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)
Spanish Painting with the Face of a Dog, 1958–1960

Robert Motherwell

Spanish Painting with the Face of a Dog, 1958–1960

Sale Date: May 16, 2019

Auction Closed

In Black and White With Yellow Ochre, 1958

Robert Motherwell

In Black and White With Yellow Ochre, 1958

Sale Date: May 16, 2019

Auction Closed

Summertime in Italy No. 3, 1960

Robert Motherwell

Summertime in Italy No. 3, 1960

Sale Date: May 16, 2019

Auction Closed

August Sea No. 4, 1972

Robert Motherwell

August Sea No. 4, 1972

Sale Date: May 16, 2019

Auction Closed

GUILLOTINE NO. 2, 1979–1980

Robert Motherwell

GUILLOTINE NO. 2, 1979–1980

Sale Date: May 17, 2019

Auction Closed

THREE IMPORTANT PERSONAGES, 1944

Robert Motherwell

THREE IMPORTANT PERSONAGES, 1944

Sale Date: May 17, 2019

Auction Closed

ELEGY TO THE SPANISH REPUBLIC NO. 134, 1974

Robert Motherwell

ELEGY TO THE SPANISH REPUBLIC NO. 134, 1974

Sale Date: May 16, 2019

Auction Closed

ELEGY STUDY NO. XIII, 1976

Robert Motherwell

ELEGY STUDY NO. XIII, 1976

Sale Date: May 16, 2019

Auction Closed

Black Sun (from Octavio Paz Suite), 1987

Robert Motherwell

Black Sun (from Octavio Paz Suite), 1987

Sale Date: April 30, 2019

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1967

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1967

Sale Date: May 10, 2019

Auction Closed

New York Cultural Institutions from New..., 1982

Robert Motherwell

New York Cultural Institutions from New..., 1982

Sale Date: May 4, 2019

Auction Closed

Red Samurai from the Octavio Paz Suite, 1988

Robert Motherwell

Red Samurai from the Octavio Paz Suite, 1988

Sale Date: May 4, 2019

Auction Closed

Gesture IV (State I), 1977

Robert Motherwell

Gesture IV (State I), 1977

Sale Date: May 4, 2019

Auction Closed

No.12 from the Basque suite, 1971

Robert Motherwell

No.12 from the Basque suite, 1971

Sale Date: May 4, 2019

Auction Closed

Mirror I, 1989

Robert Motherwell

Mirror I, 1989

Sale Date: May 4, 2019

Auction Closed

THREE FIGURES, 1989

Robert Motherwell

THREE FIGURES, 1989

Sale Date: April 30, 2019

Auction Closed

ELEGY STUDY I, 1989

Robert Motherwell

ELEGY STUDY I, 1989

Sale Date: April 30, 2019

Auction Closed

MASK (FOR INGMAR BERGMAN), 1989

Robert Motherwell

MASK (FOR INGMAR BERGMAN), 1989

Sale Date: April 30, 2019

Auction Closed

PAZ, Octavio (1914-1998). Three Poems. New York:

Robert Motherwell

PAZ, Octavio (1914-1998). Three Poems. New York:

Sale Date: May 1, 2019

Auction Closed

Primal Sign VI (Moss), 1981

Robert Motherwell

Primal Sign VI (Moss), 1981

Sale Date: May 16, 2019

Auction Closed

BLACK FOR MOZART, 1991

Robert Motherwell

BLACK FOR MOZART, 1991

Sale Date: April 30, 2019

Auction Closed

RUNNING ELEGY II, BLUE STATE, 1983

Robert Motherwell

RUNNING ELEGY II, BLUE STATE, 1983

Sale Date: April 30, 2019

Auction Closed

UNTITLED, 1975

Robert Motherwell

UNTITLED, 1975

Sale Date: April 30, 2019

Auction Closed

PAUILLAC #4, 1973

Robert Motherwell

PAUILLAC #4, 1973

Sale Date: April 30, 2019

Auction Closed

English (US)

©2024 Artnet Worldwide Corporation. All rights reserved.