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Untitled by Robert Motherwell

Untitled by Robert Motherwell


This print is part of a portfolio of 10 screenprints, published in an edition of 500 by Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, Connecticut. These prints by leading American artists of the 1960s, demonstrate how appropriate the medium was for the hard edged style of post-painterly abstraction.

The prints were commissioned by Sam Wagstaff, Curator of the Wadsworth Athenaeum. He said that he wanted people 'to get as big a hunk of the current aesthetic as they could as cheaply as possible'. Wagstaff asked each artist to provide a design; a proof was returned to them for approval and/or adjustment.

A number of designs were based on original works. Motherwell's print is based on an original collage entitled 'Athenaeum Collage'. He deliberately reduced the size of the print so that it wouldn't be confused with the original.