Robert Motherwell

Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an influential American abstract expressionist painter, printmaker, and editor of The Dada Painters and Poets: An Anthology. A key figure within the New York School, he was among its youngest members, joining the ranks of prominent artists such as Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko.

Trained in philosophy, Robert Motherwell emerged as an artist recognized as one of the most articulate spokespersons and founding figures of the abstract expressionist movement. He is renowned for his series of abstract paintings and prints that engage with political, philosophical, and literary themes, notably exemplified by his Elegies to the Spanish Republic.

Robert Motherwell was born in Aberdeen, Washington, on January 24, 1915. He spent his youth primarily along the Pacific Coast, particularly in California, where he developed an appreciation for the landscapes and colors that would characterize his abstract paintings. He studied painting briefly at the California School of Fine Arts while earning a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Stanford University, where he encountered modernist literature that influenced his later work. At 20, he embarked on a European tour with his family, which further shaped his artistic vision. Subsequently, he enrolled at Harvard University, where he studied under Arthur Oncken Lovejoy and David Wite Prall, before assisting in drawing and painting classes at the University of Oregon in 1939.