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 BaziotesJackson 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 Artworks

Robert Motherwell (7,271 results)
For St Gallen, 1971

Robert Motherwell

For St Gallen, 1971

Plazzart

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Mostly Mozart Festival, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Mostly Mozart Festival, 1991

ArtWise

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Delta, 1982

Robert Motherwell

Delta, 1982

Elizabeth Clement Contemporary

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U.S Art New York N.Y., 1962

Robert Motherwell

U.S Art New York N.Y., 1962

Gazelli Art House

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Red Sea III, 1983

Robert Motherwell

Red Sea III, 1983

Kenneth A. Friedman & Co.

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Mediterranean Light, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Mediterranean Light, 1991

Upsilon Gallery

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Black Leaves, 1950

Robert Motherwell

Black Leaves, 1950

Kasmin

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Open in Grey with White Edge, 1971

Robert Motherwell

Open in Grey with White Edge, 1971

Kasmin

Price on Request