Robert Motherwell (American, 1915-1991) The Mad Clown

Description:

Robert Motherwell (American, 1915-1991)

The Mad Clown, 1944
Unsigned, inscribed "Figure/3" white mat…" in pencil on the reverse, inscribed "Roy
Nutt" in pencil on the backing mat, titled and inscribed "…[Personage], 1944…" and identified on labels from Noah Goldowsky Fine Arts, New York, and Weatherspoon Art Gallery, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, on the backing cardboard.
Ink and watercolor on paper, sheet size 8 x 5 1/2 in. (20.3 x 14.0 cm),framed.
Condition: Tape hinged to window mat.

Provenance: From the artist to Jesse Fernandez; Wallace Reiss, American Gallery; Noah Goldowsky Gallery, New York; purchased from a benefit exhibition of donated works at the Rhode Island School of Design, 1973 by the present Rhode Island private collector.

Exhibited: Robert Motherwell: Paintings, Papiers Collés, Drawings, October 24, 1944 to November 11, 1944, Art of This Century, New York. (No catalogue); Abstract and Expressionist Paintings, January 18, 1946 to February 10, 1946, Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida (No catalogue); Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Annual Exhibition, November 15 to December 17, 1970, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro; The New York School: Aaron Siskind in Context , November 7, 2003 to January 25, 2004, Rhode Island School of Design.

N.B. We wish to thank the Dedalus Foundation for their assistance with cataloguing the lot.

Estimate $10,000-15,000

Trimmed sheet (apparently by the artist),restored cut to l.r. approximately 1 in. length, no additional condition issues to report.

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