White wove Dutch Copperplate Etching paper; blue Gauloises cigarette package label

Signed "Motherwell" in pencil lower right

Numbered in pencil lower left; workshop chop mark lower left

75 in two segments

4 AP, numbered I/IV-IV/IV
1 PP
4 TP, numbered I/IV-IV/IV
TP (unrecorded)
WP (unrecorded)
other proofs (unrecorded)

Universal Limited Art Editions, West Islip, New York

Donn Steward, Universal Limited Art Editions

2 colors (including 1 colored paper) printed in 2 steps from 1 copper plate: 1. ochre – plate (on Dutch Copperplate paper); 2. collage: Gauloises label, hand-torn by the artist and adhered to printed Dutch Copperplate paper

B 33; ULAE 4

The collage medium allowed Motherwell to catalogue fragments of commercial packaging that appealed to him. Because of their color or lettering, some wrappers made frequent appearances in his work. One of the most familiar is the French Gauloises cigarette package, incorporated into this print for the first time.

The edition of seventy-five was produced in two segments, approximately sixty-five completed in 1968 and an additional ten completed in 1972. As these prints were completed, Motherwell decided to distinguish the differences in each by tearing the collage fragments variously. The last ten examples include two cigarette packages each.