#FridayFeature | Robert Motherwell, America - La France Variations IX, 1984 — In his next major project at [Tyler Graphics], the America - La France Variations, 1984, Motherwell returned to his interest in combining collage and printmaking, something he and Tyler had begun to develop during the making of the Summer Light Series. As he had done at Gemini, Motherwell created an extensive series of working collages for the America - La France Variations, which became primary templates for the finished prints. — These collages happened almost by accident...the artist experimented with the idea of including a torn wrapper from a package of French Arjomari-Prioux paper that he had found in the Tyler studio. This act transformed the print, and, interested in the new direction, Motherwell completed the composition with additional colors and gestures. Tyler then made several proofs off this collage, and as Motherwell began to rework the printed version many variations were born. — Each of the prints in the America - La France Variations evolved in this way, through extensive proofing, cutting apart, drawing, recollaging, and more proofing. Having several impressions at hand while he reworked them allowed Motherwell to experiment with a range of compositional strategies, all the while keeping a record of the final image's evolution. Because each collage became source material for the next version, the prints in the series have at times been described by Tyler as editioned monotypes. — Above all, the prints show Motherwell working a completely new manner, with a deep appreciation of the proofing process as an important means for solving artistic problems (he sometimes referred to trial and work proofs as "traces of struggle") and for developing creative ideas. — Text source: Siri Engberg, Robert Motherwell: The Complete Prints 1940-1991, Catalogue Raisonné, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Hudson Hills Press, New York, 2003, page 28 — Artwork info: Robert Motherwell, America - La France Variations IX, 1984, lithograph and collage, 28 1/2 x 21 3/4 inches, Edition of 60 #robertmotherwell #motherwell #tylergraphics #arthistory (at Leslie Sacks Gallery)
