Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), alongside Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning, made up the quartet of American abstract painters that radically defined abstraction and established New York City as the center of the art world for the second half of the 20th century.
Motherwell was the unofficial spokesman of the New York School, writing and lecturing on behalf of the movement, his fellow artists, and the merits of abstraction.
His body of work is almost completely void of representation. However, as a printmaker, he included images including logos, maps, cigarette packaging, and more to expand and elevate his abstract creations.
In this dynamic work, Motherwell brings the gestural spirit of his paintings to printmaking. Vibrant swathes of canary yellow and cobalt blue punctuate the composition, emphatically framing a map of the Mediterranean coast, specifically Spain, France, and Italy.
Although the artist's use of collage elements may often appear arbitrary, his strong connection to Italy was deeply personal. Beginning in the 1960s, Motherwell took great inspiration from the country's enthusiasm toward European Modernism at a time when Pop Art and Minimalism were gaining prominence in the United States.
Connection to Italy was a recurring theme in his work, click for examples here and here. He often made references to the places that were dear to him, another example being his home in Provincetown, MA, infusing each piece with a unique and intimate sense of place and memory.
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"Mediterranean, State I"
USA, 1975
Lithograph and screenprint on white Arches Cover mold-made paper
Signed and numbered by the artist, lower right
A printer's proof, outside the edition of 26
46.5"H 31.5"W (work)
Published by Tyler Graphics Ltd.
Very good condition.
Literature: "Robert Motherwell: The Complete Prints 1940-1991 Catalogue Raisonne" pg. 177.
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