Robert Motherwell: A Look at a Mind That Created Itself

Robert Motherwell in the art world rankings: Forgotten? Never existed?

Neither forgotten nor deprived of his place in the rankings, Robert Motherwell is, after all, a very well-known and highly respected artist in the USA. The fact that he only 223rd is our (arrogant) Europeans' fault. Because we always want artists to strive to be invited to Europe, while Robert Motherwell simply didn't know how he could possibly multiply his time to fulfill even a fraction of his engagements in his homeland…

Europe did not explicitly invite Motherwell enough; it was only during the 1970s (towards the end of his career) that he had significant retrospective exhibitions in a number of European cities: Düsseldorf, Vienna, Paris, Edinburgh, London, and Stockholm. However, such statements regarding the global reach of artists who are primarily popular nationally must always be considered within a historical context, especially for artists whose work ended some time before the turn of the millennium (Motherwell died in 1991). This historical context is no longer readily apparent to many people today

The explosion of global art exchange (with the aim of supplying as many exhibitions worldwide as possible) only became possible with networking through the Internet, about a decade after Motherwell's death.

Therefore, Robert Motherwell is still relatively unknown in Europe – and thus definitely a case for curious Europeans who are looking art trends

The oeuvre of the American painter touches on many of the styles appreciated by the “average European avant-garde art lover”: Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism , Color Field and Informel .

The most famous artworks by Robert Motherwell

In the US, every citizen with an elementary school level of art knowledge is familiar with Robert Motherwell's work; in Europe, a few enthusiasts and fans of eccentric art styles know some of his pieces. Motherwell's most famous artworks in the US probably all need to be introduced here:

One of Motherwell's earliest paintings (from 1943) relates to his 1941 trip to Mexico: “Pancho Villa, Dead and Alive” , gouache and oil with collage techniques on cardboard, now in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In Mexico, Motherwell had come across a wanted poster of the revolutionary leader Pancho Villa, who was assassinated in 1923, which inspired him to create a pre-expressionist work.

Neatly situated on the line between referenced painting and free abstract expressionism, touching upon several thematic areas that would play a role throughout the artist's oeuvre. In its allusion to the Mexican Revolution, this work also foreshadows the themes of Motherwell's seminal elegy on the Spanish Republic : Image link

Probably created in 1949, and certainly around that time, is casein on drawing paper, now in the Helen Frankenthaler Collection in New York. The image began in 1948 as a small ink drawing based on a poem by Harold Rosenberg and was reissued as a small painting by Motherwell in 1949. The name is a line from "Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías" (a lament for the famous Spanish bullfighter by the famous Spanish poet, masterfully recited in the following video, over all 25 lines of the "At Five in the Afternoon" poem).

“At Five in the Afternoon” is the first work in the “Elegies to the Spanish Republic” series and establishes a formal and aesthetic system that will define the entire series: Image link

“Je t'aime No. 2” from 1955, oil on canvas, now in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Harrison in New York, is an early example of Motherwell's second significant series of paintings, which he created between 1953 and 1957, as his second marriage was ending. A work in an energetic, emotionally charged style, bright, in striking colors, with the oval and rectilinear forms very “Motherwell-style”.

Across the canvas, Motherwell wrote the French phrase “Je t'aime” (“I love you”), an allusion to the defining influence of French culture on his work and very likely also an expression of the personal feelings that preoccupied him at that time: Image link .

“Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110” (1971), acrylic, pen, and charcoal on canvas, now in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum , New York, is another example from Motherwell’s major work of the same name. His melancholy lament (indictment) of the Spanish Republic comprises over 140 paintings, on which Motherwell worked throughout his long career. With this monumental work, he wanted to create a memorial to the Spanish Civil War, because for him, the Spanish Civil War is THE symbol of human tragedies that occur within the context of oppression and injustice. No. 110, with its strong black-and-white palette and the combination of oval and rod-like lines/forms, is typical of the series; the entire visual language of the series has been the subject of considerable debate, in which even in retrospective art history, little consensus has yet been reached.

