The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Mallarme's Swan

Mallarme's Swan

1944
(American, 1915–1991)
America, 20th century
collage using gouache, crayon and paper on cardboard
Unframed: 110.5 x 90.2 cm (43 1/2 x 35 1/2 in.)
Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1961.229
© Dedalus Foundation, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Robert Motherwell originally titled this work Mallarme's Dream, but artist Joseph Cornell suggested changing it to its present version.

Description

This drawing is one of several works that Robert Motherwell made in tribute to the French Symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé (1842–1898). A member of the New York School, Motherwell stood out among his contemporaries for his literary references within a movement that otherwise favored pure abstraction. He worked in collage, the process used here, for much of his career, expressively tearing and layering paper and everyday materials.
  • Mrs. Robert Motherwell
    ?-1961
    (Robert Elkon Gallery, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1961-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 200 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 200 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 250 archive.org
    Henning, Edward B. The Spirit of Surrealism. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1979. Mentioned: p. 150, 175; Reproduced: p. 150, no. 90
    Landau, Ellen G. “‘Space and Pictorial Life’ Hans Hofmann’s ‘Smaragd Red and Germinating Yellow.’” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 5 (September 1985): 310–22. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 311, fig. 4 www.jstor.org
    Henning, Edward B. Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1987. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 133, no. 43
    Flam, Jack D., Katy Rogers, and Tim Clifford. Motherwell: 100 Years. Milano, Italy: Skira; New York: Dedalus Foundation, 2015. Reproduction: p. 26
    Kishi, Mizuki. "Jackson Pollock's Painting Process and Viewr Participation: With Reference to Dewey's Art as Experience." NACT Review 3 (2016): 42-60. Reproduced: p. 55, fig. 19
  • Robert Motherwell: Early Collages. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (September 27, 2013-January 5, 2014).
    In the Beginning was Merz - From Kurt Schwitters to the Present Day. Sprengel Museum Hannover (August 16-November 5, 2000).
    Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
    Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 16-November 8, 1987).
    also to: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, January 4-March 4, 1984; San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, April 7-May 28, 1984; Seattle, Seattle Art Museum, June 22-August 5, 1984; Washington, DC, Corcoran Gallery of Art, September 8-October 28, 1984; New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, December 1, 1984-January 31, 1985.
    Buffalo, NY, The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Robert Motherwell Retrospective Exhibition, September 15-November 27, 1983, cat. no. 13, repr. p. 125.
    Mexico City, Museo de Arte Moderno, Retrospectiva del gran pinter nortamericano, April-May, 1975, cat. no. 2, repr. p. 10.
    also to: Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, February 6-February 25, 1973; Hartford, CT, The Wadsworth Atheneum, March 14-April 22, 1973; Boston, The Museum of Fine Arts, May 10-June 24, 1973.
    The Collages of Robert Motherwell. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (organizer) (November 15, 1972-January 14, 1973); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 6-25, 1973); Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT (March 14-April 22, 1973); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA (May 10-June 24, 1973).
    Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts, The Collages of Robert Motherwell, November 15, 1972-January 15, 1973, cat. no. 54, repr. p. 55 and p. 19.
    New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
    Painting and Sculpture: 1940-1970, October 18, 1969-February 1, 1970, cat. no. 254, repr. pl. p. 93.
    also to: Amsterdam, The Stedelijk Museum, January 8-January 20, 1966; London, Whitechapel Gallery; Basel, Kunsthalle; Essen, Museum Folkwang.
    Robert Motherwell. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (organizer) (September 29-November 1, 1965); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1070 AB Amsterdam, Netherlands (January 8-20, 1966); Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (January 31-February 28, 1966); Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland (March 1-April 1, 1966); Museum Folkwang, 45128 Essen, Germany (July 2-August 14, 1966).
    New York, The Museum of Modern Art, Robert Motherwell, September 29-November 30, 1965, cat. no. 12, repr. p. 13.
    also to: Boston, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, February 11-March 3, 1963.
    Works of Robert Motherwell. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA (organizer) (January 10-28, 1963).
    Northampton, MA, Smith College Museum of Art, Works of Robert Motherwell, January 10-January 28, 1963, cat. no. 2, repr.
    Year in Review - 1962. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 24-November 25, 1962).
  • {{cite web|title=Mallarme's Swan|url=false|author=Robert Motherwell|year=1944|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1961.229