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)
Untitled (from Basque Suite), 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (from Basque Suite), 1971

Sale Date: April 30, 2013

Auction Closed

Poe's Abyss, 1974–1975

Robert Motherwell

Poe's Abyss, 1974–1975

Sale Date: April 30, 2013

Auction Closed

The Paris Review, 1965

Robert Motherwell

The Paris Review, 1965

Sale Date: April 30, 2013

Auction Closed

Phoenician etching, 1983

Robert Motherwell

Phoenician etching, 1983

Sale Date: March 19, 2013

Auction Closed

St. Michael I (State I), 1979

Robert Motherwell

St. Michael I (State I), 1979

Sale Date: April 4, 2013

Auction Closed

Pregnant Nude No. 1, 1958

Robert Motherwell

Pregnant Nude No. 1, 1958

Sale Date: March 7, 2013

Auction Closed

Roth Handle II, 1975

Robert Motherwell

Roth Handle II, 1975

Sale Date: February 23, 2013

Auction Closed

Beau Geste, 1989

Robert Motherwell

Beau Geste, 1989

Sale Date: February 16, 2013

Auction Closed

Hermitage, 1975

Robert Motherwell

Hermitage, 1975

Sale Date: February 20, 2013

Auction Closed

Untitled, from portfolio 9, 1967

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, from portfolio 9, 1967

Sale Date: January 9, 2013

Auction Closed

Wave, 1989

Robert Motherwell

Wave, 1989

Sale Date: January 20, 2013

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1973

Sale Date: January 11, 2010

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1973

Sale Date: August 9, 2010

Auction Closed

Untitled (from the series Ten Works by Ten..., 1964

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (from the series Ten Works by Ten..., 1964

Sale Date: December 1, 2012

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1966

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1966

Sale Date: November 30, 2012

Auction Closed

Five circles

Robert Motherwell

Five circles

Sale Date: November 30, 2012

Auction Closed

Madrid suite, plates 6 and 7 (2 works), 1965

Robert Motherwell

Madrid suite, plates 6 and 7 (2 works), 1965

Sale Date: December 4, 2012

Auction Closed

The basque suite (untitled), 1971

Robert Motherwell

The basque suite (untitled), 1971

Sale Date: December 16, 2012

Auction Closed

Soot Black Stone IV, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Soot Black Stone IV, 1973

Sale Date: December 12, 2012

Auction Closed

Mexico City Personages III, 1986–1988

Robert Motherwell

Mexico City Personages III, 1986–1988

Sale Date: December 9, 2012

Auction Closed

Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart, 25th Anniversary, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart, 25th Anniversary, 1991

Sale Date: December 6, 2012

Auction Closed

Automatism a, 1966

Robert Motherwell

Automatism a, 1966

Sale Date: November 26, 2012

Auction Closed

Octavio Paz

Robert Motherwell

Octavio Paz

Sale Date: December 13, 2012

Auction Closed

Label Series Red, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Label Series Red, 1973

Sale Date: December 13, 2012

Auction Closed

English (US)

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