A: In Burnt
Sienna
1967
Acrylic and charcoal on paper
17 x 37½ in. (43.2 x 95.3 cm)
inscriptions
Recto, lower left: RM 67
present owner
Private collection
provenance
Private collection, New York; [Christie’s,
New York, May 6, 1987, lot 116, illus.];
André Emmerich Gallery, 1987; private
collection, 1988; private collection, 2005
group exhibitions
Gallery One, Toronto, 1988.
comments
This work and a related painting on
paper, Open No. 31B: In Raw Sienna
(w252), were among the earliest works
done in the Open series, as seen in photographs of Motherwell’s studio taken
by Ugo Mulas in November 1967 (see
fig. 112 in volume 1), where both works
are visible in their final states, pinned