“The Blue Painting Lesson: A Study in Painterly Logic, number one of five,” from 1973, oil on canvas and now in the collection of the Dedalus Foundation, New York, is a painterly study and part of the “Open Series,” composed between 1968 and 1972. Again, this painting demonstrates the simple yet effective formal construction of the series: a richly and almost monochromatically colored background, upon which a two- or three-sided box is highlighted, reminiscent of the window motifs in the works of many European masters. Here is one of the “Blue Painting Lessons”: [Image link]

“Tobacco Roth-Handle” from 1974, a four-color lithograph and screen print on HMP paper, now in the Walker Art Center Minneapolis, demonstrates two important fundamental techniques from Motherwell's work through its synthesis of collage and printmaking. Directly from the Walker Art Center: Image link .

A look inside Robert Motherwell's studio (video)

Robert Motherwell's path to art: From “anything but a bank”…

Robert Motherwell was born on January 24, 1915, in Aberdeen, WA, United States . The small town in Washington state is located quite far to the left of the USA, in the far northwest, near the Canadian border.

Picturesquely situated on the Pacific bay of Grays Harbor, pretty, rural, with 16,896 inhabitants in 2010, exactly the same population as the equally picturesque town of Eltville on the Rhine; the townscape is characterized by single-family houses made of wood, the American flag is part of the streetscape.

Aberdeen was first mentioned in 1881 and last enjoyed significant importance during the late 19th century, the era of railroad construction in the USA. The small town was last in the public eye when its "son," Kurt Cobain, rose to fame as the singer and guitarist of the rock band Nirvana at the end of the millennium and joined the "27 Club" ; along with founding members Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison (and 34 other famous musicians, from Alexandra to Amy Winehouse, who died before the age of 27).

An idyllic setting where Motherwell likely enjoyed a peaceful childhood, but where there was little creative or artistic stimulation from a vibrant art scene or local art presentations.

As a musician, Motherwell would have been born into a conspiratorial environment, since Aberdeen produced the exceptional musicians Patrick Simmons , Matt Lukin , Dale Crover and Kurt Cobain , thus earning the title "birthplace of grunge" ; however, this only came long after Motherwell's youth in Aberdeen.

Motherwell's creativity was therefore likely stimulated within his family environment – ​​the descendants of the well-to-do local bank manager, Motherwell Sr., certainly received art education. Furthermore, the young Motherwell spent a considerable portion of his youth in the arid regions of Central California at sanatoriums for asthma sufferers; perhaps at one of these institutions he absorbed not only dry air but also a passion for art.

However, young Robert rejected the idea of ​​following in the footsteps of his bank director father and showed an early affinity for more intellectual and creative pursuits than banking; a scholarship at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles is said to have been part of his early education.

After graduating from school, Motherwell Jr. purposefully pursued further education in the field of "cultivating the creative mind." Without immediately committing to and limiting himself to active artistic creation, he completed a broad-based education:

… about the best education in the world …

Motherwell began his studies in 1932, when he was 17 years old.

At the California School of Fine Arts (since 1961 the San Francisco Art Institute) he studied art, and at Stanford and Harvard (at the opposite, eastern end of the USA) philosophy and French literature. In 1937, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Stanford University in California. During his studies, Motherwell immersed himself in the work of the natural philosopher and theorist of science Alfred North Whitehead and the poetry of the French Symbolists . Both were important inspirations, among other things, for the development of logical and independent thinking; it was here that Motherwell's mind was opened to the possibilities that abstraction offers in writing (and visual art).

After graduating with a degree in philosophy, Motherwell was accepted into a doctoral program and began his work, but interrupted it in 1938 to embark on the educational tour of Europe that was then customary among educated circles. During his nearly two-year stay in Paris, he befriended, among others, the art legends Piet Mondrian (founder of abstract painting) and Fernand Léger (Cubist and famous art forger). The influence of these figures on Motherwell's artistic output can be assumed; he is said to have fallen completely in love with the art of European modernism.

Motherwell wanted to immediately pursue a career as an artist, but his father insisted on the security of a recession-proof vocational training . So, following his time abroad starting in 1940, he first pursued further studies; this time art history at Columbia University in New York . At Columbia, Motherwell was fortunate enough to be taught by a leading figure in art history:

The grand old man of art history, Meyer Schapiro, who began his studies at Columbia in 1924, was appointed assistant professor in 1928 (at the age of 24), received a full professorship in 1952, and was honorably retired in 1973 after 49 years at Columbia University (only to dedicate himself shortly thereafter to promoting outstanding artists in the exclusive “American Academy of Arts and Letters”).

