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)
o.T. (Aus der Suite Octavio Paz. Tres poemas), 1988

Robert Motherwell

o.T. (Aus der Suite Octavio Paz. Tres poemas), 1988

Sale Date: January 21, 2022

Auction Closed

Black open, 1985

Robert Motherwell

Black open, 1985

Sale Date: January 21, 2022

Auction Closed

New York International: Untitled, 1966

Robert Motherwell

New York International: Untitled, 1966

Sale Date: January 11, 2022

Auction Closed

America - La France Variations VIII, 1983–1984

Robert Motherwell

America - La France Variations VIII, 1983–1984

Sale Date: January 11, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled (In Black with Blue

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (In Black with Blue "4"), 1980

Sale Date: December 17, 2021

Auction Closed

Capriccio, 1961

Robert Motherwell

Capriccio, 1961

Sale Date: December 19, 2021

Auction Closed

Mexican Night II (Belknap 318; Engberg &..., 1984

Robert Motherwell

Mexican Night II (Belknap 318; Engberg &..., 1984

Sale Date: December 16, 2021

Auction Closed

St. Michael II (Belknap 205; Walker Art..., 1979

Robert Motherwell

St. Michael II (Belknap 205; Walker Art..., 1979

Sale Date: December 10, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (Walker Art Center 81), 1975

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (Walker Art Center 81), 1975

Sale Date: December 10, 2021

Auction Closed

Redness of Red

Robert Motherwell

Redness of Red

Sale Date: December 11, 2021

Auction Closed

Game of Chance

Robert Motherwell

Game of Chance

Sale Date: December 11, 2021

Auction Closed

Black for Mozart

Robert Motherwell

Black for Mozart

Sale Date: December 11, 2021

Auction Closed

Black Mountain, State II, 1983

Robert Motherwell

Black Mountain, State II, 1983

Sale Date: December 11, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (Automatism), 1967

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (Automatism), 1967

Sale Date: December 15, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1986

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1986

Sale Date: December 15, 2021

Auction Closed

Poet II, 1962

Robert Motherwell

Poet II, 1962

Sale Date: December 16, 2021

Auction Closed

Through Black Emerge Purified (from El Negro), 1983

Robert Motherwell

Through Black Emerge Purified (from El Negro), 1983

Sale Date: December 16, 2021

Auction Closed

Black Wall of Spain (from El Negro), 1983

Robert Motherwell

Black Wall of Spain (from El Negro), 1983

Sale Date: December 16, 2021

Auction Closed

The Quarrel (Belknap 294), 1983, 1983

Robert Motherwell

The Quarrel (Belknap 294), 1983, 1983

Sale Date: December 9, 2021

Auction Closed

Alberti Elegy, 1981

Robert Motherwell

Alberti Elegy, 1981

Sale Date: December 8, 2021

Auction Closed

Tallith for Meyer Shapiro (from For..., 1973–1974

Robert Motherwell

Tallith for Meyer Shapiro (from For..., 1973–1974

Sale Date: December 15, 2021

Auction Closed

Capriccio, 1961

Robert Motherwell

Capriccio, 1961

Sale Date: December 15, 2021

Auction Closed

Tricolor 137, 1973

Robert Motherwell

Tricolor 137, 1973

Sale Date: November 28, 2021

Auction Closed

New York, New York - Cultural Institutions, 1983

Robert Motherwell

New York, New York - Cultural Institutions, 1983

Sale Date: November 28, 2021

Auction Closed

English (US)

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