Robert Motherwell, The Quarrel (Belknap 294; Engberg & Banach 318), 1983

Robert Motherwell

The Quarrel (Belknap 294; Engberg & Banach 318), 1983

Lithograph in colors on Arches paper

Hand signed and numbered 1/100 in graphite on the front with publisher's distinctive blind stamp. Accompanied by original Tyler Graphics label

40 × 25 1/2 inches

Unframed

Hand signed and numbered in graphite on the front with publisher's distinctive blind stamp. The work has been removed from its original frame, but the back board has been kept bearing the original label from the publisher, Tyler Graphics, New York.

There is no better art work for kissing and making up than "The Quarrel"!
This rare Robert Motherwell lithograph features the poem "The Quarrel" by the United States Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz. Read the full text of the poem in the artwork and reproduced below; it makes an amazing gift to a loved one or work associate or as a reminder of these important universal truths in any home or office. The work is hand signed and numbered in graphite on recto (front) from an edition of 100. It also bears the publisher's distinctive blind stamp (Tyler Graphics, Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York). Unframed with deckled edges and in fine condition.
Literature: (B. 294; Engberg and Banach (E. & B.) 318)
The full text of the poem is as follows:
The Quarrel
The word I spoke in anger
weighs less than a parsley seed,
but a road runs through it
that leads to my grave,
that bought-and-paid-for lot
on a salt-sprayed hill in Truro
where the scrub pines
overlook the bay.
Half-way I'm dead enough,
strayed from my own nature
and my fierce hold on life.
If I could cry, I'd cry,
but I'm too old to be
anybody's child.
Liebchen,
with whom should I quarrel
except in the hiss of love,
that harsh irregular flame?

Stanley Kunitz
This work is in very good condition; it is one of the brightest examples we have ever seen of this print as it was the first (#1) out of 100. It was removed from its original frame, but the back board bearing the publishers' label has been retained for provenance, to use when re-framing. There is some tape residue to the back which will frame out, minor waviness which should also frame out, and very minor time staining to on the lower corner by the blind stamp which is visible when carefully examined up close. (blown up here); otherwise an excellent impression of this uncommon Motherwell lithograph.

About Robert Motherwell:
Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was
an American abstract expressionist painter, printmaker,
and editor of The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology.
He was one of the youngest of the New York School, which
also included Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and
Mark Rothko. Trained in philosophy, Motherwell then
became an artist regarded as among the most articulate
spokesmen and the founders of the abstract expressionist
painters. He was known for his series of abstract paintings
and prints which touched on political, philosophical and
literary themes, such as the Elegies to the Spanish Republic.