Kurt Seligmann, a Swiss writer and surrealist painter who had recently emigrated to New York . Seligmann, in turn, introduced him to other European surrealists who had fled their Nazi-occupied homelands for New York.

Motherwell was deeply impressed by their idea of ​​viewing the artwork as a manifestation of the artist's subconscious; this idea would become one of the central tenets of his work. Upon arriving in New York, Motherwell also came into contact with the circle of painters who would later form the core of the "Abstract Expressionists" and engaged with their artistic philosophy.

After several studies, a longer educational stay in Europe and numerous inspiring acquaintances with surrealist and expressionist artists, Motherwell belonged to the intellectual elite among the Abstract Expressionists of the New York School .

In retrospective art history, there is almost a consensus (almost; complete consensus without a few dissenting voices is never achieved in scholarship) that Motherwell's outstanding intellect shines through in his paintings. It can be found in his deliberate painting style, the simple forms, the bold color contrasts, and the delicate, shifting balance in which Motherwell distributes precisely controlled and unrestrained, powerful brushstrokes across the canvas.

One can see his reflection in the results of this painting style, in these dialogues with philosophy, contemporary art and its history, which demonstrate a serious and thoughtful commitment to the fate of people, in life and death, in oppression and revolution.

Motherwell has taken its cues from great role models:

about Joan Miró , as he wrote in a 1959 essay for "Art News" magazine. He created a delicate balance between nature and man-made work, a technique almost lost in contemporary art, which resulted in his work, usually underestimated in its originality, immediately drawing the viewer in. Judge for yourself with the "Carnival of Harlequin" from 1924-25: Image link .

Picasso was a kindred spirit to Motherwell; like Picasso, Motherwell insisted on form in painting because it was essential as a vehicle for meaning. Exemplary Picasso forms can be seen in the "Seated Bather," on canvas, now in the Museum of Modern Art, New York: Image link .

Motherwell's third role model was his long-time friend and abstract expressionist sculptor David Smith . He valued Smith as a truly independent person and a well-educated man with extensive art historical knowledge, and loved him for his fondness for Irish whiskey and Guinness Stout… David Smith's "Home of the Welder" from 1945, steel, now in the Tate Gallery, London: Image link .

… finally, art in practice

In 1940, Motherwell met the Chilean architect, sculptor, painter, and Surrealist Robert Matta , with whom he traveled to Mexico later that year, where he met the Austrian Surrealist Wolfgang Paalen . Motherwell stayed with Paalen in Mexico for several months and, after returning to New York, began working on Paalen's art magazine DYN in 1941.

During his time in Mexico, Motherwell created his first artworks: eleven pen-and-ink drawings that together form the “Mexican Sketchbook .” These early works show Surrealist influences, yet are abstract in their essence, particularly in the delicate balance between formal composition and spontaneous invention. They were viewed and discussed by his artist friends, but wider recognition was still some time away.

Motherwell's career only received its decisive boost in 1943: The famous patron Peggy Guggenheim (patron = an extinct breed of financially independent supporter of impoverished talents) gave him the opportunity to create new works that were to be shown in a show of collages by several European modernists.

Motherwell immediately and enthusiastically embraced the technique of collage , which he would employ repeatedly throughout his career. The pieces selected for the show consisted of a mixture of torn paper, expressively applied paint, and a number of violent themes alluding to the Second World War; they aroused great public interest. A solo exhibition at Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century gallery in New York followed in 1944, and a contract with art dealer Sam Kootz in 1945.

With this contract, Motherwell was a made man. Alongside Betty Parsons' Gallery and Peggy Guggenheim's "Art of This Century," the Sam Kootz Gallery was one of the most important art dealerships in New York during the 1940s and 50s. Its director, Samuel Melvin Kootz, was a generous patron and enterprising businessman who wanted to make his particular area of ​​interest, " Abstract Expressionism ," known beyond the borders of the USA—and he succeeded. Motherwell could hardly have found a better fit. Besides Motherwell, Kootz also of William Baziotes and Jackson Pollock , and he was responsible for groundbreaking exhibitions from the early days of Abstract Expressionism.

And above all, Kootz ensured that Motherwell was present at every exhibition where the words "Abstract Expressionism" were even whispered. The days of secluded studies and relaxed trips to Mexico were now over; from the time of her meeting with Kootz, Motherwell was unlikely to have been bored for the next few decades.

