Chambre d'Amour

Inscriptions

Signed and dated, upper right, lightly incised [possibly with a paint brush handle] in the blue paint: R Motherwell / 58; signed and dated, on reverse: St.-Jean-de-Luz / 1958 France / R. Motherwell / Chambre / d' Amour

Label

It’s not that the creative act and the critical act are simultaneous. It’s more like you blurt something out and then analyze it. --Robert Motherwell

Motherwell studied philosophy in addition to art, and his career included both painting and writing on the topic. He espoused self-referential art and encouraged painters to make artworks that were wholly new and not derived from the visible world. His hand is apparent everywhere in his work. In beautifully written criticism, he hailed the possibility for individuals to mine their subconscious for artistic images that communicate at a precognitive level.

From the 2023 exhibition The Painter's Hand: U.S. Abstraction since 1950, curated by John Stomberg, Virginia Rice Kelsey 1961s Director

Course History

ARTH 17, Abstract Expressionism, Jim Jordan, Spring 2012

ARTH 17, The Power of Place: Urban and Rural Images in American Art, 1900-1945, Sarah Powers, Winter 2014

Studio Art 25.01, Painting I, Daniele Genadry, Summer 2023

Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023

Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023

First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Francine A'Ness, Summer 2023

Studio Art 15.04, Drawing I, Enrico Riley, Fall 2023

Studio Art 17.08, Digital Drawing, Karol Kawiaka, Fall 2023

Studio Art 25.01, Painting I, Jen Caine, Fall 2023

Writing 5.05, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Fall 2023

Writing 5.06, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Fall 2023

Exhibition History

Churchill P. Lathrop Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 15-April 8, 1998.

Churchill P. Lathrop Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 1-September 20, 1999.

Churchill P. Lathrop Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 25-May 30, 2003.

Churchill P. Lathrop Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 15, 1996-June 22, 1997.

Churchill P. Lathrop Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 13-December 27, 1998.

Modern and Contemporary Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 26,2009-March 15, 2010.

The Painter's Hand: U.S. Abstraction since 1950, William B. Jaffe and Evelyn A. Jaffe-Hall Galleries, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 3-December 16, 2023.

Publication History

David Cateforis, "Robert Motherwell's "Figure Before Blackness"", Spencer Museum of Art, Register, Volume Vii, No. 3, July 1, 2000 - June 30, 2001, Lawrence: Spencer Museum of Art, 2001, p. 8 (referenced).

Brian P. Kennedy and Emily Shubert Burke, Modern and Contemporary Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2009 p.35, no.12.

Provenance

The artist (painted in St. Jean de Luz, France) May 1958; Dedalus Foundation, Inc., Bedford Hills, New York; partial gift/purchase to present collection, 1996.

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