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)
Primal sign VI - Moss, 1981

Robert Motherwell

Primal sign VI - Moss, 1981

Sale Date: May 18, 2008

Auction Closed

At the edge, 1984

Robert Motherwell

At the edge, 1984

Sale Date: May 18, 2008

Auction Closed

Wave, 1989

Robert Motherwell

Wave, 1989

Sale Date: May 18, 2008

Auction Closed

The Paris Review, 1991

Robert Motherwell

The Paris Review, 1991

Sale Date: May 20, 2008

Auction Closed

Mexico City personages II, 1987

Robert Motherwell

Mexico City personages II, 1987

Sale Date: May 20, 2008

Auction Closed

Elegy fragment I, 1985

Robert Motherwell

Elegy fragment I, 1985

Sale Date: May 20, 2008

Auction Closed

Automatism elegy (State I white), 1979–1980

Robert Motherwell

Automatism elegy (State I white), 1979–1980

Sale Date: May 20, 2008

Auction Closed

Put out all flags, 1979–1980

Robert Motherwell

Put out all flags, 1979–1980

Sale Date: May 20, 2008

Auction Closed

Easter day, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Easter day, 1979

Sale Date: May 20, 2008

Auction Closed

Untitled (from The Basque Suite), 1970–1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (from The Basque Suite), 1970–1971

Sale Date: May 20, 2008

Auction Closed

Elegy Study, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Elegy Study, 1979

Sale Date: June 5, 2008

Auction Closed

Heiliger Geist, 1975

Robert Motherwell

Heiliger Geist, 1975

Sale Date: May 15, 2008

Auction Closed

Chocmel, 1972

Robert Motherwell

Chocmel, 1972

Sale Date: May 15, 2008

Auction Closed

Tapestry study #2, 1972

Robert Motherwell

Tapestry study #2, 1972

Sale Date: May 15, 2008

Auction Closed

Summertime in Italy #14, 1963–1964

Robert Motherwell

Summertime in Italy #14, 1963–1964

Sale Date: May 15, 2008

Auction Closed

Bastos, 1975

Robert Motherwell

Bastos, 1975

Sale Date: May 15, 2008

Auction Closed

Open #29 in crimson with charcoal line, 1969

Robert Motherwell

Open #29 in crimson with charcoal line, 1969

Sale Date: May 15, 2008

Auction Closed

Long Point gallery: Music for Long Point, 1988

Robert Motherwell

Long Point gallery: Music for Long Point, 1988

Sale Date: April 30, 2008

Auction Closed

Art Chicago print, 1981

Robert Motherwell

Art Chicago print, 1981

Sale Date: April 30, 2008

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1978

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1978

Sale Date: April 28, 2008

Auction Closed

Tapestry no. 5 (study), 1972

Robert Motherwell

Tapestry no. 5 (study), 1972

Sale Date: May 14, 2008

Auction Closed

In black, with yellow ochre, 1961

Robert Motherwell

In black, with yellow ochre, 1961

Sale Date: May 14, 2008

Auction Closed

Posada, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Posada, 1979

Sale Date: May 14, 2008

Auction Closed

Catalan elegy, 1987

Robert Motherwell

Catalan elegy, 1987

Sale Date: May 14, 2008

Auction Closed

English (US)

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