Robert Motherwell

(American, 1915–1991)

Robert Motherwell was an American artist and seminal Abstract Expressionist painter. Influenced by the automatic writing and drawing prescribed by the Surrealists, Motherwell’s practice was characterized by an intuitive approach to painting. He is perhaps best known for his iconic Elegy to the Spanish Republic series, which consists of 150 variants of black forms on white backgrounds. “Painting is a medium in which the mind can actualize itself; it is a medium of thought,” he once reflected. “Thus painting, like music, tends to become its own content.” Born on January 24, 1915 in Aberdeen, WA, Motherwell moved to New York to study at Columbia University with the art historian Meyer Schapiro. It was Schapiro's encouragement that initially led the artist to start making paintings. During the early 1940s, he entered a milieu of young artists that included William Baziotes, Jackson Pollock, and Willem de Kooning. Motherwell later taught Cy Twombly and Robert Rauschenberg at the famed Black Mountain College. After returning to New York, he met the painter Helen Frankenthaler in 1957, and they were married three years later. During their 13 year marriage, the two artists’ mutual interest in the poetry of abstraction fueled one another’s work. Motherwell died on July 16, 1991 in Cape Cod, MA. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Tate Modern in London, among others.

Robert Motherwell News

Gallery Network

7 Questions for Dealer Bernard Jacobson on Why He’s Devoting Three Back-to-Back Exhibitions to Robert Motherwell’s Work

by Artnet Gallery Network
7 Questions for Dealer Bernard Jacobson on Why He’s Devoting Three Back-to-Back Exhibitions to Robert Motherwell’s Work
Law & Politics

The Brooklyn Gallerist Who Artist Deborah Roberts Is Suing for Copyright Infringement Has Fired Back, Calling It a Case of 'Punching Down'

by Eileen Kinsella
The Brooklyn Gallerist Who Artist Deborah Roberts Is Suing for Copyright Infringement Has Fired Back, Calling It a Case of 'Punching Down'
Law & Politics

The FBI Has Recovered a Crimson Robert Motherwell Painting Stolen 40 Years Ago by a Moving Man

by Eileen Kinsella
The FBI Has Recovered a Crimson Robert Motherwell Painting Stolen 40 Years Ago by a Moving Man

Robert Motherwell Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Robert Motherwell (7,271 results)
Soot-Black Stone, #1-6 (set of 6), 1973–1975

Robert Motherwell

Soot-Black Stone, #1-6 (set of 6), 1973–1975

Sale Date: October 28, 2014

Auction Closed

Calligraphic Study I, 1976

Robert Motherwell

Calligraphic Study I, 1976

Sale Date: October 21, 2014

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1973

Sale Date: October 21, 2014

Auction Closed

The Paris Review, 1965

Robert Motherwell

The Paris Review, 1965

Sale Date: October 21, 2014

Auction Closed

Red Sea III

Robert Motherwell

Red Sea III

Sale Date: October 12, 2014

Auction Closed

Havest with Orange Stripe, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Havest with Orange Stripe, 1973

Sale Date: October 25, 2014

Auction Closed

Hermitage, 1975

Robert Motherwell

Hermitage, 1975

Sale Date: October 25, 2014

Auction Closed

Rite of Passage I, 1979–1980

Robert Motherwell

Rite of Passage I, 1979–1980

Sale Date: October 25, 2014

Auction Closed

Djarum (b. 145; E. & B. 176), 1975

Robert Motherwell

Djarum (b. 145; E. & B. 176), 1975

Sale Date: October 7, 2014

Auction Closed

Three Poems: Red Samurai, 1988

Robert Motherwell

Three Poems: Red Samurai, 1988

Sale Date: September 20, 2014

Auction Closed

The Green Studio, 1985

Robert Motherwell

The Green Studio, 1985

Sale Date: September 20, 2014

Auction Closed

House of Atreus, 1983

Robert Motherwell

House of Atreus, 1983

Sale Date: September 20, 2014

Auction Closed

Automatism A, 1966

Robert Motherwell

Automatism A, 1966

Sale Date: September 20, 2014

Auction Closed

St. Michel III, 1979

Robert Motherwell

St. Michel III, 1979

Sale Date: September 29, 2014

Auction Closed

Untitled (from The Basque Suite,), 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (from The Basque Suite,), 1971

Sale Date: September 29, 2014

Auction Closed

Untitled (from The Madrid Suite)

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (from The Madrid Suite)

Sale Date: September 29, 2014

Auction Closed

Man in grey, 1948

Robert Motherwell

Man in grey, 1948

Sale Date: September 24, 2014

Auction Closed

Chair, 1972

Robert Motherwell

Chair, 1972

Sale Date: September 17, 2014

Auction Closed

Untitled (Orange/Pink) (from London Series II), 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (Orange/Pink) (from London Series II), 1971

Sale Date: September 13, 2014

Auction Closed

Lament for Lorca, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Lament for Lorca, 1991

Sale Date: September 18, 2014

Auction Closed

Primal Sign II, 1979–1980

Robert Motherwell

Primal Sign II, 1979–1980

Sale Date: September 18, 2014

Auction Closed

Game of chance, 1987

Robert Motherwell

Game of chance, 1987

Sale Date: June 8, 2014

Auction Closed

Perpetual Summer

Robert Motherwell

Perpetual Summer

Sale Date: July 25, 2014

Auction Closed

Red Sea II, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Red Sea II, 1979

Sale Date: July 12, 2014

Auction Closed

English (US)

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