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)
Bloomsday , 1966

Robert Motherwell

Bloomsday , 1966

Sale Date: May 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Yellow Flight, 1986

Robert Motherwell

Yellow Flight, 1986

Sale Date: May 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Cathedral (Study), 1977–1981

Robert Motherwell

Cathedral (Study), 1977–1981

Sale Date: May 17, 2023

Auction Closed

Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 130, 1974–1975

Robert Motherwell

Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 130, 1974–1975

Sale Date: May 16, 2023

Auction Closed

The Poetics of Love, 1968–1982

Robert Motherwell

The Poetics of Love, 1968–1982

Sale Date: May 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Cape Cod, 1971

Robert Motherwell

Cape Cod, 1971

Sale Date: May 12, 2023

Auction Closed

The Red Wall, 1972

Robert Motherwell

The Red Wall, 1972

Sale Date: May 12, 2023

Auction Closed

A La Pintura, 23-XI-71, 1972

Robert Motherwell

A La Pintura, 23-XI-71, 1972

Sale Date: May 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Rite of Passage III, 1980

Robert Motherwell

Rite of Passage III, 1980

Sale Date: May 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Black Mountain (State II Red), 1983

Robert Motherwell

Black Mountain (State II Red), 1983

Sale Date: May 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Mask (for Ingmar Bergman), 1989

Robert Motherwell

Mask (for Ingmar Bergman), 1989

Sale Date: May 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Hollow Man's Cave, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Hollow Man's Cave, 1991

Sale Date: May 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Gypsy Curse, 1983

Robert Motherwell

Gypsy Curse, 1983

Sale Date: May 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Game of Chance, 1987

Robert Motherwell

Game of Chance, 1987

Sale Date: May 9, 2023

Auction Closed

In White with Green Stripe, 1987

Robert Motherwell

In White with Green Stripe, 1987

Sale Date: May 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Black Gesture on Copper Ground, 1981

Robert Motherwell

Black Gesture on Copper Ground, 1981

Sale Date: May 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Perpetual Summer, 1985

Robert Motherwell

Perpetual Summer, 1985

Sale Date: May 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, from The Basque Suite, 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, from The Basque Suite, 1971

Sale Date: May 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1978

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1978

Sale Date: May 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Black for Mozart, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Black for Mozart, 1991

Sale Date: May 17, 2023

Auction Closed

Black Gesture on Copper Ground, 1981

Robert Motherwell

Black Gesture on Copper Ground, 1981

Sale Date: April 27, 2023

Auction Closed

CAPRICCIO (ENGBERG/BANACH 5; BELKNAP APPENDIX 1)

Robert Motherwell

CAPRICCIO (ENGBERG/BANACH 5; BELKNAP APPENDIX 1)

Sale Date: April 25, 2023

Auction Closed

PAUILLAC, #2 (ENGBERG/BANACH 149; BELKNAP 120)

Robert Motherwell

PAUILLAC, #2 (ENGBERG/BANACH 149; BELKNAP 120)

Sale Date: April 25, 2023

Auction Closed

Study For

Robert Motherwell

Study For "The Wall Of The Temple", 1951

Sale Date: April 27, 2023

Auction Closed

English (US)

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