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)
Alberti Elegy, 1982

Robert Motherwell

Alberti Elegy, 1982

Sale Date: December 1, 2018

Auction Closed

AUSTRALIAN STONE (B.314), 1984

Robert Motherwell

AUSTRALIAN STONE (B.314), 1984

Sale Date: December 1, 2018

Auction Closed

Beau Geste pour Lucrece I-VI (6 parts -..., 1989

Robert Motherwell

Beau Geste pour Lucrece I-VI (6 parts -..., 1989

Sale Date: November 29, 2018

Auction Closed

Seaside Studio, 1990

Robert Motherwell

Seaside Studio, 1990

Sale Date: November 15, 2018

Auction Closed

Beau Geste pour Lucrèce, 1989

Robert Motherwell

Beau Geste pour Lucrèce, 1989

Sale Date: December 7, 2018

Auction Closed

Untitled, The Basque Suite, 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, The Basque Suite, 1971

Sale Date: November 21, 2018

Auction Closed

OCTAVIO PAZ THREE POEMS SUITE

Robert Motherwell

OCTAVIO PAZ THREE POEMS SUITE

Sale Date: November 24, 2018

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1972

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1972

Sale Date: November 19, 2018

Auction Closed

Chair, 1972

Robert Motherwell

Chair, 1972

Sale Date: November 19, 2018

Auction Closed

Untitled, from Flight portfolio, 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, from Flight portfolio, 1971

Sale Date: November 14, 2018

Auction Closed

Automatism B, 1966

Robert Motherwell

Automatism B, 1966

Sale Date: November 14, 2018

Auction Closed

Robert Motherwell

"Tricolor", 1973

Sale Date: November 18, 2018

Auction Closed

DRUNK WITH TURPENTINE NO. 21, 1979

Robert Motherwell

DRUNK WITH TURPENTINE NO. 21, 1979

Sale Date: November 15, 2018

Auction Closed

THE BALKAN LUTE, 1975

Robert Motherwell

THE BALKAN LUTE, 1975

Sale Date: November 15, 2018

Auction Closed

Untitled from The Basque Suite, 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled from The Basque Suite, 1971

Sale Date: November 10, 2018

Auction Closed

Delos, 1991

Robert Motherwell

Delos, 1991

Sale Date: November 15, 2018

Auction Closed

Open No. 153: In Scarlet with White Line, 1970

Robert Motherwell

Open No. 153: In Scarlet with White Line, 1970

Sale Date: November 15, 2018

Auction Closed

Yeats' Tower, 1984

Robert Motherwell

Yeats' Tower, 1984

Sale Date: November 14, 2018

Auction Closed

I.H. Series No. 26, 1970

Robert Motherwell

I.H. Series No. 26, 1970

Sale Date: November 14, 2018

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1967

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1967

Sale Date: November 14, 2018

Auction Closed

In Black + White, 1960

Robert Motherwell

In Black + White, 1960

Sale Date: November 27, 2018

Auction Closed

Elegy Black Black from EL NEGRO, 1983

Robert Motherwell

Elegy Black Black from EL NEGRO, 1983

Sale Date: November 10, 2018

Auction Closed

Redness of Red, 1985

Robert Motherwell

Redness of Red, 1985

Sale Date: November 13, 2018

Auction Closed

French Revolution Bicentennial Suite, IV, 1987–1988

Robert Motherwell

French Revolution Bicentennial Suite, IV, 1987–1988

Sale Date: November 15, 2018

Auction Closed

English (US)

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