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)
Black cathedral, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Black cathedral, 1991

Sale Date: November 6, 2007

Auction Closed

Octavio Paz, Three poems (complete set..., 1987–1988

Robert Motherwell

Octavio Paz, Three poems (complete set..., 1987–1988

Sale Date: November 6, 2007

Auction Closed

French Revolution Bicentennial Suite V, 1987–1988

Robert Motherwell

French Revolution Bicentennial Suite V, 1987–1988

Sale Date: November 6, 2007

Auction Closed

Suchard on orange no. 1, 1971

Robert Motherwell

Suchard on orange no. 1, 1971

Sale Date: November 15, 2007

Auction Closed

Study in watercolor no. 3, 1968

Robert Motherwell

Study in watercolor no. 3, 1968

Sale Date: November 15, 2007

Auction Closed

Gauloises with scarlet no. 1, 1972

Robert Motherwell

Gauloises with scarlet no. 1, 1972

Sale Date: November 15, 2007

Auction Closed

Mexican night, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Mexican night, 1979

Sale Date: November 15, 2007

Auction Closed

Monster (Black & white), 1977

Robert Motherwell

Monster (Black & white), 1977

Sale Date: November 15, 2007

Auction Closed

The red and black no. 34, 1987

Robert Motherwell

The red and black no. 34, 1987

Sale Date: November 14, 2007

Auction Closed

In blue with crosses, 1947

Robert Motherwell

In blue with crosses, 1947

Sale Date: November 14, 2007

Auction Closed

Gauloises on grey no. 28, 1972

Robert Motherwell

Gauloises on grey no. 28, 1972

Sale Date: November 14, 2007

Auction Closed

The figure 4 on an elegy, 1960

Robert Motherwell

The figure 4 on an elegy, 1960

Sale Date: November 14, 2007

Auction Closed

Yellow music, 1984

Robert Motherwell

Yellow music, 1984

Sale Date: November 14, 2007

Auction Closed

The scarlet ring, 1963

Robert Motherwell

The scarlet ring, 1963

Sale Date: November 14, 2007

Auction Closed

Black for Mozart, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Black for Mozart, 1991

Sale Date: October 31, 2007

Auction Closed

Three figures, 1989

Robert Motherwell

Three figures, 1989

Sale Date: October 31, 2007

Auction Closed

In white with green stripe, 1987

Robert Motherwell

In white with green stripe, 1987

Sale Date: October 31, 2007

Auction Closed

Mexican night II, 1984

Robert Motherwell

Mexican night II, 1984

Sale Date: October 31, 2007

Auction Closed

At the edge, 1984

Robert Motherwell

At the edge, 1984

Sale Date: October 31, 2007

Auction Closed

On the wing, 1984

Robert Motherwell

On the wing, 1984

Sale Date: October 31, 2007

Auction Closed

Black sounds, 1984

Robert Motherwell

Black sounds, 1984

Sale Date: October 31, 2007

Auction Closed

America, la France variations VII, 1984

Robert Motherwell

America, la France variations VII, 1984

Sale Date: October 31, 2007

Auction Closed

Running elegy II, red state, 1983

Robert Motherwell

Running elegy II, red state, 1983

Sale Date: October 31, 2007

Auction Closed

Red open with white line, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Red open with white line, 1979

Sale Date: October 31, 2007

Auction Closed

English (US)

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