Robert Motherwell Paintings and Collages: A Catalogue Raisonné 1941 – 1991 Volume 3 - Flipbook - Page 65
c63
race dated August 13, 1955. Both works
contain visible water damage, the result
of a flood in the artist’s basement
during the late 1950s. But Motherwell
apparently preferred not to have the
work restored (Art Gallery of Ontario
work file, Dedalus Foundation Archives).
c64
c63
c64
Untitled
Collage with News from
Zürich and Black Table
1955
Oil, pasted papers, charcoal, and
graphite on paperboard
20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
inscriptions
Recto, upper right: RM 55
artist’s studio number
c55-2601
present owner
National Gallery of Art, Washington,
D.C. The Nancy Lee and Perry Bass
Fund, 1999.55.6
provenance
Dedalus Foundation, 1991; National
Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1999
solo exhibitions
Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona,
1996 (traveling), cat. no. 16, color illus.
p. 103.
comments
Regarding the composition and condition of this collage, see the Comments
for Untitled (c62).
1956
Oil, pasted papers, and graphite on
paper mounted on board
30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
inscriptions
Recto, lower center (on collage
element): Robert Motherwell 1956
which contains the Zurich address of
European Art This Month, a journal published by James Fitzsimmons that
debuted in November 1956. The line
of poetry written in Motherwell’s hand
at the upper right comes from Paul
Eluard’s poem “Du fond de l’abîme”
(From the Depths of the Abyss), and
reads as follows: “Avaient leur âge de
raison, les mélancholiques” (They had
their age of reason, the melancholics).
present owner
The Art Institute of Chicago. Bequest
of Bernard Williams, 1994.276
provenance
Bernard Williams, 1959; Art Institute of
Chicago, 1994
solo exhibitions
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York,
May 1957, cat. no. 17.
references
Ashton 1957a, illus. p. 4.
comments
The “News from Zürich” of the title
refers to the piece of torn brown paper
in the lower right part of the collage,
co lla ges
53
