{"product_id":"robert-motherwell-beige-open-etching-1981","title":"ROBERT MOTHERWELL “BEIGE OPEN” ETCHING, 1981","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003ca title=\"Toronto art gallery collection featuring artwork by iconic abstract expressionist, Robert Motherwell\" href=\"https:\/\/www.caviar20.com\/collections\/robert-motherwell\"\u003eRobert Motherwell\u003c\/a\u003e (1915-1991), alongside Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning, made up the quartet of American artists that radically defined abstraction and established New York City as the center of the post-war art world.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMotherwell was also the unofficial spokesman of the New York School, writing, teaching, and lecturing extensively on behalf of abstract expressionism, his fellow artists, and the merits of abstraction. In addition to his accomplishments as a painter and scholar Motherwell was also one of the most accomplished American printmakers of the 20th century. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eHe is one of the most innovative and prolific printmakers of the 20th century. He was always searching for new techniques, whether at his own printmaking atelier or collaborating with others, to expand his ideas and express his aesthetic.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1967, Motherwell introduced his \"Open\" series, a \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003estudy that would continue to evolve for nearly two decades to extend into the 1980s. While Motherwell will forever be associated with abstract expressionism, this body of work is perhaps his way of responding to minimalism. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \"Open\" series came about entirely by chance. While in his studio, the artist was captivated by the silhouette of a recent painting, \"Summertime in Italy,\" which leaned against a larger, freshly primed canvas. Intrigued by the proportions, Motherwell used charcoal to trace the canvas's contours, resulting in a simple but bold rectangular shape formed by three lines. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Beige Open\" is a quintessential example of this series. A sweeping plane of warm paper hosts a rectangle comprised of three fine black lines. Like the best of this series, the top of the rectangle is left unlatched, as if representing a window, a swing, or opening into a world beyond.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eClick \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.caviar20.com%20%E2%80%BA%20products%20%E2%80%BA%20robert-motherwell-london-series-ii-citron-1971\" title=\"Motherwell minimalism Open series London Caviar20\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.caviar20.com\/collections\/robert-motherwell\/products\/robert-motherwell-window-1991\" title=\"Robert Motherwell Window Open series Caviar20\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e to see other \"cousins\" within this family of prints.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile Motherwell is renowned for black gestural forms, the influence of Minimalism in the 1960s is especially apparent in this body of work. The result is arguably one of the most intriguing phases within his entire oeuvre, and a reminder of his mastery and contribution to American abstraction. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eQuestions about this piece? \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"mailto:info@caviar20.com\"\u003eContact us\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, call +1.416.704.1720, or \u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.caviar20.com\/pages\/contact\" target=\"_blank\"\u003evisit our Toronto gallery\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\"Beige Open\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eUSA, 1981 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"page\" title=\"Page 1\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"layoutArea\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"column\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSoft-ground etching on beige Auvergne à la Main Richard de Bas handmade paper \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSigned \"RM\" in pencil lower right\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumbered in pencil lower right; artist's chop mark lower right\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eEdition: 58\/80\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublisher: Artist; released by Petersburg Press, London and New York\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrinteR: Catherine Mosley, artist's studio, Greenwich, Conneticut\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e20”H 26.25”W (work)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good condition\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eProvenance: The Dedalus Foundation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCatalogue Raisonné: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/dedalusfoundation.org\/robert-motherwell\/catalogues-raisonne\/prints-editioned-works\/view\/cr-278-beige-open\/\"\u003eCR 278\u003c\/a\u003e (Concordance \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eB 245)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Robert Motherwell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67598273708268,"sku":"09-26","price":3500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0074\/2712\/files\/Caviar20_Robert-Motherwell-Spanish-Elgy-II-1975_01.jpg?v=1790710925","url":"https:\/\/www.caviar20.com\/products\/robert-motherwell-beige-open-etching-1981","provider":"Caviar20","version":"1.0","type":"link"}