Robert Motherwell (1915–1991)
Primal Sign I, 1979-80
Medium: Color Aquatint & Lift-Ground Etching
Edition: 38/60
Artwork Size: 23.5 x 18 in
Framed Size: 34.75 x 28.25 in
This work is Framed
Color aquatint and lift-ground etching on cream Whatman1979-80.
Sheet size: 23 1/2x18 inches, full margins.
Signed and numbered 38/60 in pencil, lower margin.
Printed by Catherine Mousley, New York.
Published by Brooke Alexander, Inc., New York.
A very good impression.
Belknap 223.
This image is featured as the frontispiece in the catalogue raissone of Motherwell's works by Stephanie Terenzio.
His catalog raissonne included around 200 prints created by Robert Motherwell. He is the only abstract expressionist to pick up print making and dedicate a sizable portion of his career to it. The most noteworthy medium he explored was the medium of etching.
Traditionally - the single print used as the image to foreshadow the entire oeuvre is one of, if not the most, sought after and desirable prints by any artist who has a catalog dedicated to the art.
This work evokes ancient symbolic markings, and the visible plate mark and dampened paper waves are indicative of large margins and authentic printing process characteristics.