He wasn't solely focused on creating art; as early as the beginning of the 1940s, Motherwell had embarked on a parallel career as a teacher, editor, and writer . For the next two decades, he taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina and at Hunter College of the City University of New York.

He helped William Baziotes, Mark Rothko, and Barnett Newman establish the art school "Subjects of the Artist" "Possibilities" and the "The Dada Painters and Poets" (1951). Motherwell would remain involved in such "side projects" throughout his life.

From 1948 onwards, he was occupied with the “Elegies on the Spanish Republic” , a career-spanning series of more than 140 works, which is considered his major work .

From 1953 to 1957, the “Je t'aime” series ; in the 1960s, Motherwell approached Morris Louis 's Color Field Painting and began to reinvent his collages as limited edition lithographs – Motherwell is the only one of the first generation of Abstract Expressionists to have used printmaking as an important part of his artistic work.

In 1968, his third major series, “The Opens,” . Like the earlier series, it was designed on the basis of a simple formal construct, in which Motherwell saw guaranteed infinite scope for variation and extrapolation.

Motherwell is one of the few abstract expressionists who remained productive for a long time (in this case, 30 years) after their initial period. He left us a great deal of art when he died in July 1991 at his home in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Many, many exhibitions, not necessarily in the art centers

Motherwell can look back on 575 group exhibitions and 155 solo exhibitions , totaling over 700 public exhibitions.

He has exhibited all over the globe, in the major centers of contemporary art of course, but also in many American (and a few European) small towns.

Most of his exhibitions took place in the USA (475), followed by Germany (70), Great Britain (44), Spain (33) and Italy (20).

Motherwell has exhibited 150 times with Willem de Kooning , 123 times with Sam Francis , 110 times with Andy Warhol , 110 times with Jackson Pollock and 104 times with Roy Lichtenstein … (although to cynical art connoisseurs he represents the intellectual antithesis of some of these artists).

Robert Motherwell 2017

Robert Motherwell died almost exactly a quarter of a century ago (July 16, 1991). But he left us art; his work is represented today by 60 galleries , primarily located in the art centers of Europe and the USA.

In 16 countries around the world, Motherwell's works have been included in 95 public collections so that they can be viewed by people of the world, now and in the future:

• Australia : Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, QLD
• Brazil : Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo
• Germany : Städel Museum Frankfurt/Main, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Städtisches Museum Abteiberg Mönchengladbach
• Finland : Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
• Great Britain : Tate Britain London
• Iran : Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran
• Ireland : Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
• Israel : The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
• Italy : Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice
• Japan : Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
• Canada : Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
• Colombia : Museo Botero Bogota, Museo de Arte Moderno La Tertulia Cali
• Austria : Liaunig Museum, Neuhaus
• Switzerland : Kunstmuseum Basel, UBS Art Collection Zurich
• Spain : Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, ​​Fundación Joan Miró Barcelona, ​​Museo Guggenheim de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo Bilbao, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía Madrid, Es Baluard Museu d'Art Modern Palma de Mallorca, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo Sevilla
• USA : University Museum of Contemporary Art Amherst MA, The University of Michigan Museum of Art Ann Arbor MI, Kennedy Museum of Art Athens OH, The High Museum of Art Atlanta GA, Harry Ransom Center Austin TX, The Baltimore Museum of Art Baltimore MD, University of Maine Museum of Arts Bangor ME, Cranbrook Art Museum Bloomfield Hills MI, Boca Museum of Art Boca Raton FL, Museum of Fine Arts Boston Boston MA, Albright-Knox Art Gallery Buffalo NY, MIT List Visual Arts Center Cambridge MA, Pomona College Museum of Art Claremont CA, The Cleveland Museum of Art Cleveland OH, Berman Museum of Art Collegeville PA, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Colorado Springs CO, Columbia Museum of Art Columbia SC, The Art Museum of South Texas Corpus Christi TX, Figge Art Museum Davenport IA, The Dayton Art Institute Dayton OH, Wright State University Art Galleries Dayton OH, Denver Art Museum Denver CO, Des Moines Art Center Des Moines IA, Koehnline Museum of Art Des Plaines IL, Tweed Museum of Art Duluth MN, Guild Hall Museum East Hampton NY, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Eugene OR, Fort Wayne Museum of Art Fort Wayne IN, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Fort Worth TX, Honolulu Museum of Art Honolulu HI, Museum of Fine Arts Houston Houston TX, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art Kansas City MO, Polk Museum of Art Lakeland FL, Sheldon Museum of Art Lincoln NE, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, MOCA Grand Avenue Los Angeles, CA, Speed ​​Art Museum Louisville KY, Frost Art Museum Miami FL, Milwaukee Art Museum Milwaukee WI, Walker Art Center Minneapolis MN, Masur Museum of Art Monroe LA, Montclair Art Museum Montclair NJ, Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery Nashville TN, New Britain Museum of American Art New Britain CT, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art New York City NY, Palm Springs Art Museum Palm Springs CA, The RISD Museum University of Rhode Island Providence RI, David Winton Bell Gallery Providence RI, Taubman Museum of Art Roanoke WV, Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis University Museum of Art Saint Louis MO, The de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art San Francisco CA, San Jose Museum of Art San Jose CA, The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens San Marino CA, Art Museum UC Santa Barbara CA, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art Scottsdale AZ, Marywood University Art Gallery Scranton PA, Henry Art Gallery Seattle WA, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art Sedalia MO, Sioux City Art Center Sioux City IA, Arizona State University Art Museum Tempe AZ, Swope Art Museum Terre Haute IN, Brauer Museum of Art Valparaiso IN, The Phillips Collection Washington DC, Norton Museum of Art West Palm Beach, FL, Ulrich Museum of Art Wichita KS, Reynolda House Museum of American Art Winston-Salem NC

