Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), alongside Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning, made up the quartet of abstract painters that radically defined Modern painting in America and established New York City as the new center of the art world.
An uncommonly gifted communicator, Motherwell was the unofficial spokesman of the New York School of painters, writing, editing a journal, and lecturing on behalf of the movement, his fellow artists, and the merits of abstraction.
While Motherwell's contribution to the art historical canon as a painter is undisputed, his role as a printmaker is arguably just as important. He was one of the most experimental and courageous printmakers of the 20th century, always searching for new techniques to express or expand his ideas and aesthetics.
The "Basque Suite" is a series of 10 iconic prints. Featuring Motherwell's signature ink-black gestural forms, the group's imagery is complemented by dense stretches of monochromatic color and breaks of negative space.
This print is a paradigm of Motherwell's oeuvre: aggressive black forms create a confident abstract arrangement, capped by a tangerine-coloured flat on the upper right. The negative space allows for implications and softening of the harsh mark-making.
"Basque Suite" is one of Motherwell's earliest forays into screenprinting and the results are iconic and moving. Click here or here to see other examples from the series.
The complete set of "Basque Suite" can be found in many museum's permanent collections including the Tate.
Questions about this piece? Contact us, call +1.416.704.1720, or visit our Toronto gallery.
"Basque Suite #12"
London, 1971
Color screenprint on J. B. Green paper
Initialed and numbered "147/150" in pencil, lower right
Signed "Motherwell" in plate, upper left
From an edition of 150
40.5"H 20"W (sheet)
Published by Marlborough Graphics, Inc., London
Printed by Kelpra Studio, London
Very good condition.
Literature:
Engberg, S. & Banach, J. (2003). Robert Motherwell, the Complete Prints 1940-1991. A Catalogue Raisonné. Minneapolis: Walker Art Gallery
Reference: Engberg & Banach 87 | Belknap 58
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