1973
The name of painter, printmaker and writer Robert Motherwell (1915–91) is often taken as synonymous with the New York School, whose name he coined. Motherwell was the youngest of this group of Abstract Expressionists working in art, dance, poetry and music in 1950s and '60s New York City, which included Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Philip Guston, Helen Frankenthaler and Mark Rothko.
Born in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1915, Motherwell had perhaps the broadest and best education of any of the New York School coterie, with an extensive background in philosophy, literature and art history. He earned a BA in philosophy in 1937 from Stanford University and was working toward a PhD in the subject at Harvard when he interrupted his studies for a yearlong trip to Europe, where he fell in love with European modernism.
After returning, in 1940 he enrolled Columbia to study art history. It was there that he met a group of exiled Parisian Surrealists, and encounter that proved influential on his style. Motherwell began to integrate the idea of “automatism” — unmediated gestures that reflect deeper psychological impulses — into his work, pioneering a new form of Abstract Expressionism that came to characterize the New York School.
Works like the 1967 Beside the Sea no. 45, an acrylic on canvas, and the 1966 lithograph New York International epitomize Motherwell’s use of simple shapes in boldly contrasting colors, executed in quick, gestural strokes that occasionally evoke figures, suggesting a latent narrative despite their obvious abstraction.
Throughout his career, Motherwell taught painting at Hunter College, in New York, and at Black Mountain College, in North Carolina, where his work influenced the likes of Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg and Kenneth Noland. His influence as one of the founding fathers of American Abstract Expressionism remains profound.
Leo Baeck "and a Spirit is Characterized"
By Corita Kent
Located in Missouri, MO
Leo Baeck and a Spirit is Characterized Sister Mary Corita Kent (American, 1918-1986) Signed Lower Right in Pencil Edition of 250 Lower center 21.5 x 21.5 inches 24 x 24 inches frame...
Color, Lithograph
Framed
By Sam Francis
Located in Missouri, MO
Framed Sam Francis (American, 1923-1994) Edition 58/100 in pencil Lower Left Signed in pencil Lower Right 17 x 22 inches 25.5 x 30.5 inches An Abstract Expressionist* painter known ...
Color, Lithograph
Apple (Poster) -- signed
By Roy Lichtenstein
Located in Missouri, MO
Hand-Signed and dated Lower Right Original screenprint poster in yellow, red, blue an black on white wove paper. Designed by the artist for a traveling exhibition for the Saint Lou...
Screen
Abstract (Edition 48/100)
By Bram Van Velde
Located in Missouri, MO
Abstract (Edition 48/100) By Bram van Velde (1895-1981) Without Frame: 37" x 24" With Frame: 37.75" x 24.75" Signed and Numbered Bottom Left Bram (Abraham Gerardus) van Velde was a Dutch painter known for an intensely colored and geometric semi-representational painting style related to Tachisme*, and Lyrical Abstraction*. He is often seen as member of the School of Paris* but his work resides somewhere between expressionism* and surrealism*, and evolved in the 1960s into an expressive abstract art. His paintings from the 1950s are similar to the contemporary work of Matisse, Picasso and the abstract expressionist Adolph Gottlieb. He was championed by a number of French-speaking writers, including Samuel Beckett and the poet André du...
Lithograph
Abstract (Edition 24/75)
By Bram Van Velde
Located in Missouri, MO
Abstract (Edition 24/75) By Bram van Velde (1895-1981) Signed and Numbered Bottom Center Without Frame: 37" x 24" With Frame: 37.75" x 24.75" Bram (Abraham Gerardus) van Velde was a Dutch painter known for an intensely colored and geometric semi-representational painting style related to Tachisme*, and Lyrical Abstraction*. He is often seen as member of the School of Paris* but his work resides somewhere between expressionism* and surrealism*, and evolved in the 1960s into an expressive abstract art. His paintings from the 1950s are similar to the contemporary work of Matisse, Picasso and the abstract expressionist Adolph Gottlieb. He was championed by a number of French-speaking writers, including Samuel Beckett and the poet André du...
Lithograph
Pensees Germinales
By Mark Tobey
Located in Missouri, MO
Mark Tobey "Pensees Germinales" 1973 Drypoint Engraving Printed in Brown and Blue by Willie Steinert, Karlsruhe, Germany, on Auvernge Paper Handmade by Richard de Bas Signed Lower R...
Engraving, Drypoint
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Abstract Poster by Robert Motherwell
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Long Island City, NY
Robert Motherwell, American (1915 - 1991) - Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Year: 1973, Medium: Poster, signed and dated in the plate, Edition: 120, Size: 38 x 25 in. (96.52 x 63...
Offset
Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart, 25th Anniversary - Lithograph by Robert Motherwell
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Long Island City, NY
Robert Motherwell’s vibrant red lithograph features a collage-like composition with an intense contrast of black and red on top of sheet music. Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart...
Lithograph
Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival - 25th Anniversary
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Aramits, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Robert Motherwell, American (1915 - 1991) Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, 25th Anniversary. Lithograph, Edition of 800, unsigned and unnumber...
Lithograph, Screen
Robert Motherwell Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart 25th Anniversary Screen Print
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Plainview, NY
Robert Motherwell (American, 1915–1991) Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, 25th Anniversary, 1991 Lithograph and screenprint on Coventry rag paper Edition of 800 Printer: Trest...
Screen
Art Chicago (No Text) Lithograph Print, Abstract, 1981, Unframed
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Originally produced for the 1981 art show at Navy Pier in Chicago, these posters were part of an estimated edition size of about 2,000. The cropped version is particularly rare, as i...
Lithograph
1991 After Robert Motherwell 'Mostly Mozart Festival'
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This first edition screenprint, designed and created by renowned artist Robert Motherwell, was commissioned for the Mostly Mozart Festival presented at the Lincoln Center for the Per...
Screen
