In December 1980, the author and Rita Abertson interviewed the artist Robert Motherwell about his materials and techniques used in collage, drawing and painting. A 1947, water-damaged gouache and collage on paperboard was treated, accommodating the artist's aesthetic concerns for the image. The treatment consisted of removal of the primary support layer from its laminated acidic wood pulp backing, mending tears and losses, reduction of adhesive stains, reduction of water stains on the suction table, consolidation of flaking paint, ad mounting to a ragboard support with heat-set tissue. In conjunction, samples of the adhesive residue from the collage were examined with Infrared spectrophotometry and compared to the spectra of 11 proprietary adhesives and two adhesive residues from other artworks, which did not yield a positive identification of the collage adhesive.