Given the limited availability of Motherwell's art in the USA, some European art connoisseurs might breathe a sigh of relief: After all, you don't need to know him if he's almost exclusively exhibited in the USA… However, this disproportionate presence in the USA (for one of the most famous artists ) also tells us that this "quintessentially American artist" will very likely be discovered in the European art world at some point, surprised and with much fanfare… Those who already know him can only benefit.

Motherwell left us students who further developed his methods. During his long teaching career at Hunter College (City University of New York) and Black Mountain College in North Carolina, Motherwell introduced many students to his well-reasoned theories; color field painters Kenneth Noland , Robert Rauschenberg , and Cy Twombly studied with Motherwell and were undeniably influenced by him.

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Stories about by Robert Motherwell

about Robert Motherwell's private life , especially no scandalous reports; only a few insightful quotes from him have been preserved. Surely Motherwell couldn't have been married four times (and divorced three times)? There must have been the odd tabloid report about one or two of Motherwell's divorces, but in Motherwell's day, even a public figure could get divorced without necessarily causing weeks of media frenzy.

If there wasn't much to report about a divorce, it wasn't reported much. Even back then, journalists didn't necessarily get rich from their salaries, but they did receive a salary that was usually sufficient to live on and therefore didn't need to invent scandalous reports for weeks about every celebrity divorce that went smoothly.

The clever quotes offer much more than a new edition of boring, repetitive arguments about the war of the roses, always the same thing in green, because the brightest ones don't argue (they quietly get divorced):

On art and art history:

"Every intelligent painter carries the whole culture of modern painting in his head. It is his real subject, of which everything he paints in both a homage and a critique, and everything he says is a gloss."

(Every intelligent painter has the entire cultural history of modern painting in his head. It is his real subject, making everything he paints a homage or critique, and everything he says a mere comment., Wikiquote – Robert Motherwell ).

On the difference between classical and modern art:

“Most painting in the European tradition was painting the mask. Modern art rejected all that. Our subject matter was the person behind the mask.”

(“In most paintings of the European tradition, the mask was painted. Modern art rejects this. Our subject was the person behind the mask.”, theartstory.org )

For the development of artists (and/or for the self-marketing of artists):

“Every artist's problem is to invent himself.”

(Every artist has the problem of self-invention., theartstory.org )

On the artist's morality:

“Without ethical consciousness, a painter is only a decorator.”

(A painter without an ethical awareness is merely a decorator., wikiquote.org )

On the position of the artist in modern societies:

“In this world modern artists form a kind of spiritual underground.”

(In this world, contemporary artists form a kind of spiritual underground, isabelgrundy.wordpress.com )

And finally, THE saying about all painting (from wikiquote.org ):

“…painting is the mind realizing itself in colour.” … Painting is the mind that creates itself in colour.