- Robert Motherwell
Robert Motherwell (
January 24 ,1915 –July 16 ,1991 ) was an American abstract expressionist painter andprintmaker . He was one of the youngest of theNew York School (a phrase he coined), which also includedJackson Pollock ,Mark Rothko ,Willem de Kooning , andPhilip Guston Motherwell was born in
Aberdeen, Washington . He received hisBachelor of Arts degree inphilosophy fromStanford University in 1937 and completed one year of a philosophy Ph.D. at Harvard before shifting fields toart andart history , studying underMeyer Schapiro atColumbia University . His rigorous background inrhetoric would serve him and the abstract expressionists well, as he was able to tour the country giving speeches that articulated to the public what it was that he and his friends were doing in New York. Without his tireless devotion to communication (in addition to his prolific painting), well-known abstract expressionists like Rothko, who was extremely shy and rarely left his studio, might not have made it into the public eye. Motherwell's collected writings are a truly exceptional window into the abstract expressionist world. He was a lucid and engaging writer, and his essays are considered a bridge for those who want to learn more about non-representational art but who are put off by denseart criticism .Motherwell spent significant time in
Provincetown, Massachusetts .Cy Twombly studied under him.Motherwell's greatest goal was to use the staging of his work to convey to the viewer the mental and physical engagement of the artist with the canvas. He preferred using the starkness of
black paint as one of the basic elements of his paintings. He was known to frequently employ the technique of diluting his paint withturpentine to create ashadow effect. His long-running series of paintings "Elegies for the Spanish Republic" is generally considered his most significant project.Motherwell was a member of the editorial board of the surrealist magazine "VVV" and a contributor of
Wolfgang Paalen s journal "Dyn ", which was edited 1942-44 in six numbers. He also edited Paalens collected essays "Form and Sense" in 1945 as the first Number of "Problems of Contemporary Art."The
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth houses the largest collection of Motherwell's works. TheWalker Art Center also has a nearly-complete collection of his prints. TheEmpire State Plaza holds some of his work.He was married to artist
Helen Frankenthaler .Books
* Marika Herskovic, [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/50253062&tab=holdings "American Abstract Expressionism of the 1950s An Illustrated Survey,"] (New York School Press, 2003.) ISBN 0-9677994-1-4
* Marika Herskovic, [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/50666793&tab=holdings "New York School Abstract Expressionists Artists Choice by Artists,"] (New York School Press, 2000.) ISBN 0-9677994-0-6External links
* [http://www.hollistaggart.com/artists/motherwell.htm Robert Motherwell Biography: Hollis Taggart Galleries]
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