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 BaziotesJackson 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 Artworks

Robert Motherwell (447 results)
Beside the Sea #43, 1966

Robert Motherwell

Beside the Sea #43, 1966

Sotheby's New York

Est. 50,000–70,000 USD

Untitled (Open), 1971

Robert Motherwell

Untitled (Open), 1971

Sotheby's New York

Est. 60,000–80,000 USD

Calligraphy, 1989

Robert Motherwell

Calligraphy, 1989

Robin Rosenberg Fine Art

Price on Request

Chair, 1972

Robert Motherwell

Chair, 1972

Galerie Kremers

Price on Request

Robert Motherwell

"Gray Open with White Paint", 1981

Caviar20

Price on Request

Three Figures, 1989

Robert Motherwell

Three Figures, 1989

Hamilton-Selway Fine Art

Price on Request

Three Forms, 1988

Robert Motherwell

Three Forms, 1988

Shapero Modern

12,000 GBP

On the Wing, 1984

Robert Motherwell

On the Wing, 1984

Shapero Modern

9,500 GBP

Red Sea I, 1976

Robert Motherwell

Red Sea I, 1976

Shapero Modern

Price on Request

Elegy Study, 1979

Robert Motherwell

Elegy Study, 1979

Shapero Modern

12,000 GBP

Sculptor's Picture, with Blue, 1958

Robert Motherwell

Sculptor's Picture, with Blue, 1958

Kasmin

Contact Gallery

Untitled, ca. 1951

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, ca. 1951

Kasmin

Contact Gallery

Untitled, 1975

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1975

michael lisi/contemporary art

Price on Request

Palo Alto, 1978

Robert Motherwell

Palo Alto, 1978

michael lisi/contemporary art

Price on Request