Robert Motherwell

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Robert Motherwell, The Studio, 1987
Biography
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Robert Motherwell was a major figure in the birth and development of Abstract Expressionism and the youngest member of the New York School - a term he coined - which brought him close to Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. A passionate advocate and articulate spokesman for Abstract Expressionism, he believed that ideas and emotions were best communicated through the bold forms and gestural lines of abstract art. He studied Philosophy at Stanford University and Art History at Columbia University under the art historian Meyer Shapiro and obtained a doctorate from Harvard. In the 1940s and 1950s, he lectured at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where he taught notable artists such as Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly. He later taught at Hunter College in New York.

During his five decade long career, Motherwell produced several large series, including Elegies to the Spanish Republic, Beside the Sea, the Lyric Suite, and Open. His work often contemplates complex topics through an intuitive artistic approach, resulting in an emotional and ephemeral evocation rather than a literal depiction for viewers to interpret themselves.

Motherwell founded the Dedalus Foundation in 1981 in order to foster public understanding of modern art and Modernism. He has exhibited worldwide, and his work can be found in the collections of major art institutions including Tate in London; the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice; the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Museum of Modern Art in New York; the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles; and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.
Robert Motherwell, Red, White, and Blue No. 2, 1967. Acrylic and pasted paper on paper, 21.6 x 17.8 cm (8 1/2 x 7 in).

Timeline
1915 Born in Aberdeen, Washington

1937 Earns a B.A. from Stanford University

1938 Studies at Harvard University's Department of Philosophy and travels to Europe for a year

1939 First solo exhibition

1940 Moves to New York, studies art history at Columbia University with Meyer Schapiro, who encouraged him to paint

1941 Encounters the Surrealist practice of psychic automatism, which inspires him to experiment with new artistic practices that prioritize psychology and emotion through form and colour

1946 Becomes good friends with Mark Rothko, who eventually introduces Motherwell to a larger artistic network

1948 Begins his series, Elegies to the Spanish Republic, which he continues until his death

1948-9 Co-founds the Subjects of the Artist School

1958 Marries Helen Frankenthaler

1961 Makes his first lithograph, marking the beginning of the artist’s extensive practice in printmaking

1973 Establishes his own print workshop in Greenwich, MA

1974 Suffers a heart attack, hospitalizing him for several weeks, which causes the artist to paint as if on borrowed time. As a result, Motherwell completes over thirty artworks in only two months

1978 Receives the Grande Médaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris by the mayor of Paris, the highest honor given by the city, marking him the first American painter honoured

1981 Is awarded the Skowhegan Medal for Printmaking

1991 Dies in Provincetown, MA
Selected Exhibitions
1946 San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA

1951 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

1962 Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, CA

1963 Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

1965 Museum of Modern Art, New York, major retrospective exhibition. Travels in 1966 to Stedelijk, Amsterdam

1967 San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA

1968 San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA

1968 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

1969 Robert Motherwell: Lyric Suite, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

1969 Paintings and Collages by Robert Motherwell, The Toledo Museum of Art, OH

1972 Robert Motherwell: Recent Paintings, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN

1972 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

1973 Robert Motherwell: Recent Work, The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

1975 Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, Mexico

1975 Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, TX

1976 Museum des 20 Jahrhunderts, Vienna, Austria

1977 Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France

1978 Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK

1978 National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C

1979 The William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, CT

1979 Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, KS

1980 Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

1983 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA

1983 Bavarian State Museum of Modern Art, Munich, Germany

1983 Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

1984 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY

1985 Fort Worth Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX

1985 Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN

1986 Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, Spain

1987 Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

1989 Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ

1991 Robert Motherwell: The Open Door, Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico; tours to Museo de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico

1991 Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

1992 Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN

1994 Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX

1996 Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN

1996 Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA

1996 Robert Motherwell, Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Barcelona, Spain; travels to Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain

1997 Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

1998 Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain

1998 The Modern at Sundance Square, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX

1999 Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE

2000 Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

2003 Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany

2003 Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA

2003 Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

2004 Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX

2004 Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany

2006 Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD

2008 Robert Motherwell, Five Great Opens, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

2008 Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino, Mexico City, Mexico

2009 Robert Motherwell: Open, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

2009 Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL

2011 Robert Motherwell: Works on Paper, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

2011 Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

2012 Robert Motherwell: Prints from the Artist's Studio, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

2013 Robert Motherwell: Collage, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

2013 Guggenheim Museum, Venice, Italy

2013 Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY

2014 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia

2015 Robert Motherwell: Black, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

2015 Robert Motherwell: A Centenary Survey of Major Works Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

2015 Motherwell: Lyric Suite, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

2015 Between Life and Death: Robert Motherwell's Elegies in Bay Area Collections, The de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA

