Large selection KM GRAHAM "MOUNTAINS SEAS AND CLIFFS" DRAWING 1975

Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), alongside Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning, made up the quartet of American abstract painters that radically defined Modern painting 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 prolifically on behalf of the movement, his fellow artists, and the merits of abstraction.  

His body of work is almost completely void of representative images - however, as a printmaker, he included images from photos to cigarette packaging to supplement his abstract creations.

In this dynamic lithograph, Motherwell brings the gestural and impactful feeling of his paintings to printmaking. Substituting heavy brush-strokes for layers of ripped paper mixed with more restrained painted lines, Motherwell creates an enigmatic image with fragmented visuals and a suggestive meaning. 

Motherwell's finest prints are realized on heavily textured hand-made papers with a lot of character. This work is Arches Cover paper torn and collaged onto Oatmeal Australian Bemboka hand-made paper. The paper exhibits exceptional character with naturally deckled edges. 

This work is included in "Robert Motherwell: The Complete Prints 1940-1991 Catalogue Raisonne" pg. 268.

Click here for another example from this iconic series.

Questions about this piece? Contact us or call +1.416.704.1720. Visit our Toronto gallery on Thursdays or by appointment.

"America-La France Variations IX"

Lithograph

USA, 1984

Signed RM and numbered by the artist

From an edition of 60

28"H 22"W (work)

Published by Tyler Graphics Ltd.

Very good condition.