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)

#2 (Untitled B) (from The Basque Suite), 1971

Robert Motherwell

#2 (Untitled B) (from The Basque Suite), 1971

Sale Date: July 28, 2023

Auction Closed

Gesture II (State I), 1977

Robert Motherwell

Gesture II (State I), 1977

Sale Date: July 28, 2023

Auction Closed

Put Out All Flags, 1980

Robert Motherwell

Put Out All Flags, 1980

Sale Date: July 28, 2023

Auction Closed

La Casa de la Mancha, 1984

Robert Motherwell

La Casa de la Mancha, 1984

Sale Date: July 28, 2023

Auction Closed

Gesture I (State I), 1977

Robert Motherwell

Gesture I (State I), 1977

Sale Date: July 28, 2023

Auction Closed

Oy/Yo, 1978

Robert Motherwell

Sale Date: July 28, 2023

Auction Closed

Madrid Suite C (from the Madrid Suite), 1965–1966

Robert Motherwell

Madrid Suite C (from the Madrid Suite), 1965–1966

Sale Date: July 28, 2023

Auction Closed

Madrid Suite E (from the Madrid Suite), 1965–1966

Robert Motherwell

Madrid Suite E (from the Madrid Suite), 1965–1966

Sale Date: July 28, 2023

Auction Closed

Madrid Suite G (from the Madrid Suite), 1965–1966

Robert Motherwell

Madrid Suite G (from the Madrid Suite), 1965–1966

Sale Date: July 28, 2023

Auction Closed

Africa Suite: Three Prints, 1970

Robert Motherwell

Africa Suite: Three Prints, 1970

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Soot-Black Stone, #1, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Soot-Black Stone, #1, 1973

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

St. Michael III, 1979

Robert Motherwell

St. Michael III, 1979

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1949

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1949

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

The Berggruen Series: Three Prints, 1980

Robert Motherwell

The Berggruen Series: Three Prints, 1980

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1954

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1954

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1973

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Elegy Sketch, 1977

Robert Motherwell

Elegy Sketch, 1977

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1991

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Mexican Elegy, from Octavio Paz Suite, 1988

Robert Motherwell

Mexican Elegy, from Octavio Paz Suite, 1988

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Africa 7, from Africa Suite, 1970

Robert Motherwell

Africa 7, from Africa Suite, 1970

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Vivo (Black), 1986

Robert Motherwell

Vivo (Black), 1986

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Elegy Study, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Elegy Study, 1979

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Red Wind, from Octavio Paz Suite, 1988

Robert Motherwell

Red Wind, from Octavio Paz Suite, 1988

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Summer Trident, 1990

Robert Motherwell

Summer Trident, 1990

Sale Date: July 19, 2023

Auction Closed

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