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Boreas Fine Art

Chicago

Robert Motherwell

(American, 1915–1991)

untitled by robert motherwell

Robert Motherwell

Untitled, 1964

Price on Request

Biography

Timeline

1915
Born in Aberdeen, WA
1937 - 1938
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
1937
BA, philosophy, Stanford University, Standford, ca
1940
Columbia University; encouraged by Meyer Schapiro to study art and art history
1941
Traveled to Mexico with the surrealist painter Matta; decided to make painting his primary vocation
1950 - 1959
Taught painting at Hunter College in New York and in addition to directing the influential Documents of Modern Art series, he edited The Dada Painters and Poets: An Anthology (1951)
1960 - 1979
Exhibited widely in both America and Europe
1965
Was given a major retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art; this show subsequently traveled to Amsterdam, London, Brussels, Essen, and Turin
1967
Began to work on his Open series
1970
Moved to Greenwich, CT

Exhibitions

2017
Robert Motherwell Selected Exhibitions in 2017:
Robert Motherwell: The Box, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, UK (solo exhibition)
Robert Motherwell: Masterprints, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK (solo exhibition)
Abstract Expressionism, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain
2016
Robert Motherwell Selected Exhibitions in 2016:
Robert Motherwell: The Art of the Collage, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY (solo exhibition)
A Process of Emphasis: Prints of Robert Motherwell, Works on Paper, 1971-1988, Dedalus Foundation, New London, CT (solo exhibition)
Making Modern: Hofmann and the Next Generation,” Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Leap Before you Look: Black Mountain College, 1933-1957, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH
2015 - 2016
Robert Motherwell Selected Exhibitions in 2015-2016:
Motherwell at 100, Dedalus Foundation, New York, NY (solo exhibition)
Between Life and Death: Robert Motherwell’s Elegies in Bay Area Collections, De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA (solo exhibition)
2015
Robert Motherwell Selected Exhibitions in 2015:
Robert Motherwell and The New York School at Hunter, Dedalus Foundation, New York, NY (solo exhibition)
Motherwell as Printmaker: The Artist at Work, Dedalus Foundation, Brooklyn, NY (solo exhibition)
Robert Motherwell: A Centennial Celebration, Dedalus Foundation, Provincetown, MA (solo exhibition)
Master Prints of the ‘70s – ‘90s, Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM
2014 - 2015
Robert Motherwell Selected Exhibitions in 2014-2015:
Robert Motherwell: Works on Paper, 1951-1991, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY (solo exhibition)
2014
Robert Motherwell Selected Exhibitions in 2014:
Robert Motherwell: Collage, Part II, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, New York, NY (solo exhibition)
Robert Motherwell, Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson, WY (solo exhibition)
Robert Motherwell: At five in the afternoon, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia (solo exhibition)
Robert Motherwell: The East Hampton Years, 1944–1952, Guild Hall, East Hampton, New York, NY (solo exhibition)
Robert Motherwell, Annandale Galleries, Sydney, Australia (solo exhibition)
Made in the USA: American Masters from The Phillips Collection, 1850-1970, Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
Modern Masters: 20th Century Icons from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Denver Art Museum, CO
Sincerely Yours: Treasures of the Queen City, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Gauguin to Warhol: 20th Century Icons from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, San Diego Museum of Art, CA
Van Gogh to Rothko: Masterworks from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; Milwaukee Art Museum, WI
Rothko to Richter: Mark-Making in Abstract Painting from the Collection of Preston H. Haskell, Princeton University Art Museum, NJ; Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, Jacksonville, FL
2013 - 2014
Robert Motherwell Selected Exhibitions in 2013-2014:
Robert Motherwell: Early Collages, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
2013
Robert Motherwell Selected Exhibitions in 2013:
Robert Motherwell: A Survey, Paintings/Paper/Prints, Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, NC (solo exhibition)
Robert Motherwell: Collage, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK; Bernard Jacobson Gallery, New York, NY (solo exhibition)
Robert Motherwell: Four Decades of Collage, McClain Gallery, Houston, TX (solo exhibition)
American Gestures: Abstract Expressionism, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Hidden Treasures Unveiled: Watercolors, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Disturbing the Piece: An Expedition through the World of Collages, MARTa Herford, Germany; Kunstmuseum Ahlen, Germany
2012
Robert Motherwell: Prints from the Artist's Studio (London) - Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, England
Robert Motherwell: Abstract Expressionist - St. Louis University Museum of Art - SLUMA, St. Louis, USA
The Essential Idea: Robert Motherwell's Graphic Works - Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, USA
2011
Robert Motherwell: Works on Paper - Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, England
Focus: Robert Motherwell - Denver Art Museum, Denver, USA
Robert Motherwell: Music - Greenfield Sacks Gallery, Santa Monica, USA

Public Collections

Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
Kiasma - Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy
The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
University of Massachusetts, Amherst Fine Arts Center, Amherst, MA

Literature

1997
Robert Motherwell on Paper: Drawings, Prints, Collages( text by David Rosand): Harry N. Abrams; First Edition edition
Robert Motherwell: A Dialogue with Literature(text by Robert Motherwell and Bernd Kluser), Galerie Bernd Klüser, Munich, Germany(catalogue)
Robert Motherwell: The Complete Prints 1940-1991 Catalogue Raisonné(text by Robert Motherwell and Siri Engberg), Walker Art Center
English (US)

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