Robert Motherwell

Robert Motherwell was one of the Abstract Expressionist movement’s most eloquent statesman alongside Clyfford Still, Philip Guston, Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Barnett Newman, to name a few of its central practitioners in the mid-1940s and 1950’s.  A defining artist, Motherwell fluidly moved from painting to print-making and back again with such profound alacrity that the two mediums are fused within his artistic expression. From the spare, automatic linear etchings of the “May Linen” suite made toward the end of his life to the unique work on paper from his “Open” series, on exhibit, Motherwell’s signature mark has come to epitomize the New York School of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Distinguishing himself through his authentic mark as a painter and a rare collagist, Motherwell also revolutionized the visual vocabulary of American printmaking. His embrace of printmaking techniques in union with his heroic-scale paintings, allowed Motherwell to affect the art world dialogue and illuminate journeys both personal and universal. Throughout his lifetime, highly-recognizable series by the artist such as “Elegy” and “Open,” live on, emblematic of the artistic spirit within the AB EX movement while serving as a testament to the masterful artist himself.