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)
Summer light series: Harvest with leaf, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Summer light series: Harvest with leaf, 1973

Sale Date: November 30, 2004

Auction Closed

Composition in black

Robert Motherwell

Composition in black

Sale Date: November 29, 2004

Auction Closed

Gauloises bleues - Yellow with black square, 1971

Robert Motherwell

Gauloises bleues - Yellow with black square, 1971

Sale Date: November 19, 2004

Auction Closed

Two blues and a white (from London..., 1970–1971

Robert Motherwell

Two blues and a white (from London..., 1970–1971

Sale Date: November 19, 2004

Auction Closed

Summertime in Italy - with lines, 1965–1966

Robert Motherwell

Summertime in Italy - with lines, 1965–1966

Sale Date: November 19, 2004

Auction Closed

Pauillac #3 (from Summer Light), 1973

Robert Motherwell

Pauillac #3 (from Summer Light), 1973

Sale Date: November 9, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled (from London series II), 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (from London series II), 1971

Sale Date: November 5, 2004

Auction Closed

Utitled (from New York Portfolio), 1982

Robert Motherwell

Utitled (from New York Portfolio), 1982

Sale Date: November 5, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1975

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1975

Sale Date: November 11, 2004

Auction Closed

Drunk with turpentine, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Drunk with turpentine, 1979

Sale Date: November 11, 2004

Auction Closed

Open 45A, 1969

Robert Motherwell

Open 45A, 1969

Sale Date: November 11, 2004

Auction Closed

Régie française, 1967

Robert Motherwell

Régie française, 1967

Sale Date: November 11, 2004

Auction Closed

Imaginary landscape, 1945

Robert Motherwell

Imaginary landscape, 1945

Sale Date: November 11, 2004

Auction Closed

Elegy to the Spanish Republic no. 71, 1961

Robert Motherwell

Elegy to the Spanish Republic no. 71, 1961

Sale Date: November 11, 2004

Auction Closed

Game of chance, 1987

Robert Motherwell

Game of chance, 1987

Sale Date: November 3, 2004

Auction Closed

Redness of red, 1984–1985

Robert Motherwell

Redness of red, 1984–1985

Sale Date: November 3, 2004

Auction Closed

Mexican night II, 1984

Robert Motherwell

Mexican night II, 1984

Sale Date: November 3, 2004

Auction Closed

Elegy black black, 1982–1983

Robert Motherwell

Elegy black black, 1982–1983

Sale Date: November 3, 2004

Auction Closed

Rite of passage III, 1980

Robert Motherwell

Rite of passage III, 1980

Sale Date: November 3, 2004

Auction Closed

Dance III (Red), 1978

Robert Motherwell

Dance III (Red), 1978

Sale Date: November 3, 2004

Auction Closed

Dance I, 1978

Robert Motherwell

Dance I, 1978

Sale Date: November 3, 2004

Auction Closed

Gesture IV, 1976–1977

Robert Motherwell

Gesture IV, 1976–1977

Sale Date: November 3, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1975

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1975

Sale Date: November 3, 2004

Auction Closed

Bastos, 1974–1975

Robert Motherwell

Bastos, 1974–1975

Sale Date: November 3, 2004

Auction Closed

English (US)

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