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Robert Motherwell

American • 1915-1991

Biography

One of the youngest proponents of the Abstract Expressionist movement, Robert Motherwell rose to critical acclaim with his first solo exhibition at Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century gallery in 1944. Not only was Motherwell one of the major practicing Abstract Expressionist artists, he was, in fact, the main intellectual driving force within the movement—corralling fellow New York painters such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Hans Hoffman and William Baziotes into his circle. Motherwell later coined the term the "New York School", a designation synonymous to Abstract Expressionism that loosely refers to a wide variety of non-objective work produced in New York between 1940 and 1960.

During an over five-decade-long career, Motherwell created a large and powerful body of varied work that includes paintings, drawings, prints and collages. Motherwell's work is most generally characterized by simple shapes, broad color contrasts and a dynamic interplay between restrained and gestural brushstrokes. Above all, it demonstrates his approach to art-making as a response to the complexity of lived, and importantly felt, experience.

Insights

Motherwell is perhaps best known for his iconic Elegy to the Spanish Republic series, in which he painted more than 150 variants of large black forms onto white backgrounds.
In 1940, Motherwell matriculated at Columbia University and studied art history under the redoubtable art historian Meyer Schapiro.
In 1951, Motherwell joined the faculty at Black Mountain College and taught artists like Cy Twombly and Robert Rauschenberg.

"Wherever art appears, life disappears."

Past Lots

172
Robert Motherwell
Souvenir de Californie
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
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269
Robert Motherwell
Red Sea I (E. & B. 193)
Estimate $8,000 - 12,000
Sold for $10,795
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270
Robert Motherwell
Put Out All Flags (E. & B. 263)
Estimate $6,000 - 9,000
Sold for $7,620
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271
Robert Motherwell
Calligraphic Study V (E. & B. 198)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $3,810
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272
Robert Motherwell
Barcelona Elegy to the Spanish Republic (E. & B. 533)
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
Sold for $8,890
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98
Robert Motherwell
Lyric Suite
Estimate $8,000 - 12,000
Sold for $7,620
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210
Robert Motherwell
Beau geste pour Lucrèce (Beautiful Gesture for Lucrece) (E. & B. 480-485)
Estimate £2,000 - 3,000
Sold for £1,905
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211
Robert Motherwell
Music for J.S. Bach (E. & B. 471)
Estimate £2,000 - 3,000
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31
Robert Motherwell
Untitled, from The Basque Suite (E. & B. 81)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $1,905
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32
Robert Motherwell
On the Wing (T. 454, E. & B. 340)
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
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33
Robert Motherwell
Africa 9, from Africa Suite (E. & B. 77)
Estimate $1,000 - 2,000
Sold for $1,207
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35
Robert Motherwell
Open No. 137: In Ultramarine on Beige
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $114,300
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45
Robert Motherwell
La Casa de la Mancha (E. & B. 349)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $3,302
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258
Robert Motherwell
Untitled, from the Basque Suite (E. & B. 82)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $2,286
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259
Robert Motherwell
Untitled, from the Basque Suite (E. & B. 83)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $2,540
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260
Robert Motherwell
Untitled, from London Series I (E. & B. 93)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $3,048
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261
Robert Motherwell
Africa 6, from Africa Suite (E. & B. 74)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $2,794
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262
Robert Motherwell
Africa 8, from Africa Suite (E. & B. 76)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $3,810
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73
Robert Motherwell
Untitled, from The Basque Suite (E. & B. 88)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $3,276
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74
Robert Motherwell
Untitled, from The Basque Suite (E. & B. 80)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $4,410
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75
Robert Motherwell
Untitled, from The Basque Suite (E. & B. 86)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $3,528
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42
Robert Motherwell
Open No. 25: In Blue with Variations
Estimate $900,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $2,329,000
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16
Robert Motherwell
Wave (E. & B. 475)
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
Sold for $31,500
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167
Robert Motherwell
Automatism B (E. & B. 20)
Estimate $1,200 - 1,800
Sold for $4,410
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