Mural Sketch [pen, ink, and wash] 1977

Curator: Robert Motherwell's "Mural Sketch" from 1977—executed using pen, ink, and wash. A whirlwind of sepia tones! Editor: It feels incomplete, raw…like a forgotten memory trying to resurface. All those blurred lines and stains. I keep wanting to complete it, make sense of it all, you know? Curator: Well, considering Motherwell's place within the Abstract Expressionist movement, the feeling of incompleteness may be very much intentional. Think about what's emphasized by its composition. It feels open to constant reinterpretation. Editor: A construction site viewed through fogged glasses perhaps? There's a frame of sorts in there and almost scaffoldings indicated. Yet there is little building, not really... more just gestures. I guess Motherwell saw these hints as sufficient. The '77' indicates this wasn't a very youthful sketch; one wonders what was eventually constructed! Curator: Interesting that you say 'gestures', it's something inherent in a preliminary work, a study towards an imagined mural; Motherwell's explorations using mixed media allow a fluid style here to become more present, maybe hinting towards larger themes in abstraction. What do you make of it considering its place within public art? Editor: Well, imagining this blown up on a monumental scale brings it full circle, perhaps more to Motherwell's intention. Scale and context obviously drastically changes the audience's perception. Suddenly what looks spontaneous feels assertive. This study then gains much more conceptual weight—becoming not just planning, but part of the politics and ambition of realizing artworks in public! Curator: I'd agree with that assertion, but it's lovely to dwell a moment longer within its present scale—in its tender vulnerability before we depart. Editor: A very tender brutality; that perfectly sums up what I saw there, I think.