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)
America - La France variations VI and IX (2..., 1984

Robert Motherwell

America - La France variations VI and IX (2..., 1984

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

America - La France variations V and VII (2..., 1984

Robert Motherwell

America - La France variations V and VII (2..., 1984

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

America - La France variations III and IV (2 , 1984

Robert Motherwell

America - La France variations III and IV (2 , 1984

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

Black with no way out, 1983

Robert Motherwell

Black with no way out, 1983

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

Elegy black black, 1983

Robert Motherwell

Elegy black black, 1983

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

Lament for Lorca, 1982

Robert Motherwell

Lament for Lorca, 1982

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

Easter day (+ 3 others; 4 works), 1980

Robert Motherwell

Easter day (+ 3 others; 4 works), 1980

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

Red Sea II, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Red Sea II, 1979

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

Black Sea, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Black Sea, 1979

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

Elegy study, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Elegy study, 1979

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

Red open with white line, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Red open with white line, 1979

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

Red Sea I, 1976

Robert Motherwell

Red Sea I, 1976

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

Hermitage, 1975

Robert Motherwell

Hermitage, 1975

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

Bastos, 1975

Robert Motherwell

Bastos, 1975

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

Summer design series: Harvest leaf (+ 3 , 1973–1986

Robert Motherwell

Summer design series: Harvest leaf (+ 3 , 1973–1986

Sale Date: October 29, 2005

Auction Closed

Beside the sea no.7, 1962

Robert Motherwell

Beside the sea no.7, 1962

Sale Date: October 9, 2005

Auction Closed

Homage to Arp

Robert Motherwell

Homage to Arp

Sale Date: September 18, 2005

Auction Closed

Black rumble, 1983–1984

Robert Motherwell

Black rumble, 1983–1984

Sale Date: October 5, 2005

Auction Closed

Untitled, pl.7 (from Basque Suite), 1970–1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, pl.7 (from Basque Suite), 1970–1971

Sale Date: October 5, 2005

Auction Closed

Red and grey, 1965

Robert Motherwell

Red and grey, 1965

Sale Date: October 6, 2005

Auction Closed

Drunk with turpentine, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Drunk with turpentine, 1979

Sale Date: October 6, 2005

Auction Closed

Africa I (from Africa), 1970

Robert Motherwell

Africa I (from Africa), 1970

Sale Date: September 21, 2005

Auction Closed

In white with green stripe, 1987

Robert Motherwell

In white with green stripe, 1987

Sale Date: September 28, 2005

Auction Closed

Game of chance, 1987

Robert Motherwell

Game of chance, 1987

Sale Date: September 28, 2005

Auction Closed

English (US)

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