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)
Untitled from the Madrid Suite, 1965-1966, 1965–1966

Robert Motherwell

Untitled from the Madrid Suite, 1965-1966, 1965–1966

Sale Date: December 15, 2020

Auction Closed

No. 12, The Basque suite, 1970 - 71, 1970–1971

Robert Motherwell

No. 12, The Basque suite, 1970 - 71, 1970–1971

Sale Date: January 28, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, from The Basque Suite, 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, from The Basque Suite, 1971

Sale Date: January 20, 2021

Auction Closed

To the Palette, from 'A la pintura', 1971

Robert Motherwell

To the Palette, from 'A la pintura', 1971

Sale Date: January 28, 2021

Auction Closed

Hollow Men Suite #6, 1986

Robert Motherwell

Hollow Men Suite #6, 1986

Sale Date: January 28, 2021

Auction Closed

Plate Two, 1970

Robert Motherwell

Plate Two, 1970

Sale Date: January 21, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (E. & B. 527), 1991

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (E. & B. 527), 1991

Sale Date: January 21, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (E. & B. 528), 1991

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (E. & B. 528), 1991

Sale Date: January 21, 2021

Auction Closed

Beau Geste pour Lucrèce III, 1989, 1989

Robert Motherwell

Beau Geste pour Lucrèce III, 1989, 1989

Sale Date: December 19, 2020

Auction Closed

Beau Geste pour Lucrèce V, 1989, 1989

Robert Motherwell

Beau Geste pour Lucrèce V, 1989, 1989

Sale Date: December 19, 2020

Auction Closed

Primal Sign III, 1980, 1980

Robert Motherwell

Primal Sign III, 1980, 1980

Sale Date: December 19, 2020

Auction Closed

I.H. Series No. 26, 1970

Robert Motherwell

I.H. Series No. 26, 1970

Sale Date: December 18, 2020

Auction Closed

Game of Chance (W.A.C. 377), 1987

Robert Motherwell

Game of Chance (W.A.C. 377), 1987

Sale Date: December 16, 2020

Auction Closed

America La France Variations II (W.A.C. 330), 1984

Robert Motherwell

America La France Variations II (W.A.C. 330), 1984

Sale Date: December 16, 2020

Auction Closed

St. Marks (W.A.C. 273), 1980

Robert Motherwell

St. Marks (W.A.C. 273), 1980

Sale Date: December 16, 2020

Auction Closed

Hermitage (W.A.C. 180), 1975

Robert Motherwell

Hermitage (W.A.C. 180), 1975

Sale Date: December 16, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled (Walker Art Center 134), 1973

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (Walker Art Center 134), 1973

Sale Date: December 16, 2020

Auction Closed

Spring (from Paris Suite I), 1980

Robert Motherwell

Spring (from Paris Suite I), 1980

Sale Date: December 16, 2020

Auction Closed

Mexico City Personages I, from Octavio Paz..., 1988

Robert Motherwell

Mexico City Personages I, from Octavio Paz..., 1988

Sale Date: December 9, 2020

Auction Closed

Madrid Suite J, from Madrid Suite (E. & B...., 1966

Robert Motherwell

Madrid Suite J, from Madrid Suite (E. & B...., 1966

Sale Date: December 9, 2020

Auction Closed

Lyric Suite, 1965

Robert Motherwell

Lyric Suite, 1965

Sale Date: December 15, 2020

Auction Closed

Lyric Suite, 1965

Robert Motherwell

Lyric Suite, 1965

Sale Date: December 15, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled, from Ulysses, 1988

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, from Ulysses, 1988

Sale Date: December 16, 2020

Auction Closed

Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart, 25th Anniversary, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart, 25th Anniversary, 1991

Sale Date: November 27, 2020

Auction Closed

English (US)

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