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)
Vivo - Sepia (+ 2 others, 1980; 3 works,..., 1986

Robert Motherwell

Vivo - Sepia (+ 2 others, 1980; 3 works,..., 1986

Sale Date: September 26, 2007

Auction Closed

Blackened sun, 1984

Robert Motherwell

Blackened sun, 1984

Sale Date: September 26, 2007

Auction Closed

Rite of passage III

Robert Motherwell

Rite of passage III

Sale Date: September 26, 2007

Auction Closed

Elegy black black, 1983

Robert Motherwell

Elegy black black, 1983

Sale Date: September 7, 2007

Auction Closed

Hermitage, 1975

Robert Motherwell

Hermitage, 1975

Sale Date: September 7, 2007

Auction Closed

Untitled - Black and green (from The Basque..., 1970

Robert Motherwell

Untitled - Black and green (from The Basque..., 1970

Sale Date: September 7, 2007

Auction Closed

Untitled - Black and two blues (from The..., 1970

Robert Motherwell

Untitled - Black and two blues (from The..., 1970

Sale Date: September 7, 2007

Auction Closed

Drunk with turpentine no. 46, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Drunk with turpentine no. 46, 1979

Sale Date: September 12, 2007

Auction Closed

Female figure, 1957

Robert Motherwell

Female figure, 1957

Sale Date: September 12, 2007

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1940

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1940

Sale Date: September 10, 2007

Auction Closed

Untitled (from Ten Works by Ten Painters), 1964

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (from Ten Works by Ten Painters), 1964

Sale Date: September 5, 2007

Auction Closed

Untitled (from New York portfolio), 1982

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (from New York portfolio), 1982

Sale Date: September 5, 2007

Auction Closed

Through black emerge purified, 1982–1983

Robert Motherwell

Through black emerge purified, 1982–1983

Sale Date: September 5, 2007

Auction Closed

The quarrel, 1983

Robert Motherwell

The quarrel, 1983

Sale Date: September 5, 2007

Auction Closed

In celebration, 1975

Robert Motherwell

In celebration, 1975

Sale Date: September 5, 2007

Auction Closed

Elegy sketch, 1987

Robert Motherwell

Elegy sketch, 1987

Sale Date: September 5, 2007

Auction Closed

Easter Day, 1980

Robert Motherwell

Easter Day, 1980

Sale Date: September 5, 2007

Auction Closed

The Dalton print, 1979

Robert Motherwell

The Dalton print, 1979

Sale Date: September 5, 2007

Auction Closed

America--La France Variations VII, 1984

Robert Motherwell

America--La France Variations VII, 1984

Sale Date: September 5, 2007

Auction Closed

Soot-black stone, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Soot-black stone, 1973

Sale Date: June 28, 2007

Auction Closed

Spanish death, 1977

Robert Motherwell

Spanish death, 1977

Sale Date: July 10, 2007

Auction Closed

The measure of things, 1979

Robert Motherwell

The measure of things, 1979

Sale Date: July 10, 2007

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1960

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1960

Sale Date: June 22, 2007

Auction Closed

The Great Wall of China #4, 1971

Robert Motherwell

The Great Wall of China #4, 1971

Sale Date: June 21, 2007

Auction Closed

English (US)

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