2016 Robert Motherwell: Abstract Expressionism, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

2017 Matisse and American Art Group Show, The Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ

2017 Robert Motherwell: The Quiet + The Wild, Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, Asheville, NC

2017 Pollock and Motherwell: Legends of Abstract Expressionism, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, KS

2019 Abstract Expressionism: A Social Revolution, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL

2019 Some of the artists I have worked for, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

2023 Robert Motherwell: Prints, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

2023 Robert Motherwell: Collages and Works on Paper, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

2023 Robert Motherwell: Paintings,Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

2025 Summer Show, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK

Download Full CV
Works
- Robert Motherwell
  Black for Mozart , 1991
  Lithograph and collage
- Robert Motherwell
  The Poet's Eye, 1990
  Aquatint and carborundum in black and blue, on J. Whatman paper, Edition of 35
- Robert Motherwell
  Untitled (Black and Ochre on Deep Blue), 1988
  Acrylic and collage on canvas board
- Robert Motherwell
  Shem the Penman #18, 1983
  Acrylic and charcoal on canvas
- Robert Motherwell
  Alberti Elegy, 1982
  Lithograph and chine appliqué
- Robert Motherwell
  Remembering Madrid, 1980
  Acrylic and charcoal on canvas
- Robert Motherwell
  The Berggruen Series: Untitled, 1980
  Lithograph on white Arches Cover paper
- Robert Motherwell
  Red Open with White Line , 1979
  Aquatint and soft-ground etching on Georges Duchene Hawthorne of Larroque handmade paper
- Robert Motherwell
  The Times in Havana, 1979
  Acrylic and collage on canvasboard
- Robert Motherwell
  Untitled (Champagne), 1973
  Acrylic and pasted paper on canvas board
- Robert Motherwell
  Gauloises on Green with Ultramarine No. 3, 1972
  Acrylic and paper collage on board
- Robert Motherwell
  Untitled (In Brown with Gauloises and the Figure 4), 1972
  Acrylic and paper collage on canvas board
- Robert Motherwell
  Africa Suite: Africa 2, 1970
  Screenprint on J.B.Green paper
- Robert Motherwell
  Study for Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110E, 1968
  Acrylic and graphite on paper
- Robert Motherwell
  Unentitled, 1957
  Ink and oil on Strathmore Seconds rag paper
- Robert Motherwell
  Summer Collage, 1946
  Oil, pasted paper and sand on board
- Robert Motherwell
  Summer Sign, 1990
  Carborundum on Whatman paper
- Robert Motherwell
  Octavio Paz Suite: Nocturne VIII, 1988
  Lithograph and chine appliqué to Arches paper
- Robert Motherwell
  Octavio Paz Suite: Untitled, 1988
  Lithograph and chine appliqué
- Robert Motherwell
  Black Open, 1985
  Aquatint and line etching on Whatman paper
- Robert Motherwell
  America - La France Variations I, 1984
  Lithograph and collage
- Robert Motherwell
  Mexican Night II, 1984
  Etching and aquatint in colours on Whatman paper
- Robert Motherwell
  Black with No Way Out, 1983
  Lithograph on white Tyler Graphics Ltd handmade paper
- Robert Motherwell
  Samurai II, 1980
  Lithograph and chine appliqué
- Robert Motherwell
  The Berggruen Series: Untitled, 1980
  Lithograph on white Arches Cover paper
- Robert Motherwell
  Untitled, 1978
  Lithograph and chine collé
- Robert Motherwell
  Red Sea I, 1976
  Colour etching and aquatint on Arches paper
- Robert Motherwell
  Bastos, 1975
  Lithograph on white Arjom ari mould-made paper
- Robert Motherwell
  Monster, 1975
  Lithograph on speckled grey HMP handmade paper
- Robert Motherwell
  Summer Light Series: Pauillac, No.2, 1973
  Lithograph, screenprint, pochoir, and collage
- Robert Motherwell
  The Basque Suite: Untitled, 1971
  Colour screenprint printed in black, red, and orange on J.B. Green paper
- Robert Motherwell
  Dedication–Lincoln Center (B.App.23), 1969
  Screenprint with collage in colours
- Robert Motherwell
  Capriccio, 1961
  Collotype and colour photo screenprint on Arches paper
Exhibitions
Art Fairs
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