Robert Motherwell

Art Appreciation

Born in Aberdeen, Washington on January 24, 1915, Robert Motherwell was an American painter and printmaker and considered an important figure in the development of Abstract Expressionism. He was one of the youngest members of the so-called "New York School" of painters, which included Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning. 

His early work was heavily influenced by surrealism and often incorporated elements of automatic drawing and collage into his paintings. He later developed a more minimal style, focusing on large expanses of color and simple, geometric shapes.

Motherwell received a BA in philosophy from Stanford University. At Stanford, he was introduced to modernism through literature by Mallarmé, James Joyce, Edgar Allan Poe, and Octavio Paz. This would become a major theme to his works. 

He completed a year in a Ph.D. program in philosophy at Harvard and took courses in art history at Columbia University in New York City. 

He became friends with American art historian Meyer Schapiro, who then encouraged Motherwell to focus on painting. Schapiro introduced him to Parisian surrealists, which included Max Ernst.

While in Mexico with surrealist Roberto Matta, he met Maria Emilia Ferreira y Moyeros, his first wife. He would then dedicate his time to painting. 

In his return from Mexico, Motherwell played a significant role in laying the foundations for the new movement of abstract expressionism, aka the New York School.

Motherwell's first one-man exhibition was at Peggy Guggenheim's "Art of This Century" gallery. He became a leading spokesman for avant-garde art in America. He and Mark Rothko would eventually start the Subjects of the Artist School.

Motherwell's work has been widely exhibited and is held in many important collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Tate Gallery in London. He received numerous awards and honors during his lifetime, including the National Medal of Arts in 1989.

Elegy to the Spanish Republic (c. 1940s)

Pancho Villa, Dead or Alive (1943)

Dublin 1916, with Black and Tan (1964)

Sources: 

Wikipedia

https://www.boreasfineart.com/artist/Robert_Motherwell/biography/

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/pr/97/19032.html

https://app.cuseum.com/art/robert-motherwell-dublin-1916-with-black-and-tan

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