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CR 21
Madrid Suite: Madrid Suite A
1966
lithograph on Arches Cover paper
22 x 30 in. (55.9 x 76.2 cm) and 22 x 27 in. (55.9 x 68.6 cm)
Signature
Signed "Robert Motherwell," "R. Motherwell," or "Motherwell" lower right (some in pencil, some in brown pencil); signed "RM" in plate upper left
Inscriptions
Numbered lower right (some in pencil, some in brown pencil); some impressions have printer's chop mark lower right
Edition
100
Proofs
AP (unrecorded)
PP (unrecorded
TP (unrecorded)
PP (unrecorded
TP (unrecorded)
Publisher
Hollander Workshop, New York
Printer
Irwin Hollander, Hollander Workshop
Production Sequence
1 color printed in 1 run from 1 zinc plate: black – plate
Concordance
B 9
Comments
The graphite textures of Motherwell's Madrid drawings of 1958 inspired him to contrive a suite of lithographs based on their triangulated central form. The lithographic crayon was appropriate to the complex hatching marks that Motherwell wanted to re-create in the background of the prints, resembling the granular quality of the original drawings.
From the edition of 100, Motherwell issued one segment of the suite in a portfolio format that incorporated all ten lithographs and a title page on Curtis Tweed weave paper containing a statement by the artist about the origin of the images and his collaboration with Irwin Hollander. The portfolio cover bears the artist's name and the title of the suite, and has a light brown binding. Approximately thirty portfolio suites were issued from the first third of the numbered sequence, though no precise documentation of this exists in the workshop records or the artist's archive. Of the remaining two thirds, the prints were variously signed "Motherwell," "R. Motherwell," or "Robert Motherwell," either in lead pencil or colored pencil. The signature is positioned on some impressions lower right and some lower left.
The artist wanted the lithographs to bear a composite title made up of the name of the suite and a letter suffix from A to J. The sequencing and titling of the images herein reflect that original determination. In a decision in 1979 to compress further the way the image was situated in the page plan, Motherwell asked Hollander to tear down the margins from 30 to 27 inches on a number of impressions from the sequence 50/100 through 100/100.
From the edition of 100, Motherwell issued one segment of the suite in a portfolio format that incorporated all ten lithographs and a title page on Curtis Tweed weave paper containing a statement by the artist about the origin of the images and his collaboration with Irwin Hollander. The portfolio cover bears the artist's name and the title of the suite, and has a light brown binding. Approximately thirty portfolio suites were issued from the first third of the numbered sequence, though no precise documentation of this exists in the workshop records or the artist's archive. Of the remaining two thirds, the prints were variously signed "Motherwell," "R. Motherwell," or "Robert Motherwell," either in lead pencil or colored pencil. The signature is positioned on some impressions lower right and some lower left.
The artist wanted the lithographs to bear a composite title made up of the name of the suite and a letter suffix from A to J. The sequencing and titling of the images herein reflect that original determination. In a decision in 1979 to compress further the way the image was situated in the page plan, Motherwell asked Hollander to tear down the margins from 30 to 27 inches on a number of impressions from the sequence 50/100 through 100/100.
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