Robert Rauschenberg
Paintings and Sculptures
1948–1953
52.018 / 41
41 Black Painting, 1952
Ink, watercolor, newspaper, and tracing paper on paperboard
267/8 × 211/8 in. (68.3 × 53.6 cm)
The Menil Collection, Houston, Promised gift from the Collection of Louisa Stude Sarofim
RRF 52.018

Inscribed, lower left: RAUSCHENBERG 52; verso not examined

Alternate Title: Untitled


PROVENANCEGaps in the provenance are indicated by “(?)” for a single unidentified owner and “(. . .)” for multiple unidentified owners. See Guide.
Jack Tworkov, New York, gift of the artist, 1952
Rachel “Wally” Tworkov, New York, by descent, 1982
Estate of Rachel "Wally" Tworkov, 1991
Helen Tworkov, New York, by descent, ca. 1991
[Sotheby’s, New York, May 2, 1995, lot 8, bought in]
Louisa Stude Sarofim, Houston, purchase, June 1995 (via Matthew Marks Gallery, New York); promised gift to the Menil Collection, Houston


EXHIBITIONS
1990s

Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Robert Rauschenberg: The Early 1950s, June 15–August 11, 1991. Organized by Menil Collection, Houston. Traveled to Menil Collection, Houston, September 27, 1991–January 5, 1992; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, February 8–April 19, 1992; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, May 14–August 16, 1992; Guggenheim Museum SoHo, New York, October 24, 1992–January 24, 1993. 

2000s

Haus der Kunst, Munich, Black Paintings: Robert Rauschenberg, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Frank Stella, September 15, 2006–January 14, 2007. no. 10

2010s

Menil Collection, Houston, The Beginning of Everything: Drawings from the Janie C. Lee, Louisa Stude Sarofim, and David Whitney Collections, February 24–June 18, 2017. 



LITERATURE
1990s

Hopps, Walter. Robert Rauschenberg: The Early 1950s. Houston: Menil Collection; Houston Fine Art Press, 1991. Exhibition catalogue. pp. 63, 68–69, 97 (pl. 44) as Untitled [black painting on paper]

2000s

Rosenthal, Stephanie. Black Paintings. Translated by Büro Sieveking. Munich: Haus der Kunst; Ostfildern, Germany: Hatje Cantz, 2006. Exhibition catalogue. no. 10, p. 123 (pl. 10), as Untitled (black painting on paper)

2010s

Boaden, James. “Black Painting (with Asheville Citizen).” Art History 34, no. 1 (February 2011). p. 183 (pl. 11), as Untitled [Black Painting on Paper]