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)
Octavio Paz, three poems 6, 1987

Robert Motherwell

Octavio Paz, three poems 6, 1987

Sale Date: April 16, 2009

Auction Closed

Octavio Paz, three poems 21, 1987

Robert Motherwell

Octavio Paz, three poems 21, 1987

Sale Date: April 16, 2009

Auction Closed

Spoleto festival, 1968

Robert Motherwell

Spoleto festival, 1968

Sale Date: April 16, 2009

Auction Closed

Octavio Paz, three poems 16, 1987

Robert Motherwell

Octavio Paz, three poems 16, 1987

Sale Date: April 16, 2009

Auction Closed

Lincoln Center mostly Mozart, 25th..., 1940–1991

Robert Motherwell

Lincoln Center mostly Mozart, 25th..., 1940–1991

Sale Date: May 13, 2009

Auction Closed

Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart, 25th anniversary, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart, 25th anniversary, 1991

Sale Date: October 22, 2009

Auction Closed

Untiled, pl. 6 (from Three Poems by Octavio Paz)

Robert Motherwell

Untiled, pl. 6 (from Three Poems by Octavio Paz)

Sale Date: October 22, 2009

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1978

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1978

Sale Date: December 1, 2009

Auction Closed

Lincoln Center mostly Mozart, 25th anniversary, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Lincoln Center mostly Mozart, 25th anniversary, 1991

Sale Date: December 1, 2009

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1978

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1978

Sale Date: March 25, 2010

Auction Closed

Lincoln Center mostly Mozart, 25th anniversary, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Lincoln Center mostly Mozart, 25th anniversary, 1991

Sale Date: June 17, 2010

Auction Closed

Spoleto festival, 1968

Robert Motherwell

Spoleto festival, 1968

Sale Date: June 17, 2010

Auction Closed

Lincoln Center mostly Mozart, 25th anniversary, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Lincoln Center mostly Mozart, 25th anniversary, 1991

Sale Date: August 11, 2010

Auction Closed

Capriccio, 1961

Robert Motherwell

Capriccio, 1961

Sale Date: September 23, 2010

Auction Closed

Octavio Paz, three poems 10, 1987

Robert Motherwell

Octavio Paz, three poems 10, 1987

Sale Date: September 23, 2010

Auction Closed

Octavio Paz, three poems 9, 1987

Robert Motherwell

Octavio Paz, three poems 9, 1987

Sale Date: September 23, 2010

Auction Closed

Lincoln Center mostly Mozart, 25th anniversary, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Lincoln Center mostly Mozart, 25th anniversary, 1991

Sale Date: November 11, 2010

Auction Closed

Australian stone, 1984

Robert Motherwell

Australian stone, 1984

Sale Date: November 11, 2010

Auction Closed

Untitled (from the Ulysses portfolio), 1987

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (from the Ulysses portfolio), 1987

Sale Date: February 9, 2011

Auction Closed

French Revolution bicentennial suite II, 1988

Robert Motherwell

French Revolution bicentennial suite II, 1988

Sale Date: March 6, 2011

Auction Closed

French Revolution bicentennial suite III, 1988

Robert Motherwell

French Revolution bicentennial suite III, 1988

Sale Date: March 6, 2011

Auction Closed

Blue gesture from Octavio Paz, 1988

Robert Motherwell

Blue gesture from Octavio Paz, 1988

Sale Date: January 19, 2011

Auction Closed

Red wind from Octavio Paz, 1988

Robert Motherwell

Red wind from Octavio Paz, 1988

Sale Date: January 19, 2011

Auction Closed

Homage à Hans Harp, 1966

Robert Motherwell

Homage à Hans Harp, 1966

Sale Date: May 22, 2010

Auction Closed

English (US)

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