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)
Dutch Linen: Four Plates (Belknap 131-134), 1974

Robert Motherwell

Dutch Linen: Four Plates (Belknap 131-134), 1974

Sale Date: March 4, 2024

Auction Closed

The Red and Black No. 46, 1987–1988

Robert Motherwell

The Red and Black No. 46, 1987–1988

Sale Date: March 4, 2024

Auction Closed

Untitled (In Brown with Gauloises and the..., 1972

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (In Brown with Gauloises and the..., 1972

Sale Date: March 4, 2024

Auction Closed

Open Study (White Line on Beige No. 1), 1968

Robert Motherwell

Open Study (White Line on Beige No. 1), 1968

Sale Date: March 4, 2024

Auction Closed

Open No. 126: In Beige with Blue, 1970

Robert Motherwell

Open No. 126: In Beige with Blue, 1970

Sale Date: March 4, 2024

Auction Closed

The Dalton Print, 1979

Robert Motherwell

The Dalton Print, 1979

Sale Date: February 29, 2024

Auction Closed

The Paris Review, 1991

Robert Motherwell

The Paris Review, 1991

Sale Date: March 1, 2024

Auction Closed

Black Open, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Black Open, 1973

Sale Date: March 1, 2024

Auction Closed

The Star of David, 1976

Robert Motherwell

The Star of David, 1976

Sale Date: March 1, 2024

Auction Closed

Gauloises bleues (White), 1970

Robert Motherwell

Gauloises bleues (White), 1970

Sale Date: February 22, 2024

Auction Closed

Music for J.S. Bach, 1989

Robert Motherwell

Music for J.S. Bach, 1989

Sale Date: February 22, 2024

Auction Closed

Black Sea, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Black Sea, 1979

Sale Date: February 20, 2024

Auction Closed

Elegy (Study), 1979

Robert Motherwell

Elegy (Study), 1979

Sale Date: February 20, 2024

Auction Closed

Mulligan's Tower, 1983

Robert Motherwell

Mulligan's Tower, 1983

Sale Date: February 21, 2024

Auction Closed

NYC Cultural Institutions, 1982

Robert Motherwell

NYC Cultural Institutions, 1982

Sale Date: February 21, 2024

Auction Closed

Exhibition Poster: The Collage Prints, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Exhibition Poster: The Collage Prints, 1979

Sale Date: February 22, 2024

Auction Closed

Window, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Window, 1973

Sale Date: February 7, 2024

Auction Closed

Tobacco Roth-Händle, 1975

Robert Motherwell

Tobacco Roth-Händle, 1975

Sale Date: February 14, 2024

Auction Closed

Hermitage, 1975

Robert Motherwell

Hermitage, 1975

Sale Date: February 14, 2024

Auction Closed

Africa 3 (from the Africa Suite), 1970

Robert Motherwell

Africa 3 (from the Africa Suite), 1970

Sale Date: February 14, 2024

Auction Closed

Elegy Study, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Elegy Study, 1979

Sale Date: February 14, 2024

Auction Closed

Three Poems: Red Wind, 1988

Robert Motherwell

Three Poems: Red Wind, 1988

Sale Date: February 7, 2024

Auction Closed

Gauloises Bleues (Raw Umber Edge) (E. & B. 99), 1971

Robert Motherwell

Gauloises Bleues (Raw Umber Edge) (E. & B. 99), 1971

Sale Date: February 15, 2024

Auction Closed

Three Figures, 1989

Robert Motherwell

Three Figures, 1989

Sale Date: January 31, 2024

Auction Closed

English (US)

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