Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), alongside Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning, made up the quartet of American abstract painters that radically defined Modern painting and established New York City as the center of the art world for the second half of the 20th century.

While compared to his peers, Motherwell's works are arguably the most challenging for the uninitiated.

Nevertheless, he was the unofficial spokesman of the New York School, writing and lecturing prolifically on behalf of the movement, his fellow artists, and the merits of abstraction. (Before devoting himself to painting, Motherwell had started a PhD at Harvard in philosophy. In addition to his talents as an artist, he was incredibly articulate.)

An important and distinctive part of Motherwell's oeuvre is the appropriation (of usually European) cigarette packaging into his work.

This combination of lithograph with screenprint creates intricate layers of colours. Printed on hand-made paper, is a paradigm of Motherwell's oeuvre.

Condition-Very good