Mezzotint in Crimson

In 1968–69 Robert Motherwell produced paintings and prints on his Open theme: rectangular fields in bold colors with inscribed lines, suggesting windows. This proof impression is from the rocked, but still unburnished plate, which printed in a solid rectangle. Motherwell issued 10 edition impressions in crimson and indigo from its final state with the addition of only three burnished lines. He would later revert to aquatint for his visually similar A la Pintura book. The Art Institute U.L.A.E. archive includes a rich variety of artist proofs from this period.