Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), alongside Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning, made up the quartet of abstract painters that radically defined Modern painting in America and established New York City as the new center of the art world.
Motherwell was the unofficial spokesman of the New York School, writing and editing a journal, and lecturing on behalf of the movement, his fellow artists, and the merits of abstraction.
Motherwell's contribution to the art historical canon is undisputed. This recognition is especially imbued as a result of the achievements Motherwell pursued as a printmaker. Motherwell is one of the most experimental and courageous printmakers of the 20th century. He was always searching for new techniques to express and expand his ideas and aesthetic.
Motherwell's works are instantly recognizable by their repeated motifs: giant black forms, sometimes aggressive, sometimes spontaneous, that seem to confidently devour the pictorial plain.
In this work we find exemplary Motherwell fashion; a bold, abstract black shape is set against a field of color. Neutral colors, such as taupe, cream and ochre are frequently used by Motherwell to accelerate the power of his black elements. Collaged into the work is section of sheet music amongst abstracted blocks of muted neutral colors. Where the Cubists incorporated collage into the painted canvas, Motherwell similarly fused collage with printmaking while retaining the gestural spirit of Abstract Expressionism.
This untitled lithograph is a paradigm of Motherwell's practice. It was included in the portfolio "12th Anniversary Galeria Joan Prats 1976-88 Portfolio" (or “Carpeta Commemorativa 12e Aniversari”). The portfolio was created to celebrate the twelfth anniversary of the Galeria Joan Prats, one of Barcelona's most important and pioneering art galleries.
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"Untitled, from: 12th Anniversary Galeria Joan Prats 1976-88 Portfolio"
USA/Spain, 1986
Signed and numbered in pencil by the artist
Lithograph in colors with collage on wove paper
From an edition of 100
22"H 14.9"W (sheet)
Publisher: Polígrafa S.A., Barcelona
Very good condition
