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)
Black on Black, 1978

Robert Motherwell

Black on Black, 1978

Sale Date: February 23, 2023

Auction Closed

A La Pintura, 23-XI-71, 1972

Robert Motherwell

A La Pintura, 23-XI-71, 1972

Sale Date: February 23, 2023

Auction Closed

Chair, 1972

Robert Motherwell

Chair, 1972

Sale Date: February 23, 2023

Auction Closed

Automatic Image #5, 1963

Robert Motherwell

Automatic Image #5, 1963

Sale Date: February 17, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, from The Basque Suite (E. & B. 88), 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, from The Basque Suite (E. & B. 88), 1971

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, from The Basque Suite (E. & B. 80), 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, from The Basque Suite (E. & B. 80), 1971

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, from The Basque Suite (E. & B. 86), 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, from The Basque Suite (E. & B. 86), 1971

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled No. 8 (from The Basque Suite), 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled No. 8 (from The Basque Suite), 1971

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Mexico City Personages II (from the Octavio..., 1988

Robert Motherwell

Mexico City Personages II (from the Octavio..., 1988

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

DANCE II (BELKNAP 200; ENBERG/BANACH 231)

Robert Motherwell

DANCE II (BELKNAP 200; ENBERG/BANACH 231)

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart, 25th Anniversary, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart, 25th Anniversary, 1991

Sale Date: February 4, 2023

Auction Closed

The Basque Suite (Untitled B), 1970

Robert Motherwell

The Basque Suite (Untitled B), 1970

Sale Date: February 9, 2023

Auction Closed

The Basque Suite #3, 1970

Robert Motherwell

The Basque Suite #3, 1970

Sale Date: February 9, 2023

Auction Closed

No. 18 from Three Poems, 1988

Robert Motherwell

No. 18 from Three Poems, 1988

Sale Date: January 31, 2023

Auction Closed

No. 26 from Three Poems, 1988

Robert Motherwell

No. 26 from Three Poems, 1988

Sale Date: January 31, 2023

Auction Closed

No. 14 from Three Poems Octavio Paz, 1988

Robert Motherwell

No. 14 from Three Poems Octavio Paz, 1988

Sale Date: January 31, 2023

Auction Closed

Negro, from El Negro, 1983

Robert Motherwell

Negro, from El Negro, 1983

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Poor Spain, from El Negro, 1983

Robert Motherwell

Poor Spain, from El Negro, 1983

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Eternal Black, from El Negro, 1983

Robert Motherwell

Eternal Black, from El Negro, 1983

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Beau geste, 1989

Robert Motherwell

Beau geste, 1989

Sale Date: February 8, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (aus: New York International), 1966

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (aus: New York International), 1966

Sale Date: December 8, 2022

Auction Closed

Window, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Window, 1973

Sale Date: December 8, 2022

Auction Closed

o.T., 1964

Robert Motherwell

o.T., 1964

Sale Date: December 8, 2022

Auction Closed

o.T., 1988

Robert Motherwell

o.T., 1988

Sale Date: December 8, 2022

Auction Closed

English (US)

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