Five Circles

1971

lithograph on Rives BFK paper
40 x 27 1/2 in. (101.6 x 69.9 cm)

Signature

Signed "Robert Motherwell" in pencil lower left

Inscriptions

Numbered in pencil lower left; publisher's chop mark lower left

Edition

Proofs

5 AP, numbered I/V-V/V
20 impressions, numbered I/XX- XX/XX
other proofs (unrecorded)

Publisher

Erker-Presse, St. Gallen, Switzerland

Printer

Erker-Presse

Production Sequence

2 colors printed in 2 runs from 1 stone and 1 aluminum plate: 1. red-brown – stone; 2. light yellow – plate

Concordance

B 78

Comments

Invited by Edition Olympia 1972 through Galerie im Erker in St. Gallen, Switzerland, Motherwell designed Five Circles as a poster, printed and published by Erker-Presse, to publicize the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. The image was ultimately rejected by the committee, which had specified that the poster include collage elements.

The original publisher's documentation sheet lists the title in German as Fünf Zirkel.

...