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.

Most Expensive Artwork Sold at Auction

At Five in the Afternoon, 1971
Sold price: 12,690,000 USD

Robert Motherwell Artworks

Robert Motherwell (7,271 results)

Barcelona Elegy to the Spanish Republic (E...., 1991

Robert Motherwell

Barcelona Elegy to the Spanish Republic (E...., 1991

Sale Date: October 25, 2023

Auction Closed

Red Sea I (E. & B. 193), 1976

Robert Motherwell

Red Sea I (E. & B. 193), 1976

Sale Date: October 25, 2023

Auction Closed

Calligraphic Study V (E. & B. 198), 1976

Robert Motherwell

Calligraphic Study V (E. & B. 198), 1976

Sale Date: October 25, 2023

Auction Closed

Red Samurai, from Octavio Paz, 1988

Robert Motherwell

Red Samurai, from Octavio Paz, 1988

Sale Date: October 30, 2023

Auction Closed

Black Flag, 1983

Robert Motherwell

Black Flag, 1983

Sale Date: October 30, 2023

Auction Closed

Hermitage, 1975

Robert Motherwell

Hermitage, 1975

Sale Date: October 30, 2023

Auction Closed

Mask (for Ingmar Bergman), 1989

Robert Motherwell

Mask (for Ingmar Bergman), 1989

Sale Date: October 30, 2023

Auction Closed

Three Figures, 1989

Robert Motherwell

Three Figures, 1989

Sale Date: October 25, 2023

Auction Closed

French Revolution Bicentennial #4, 1987

Robert Motherwell

French Revolution Bicentennial #4, 1987

Sale Date: October 20, 2023

Auction Closed

Delos

Robert Motherwell

Sale Date: October 26, 2023

Auction Closed

Soot-Black Stone #3, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Soot-Black Stone #3, 1973

Sale Date: October 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Soot-Black Stone #2, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Soot-Black Stone #2, 1973

Sale Date: October 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Beau Geste IV (from the Beau Geste Suite), 1989

Robert Motherwell

Beau Geste IV (from the Beau Geste Suite), 1989

Sale Date: October 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Phoenician Etching, 1977

Robert Motherwell

Phoenician Etching, 1977

Sale Date: October 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (from the London Series II), 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (from the London Series II), 1971

Sale Date: October 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Harvest, with Two White Stripes (from the..., 1973

Robert Motherwell

Harvest, with Two White Stripes (from the..., 1973

Sale Date: October 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Mask (for Ingmar Bergman), 1989

Robert Motherwell

Mask (for Ingmar Bergman), 1989

Sale Date: October 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Apropos - The Robinson Jeffers Print, 1981

Renate Ponsold and Robert Motherwell

Apropos - The Robinson Jeffers Print, 1981

Sale Date: September 29, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1978

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1978

Sale Date: October 3, 2023

Auction Closed

Gulfstream, 1980

Robert Motherwell

Gulfstream, 1980

Sale Date: September 28, 2023

Auction Closed

Blotting Paper Collage, 1990

Robert Motherwell

Blotting Paper Collage, 1990

Sale Date: September 28, 2023

Auction Closed

The Summer Sea, 1970

Robert Motherwell

The Summer Sea, 1970

Sale Date: September 29, 2023

Auction Closed

Beige Open, 1981

Robert Motherwell

Beige Open, 1981

Sale Date: September 20, 2023

Auction Closed

Grey Open with White Paint, 1981

Robert Motherwell

Grey Open with White Paint, 1981

Sale Date: September 20, 2023

Auction Closed

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