Litograph with collage.
Motherwell first experimented with collage in 1943; along with Pollock and Baziotes he was asked to produce work for the international collage show organised by Peggy Guggenheim.
The love of the medium remained with Motherwell for the rest of his career, in the 1970’s he has also introduced collage elements into printmaking: “The papers in my collages are usually things that are familiar to me, part of my life… Collages are modern substitute for still life… The papers in my collages are usually things that are familiar to me, part of my life… Collages are modern substitute for still life…”
Cigarette packs, such as Gauloises and Ernte feature in many of Motherwell’s collages and collaged prints.
This particular print was produced in 1973 in the famous Gemini workshop in Los Angeles and was one of the first prints to combine the two mediums. The word harvest is the English title of the German cigarette brand name Ernte. The collage elements are: Ernte cigarette label made from a seven colour photo offset printed and die cut; Ernte cigarette carton label made from a five colour offset printed and torn.
