In Orange and Violet (?)

Recto, upper right: Motherwell 45
Verso [crossed out and torn]: [illegible] - Robert Motherwell Florida [19]45 \ egg tempera on Whatman paper
Verso [partially erased]: Show all possible \ 3 inch [illegible] mat to show \ 558 frame

Mr. and Mrs. James M. Shepherd, Jr., Atlantic Beach, Fl.

Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Chareau, ca. 1945; Dollie Chareau, 1950; Heath Gallery, Atlanta, Ga.; Mr. and Mrs. James M. Shepherd, Jr., Atlantic Beach, Fl., ca. 1982

Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, Robert Motherwell: Paintings, Collages, Drawings, January 2–19, 1946, cat. no. 19, as In Orange and Violet (?).

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia Collects, January 24–March 6, 1989, ill. p. 179.

Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, Fla., Contemporary Visions: A Focus on Jacksonville, January 24–April 15, 2008.

Mattison, Robert Saltonstall. “The Art of Robert Motherwell During the 1940s” (includes artist’s statements). Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 1985, ill. n.p. (fig. 118, erroneously as Untitled (figures)).

Motherwell and his wife Maria traveled to Florida with William and Ethel Baziotes in April 1945, to experience the “southern light” (Museum of Modern Art exh. cat. 1965, p. 74). They were meant to stay in Coronado Beach for six months, but both couples cut the trip short and the Motherwells returned to New York in early May. This and an untitled painting on paper (W3) are the only works Motherwell is known to have created while in Florida, although it is likely that Untitled (D96) was also done during this trip. The original title of this drawing has been lost, but it is possible that this work was shown as In Orange and Violet in Motherwell's January 1946 solo exhibition at the Samuel M. Kootz gallery.
The "558" on the verso refers to a type of frame favored by Motherwell during the 1940s.