Mallarme's Swan

1944

Mallarme's Swan, 1944. Robert Motherwell (American, 1915–1991). Collage using gouache, crayon and paper on cardboard; unframed: 110.5 x 90.2 cm (43 1/2 x 35 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1961.229 © Dedalus Foundation, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY 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. Robert Motherwell originally titled this work Mallarme's Dream, but artist Joseph Cornell suggested changing it to its present version.