Open No. 10: In Green on Blue

"The Open series had its immediate origin in a sort of chance, but an accident that was a logical consequence in modern art, and more specifically in Motherwell's painting. Preparing a large, vertical canvas early in 1967, he painted the entire surface yellow ochre and then left it for a while. In moving some other paintings, he leaned a small canvas from the Summertime in Italy series against the large one and discovered that he liked the spatial relationship of the small against the large rectangle. As a result, he outlined the small painting in charcoal on the larger ochre ground, the effect suggesting an opening or doorhe found the simple proportion so satisfactory that for a time he did nothing further with it, and even signed it with his initials and dated it. After more study, he decided that he liked it better in reverse, with the small rectangle descending from the top. This was to be the final solution (even though it necessitated reversing his signature), and it became the first of the Open series."

(H. H. Arnason, Robert Motherwell, New York, 1982, pp. 71-72.)