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Bernard Jacobson Gallery presents the second exhibition in a three-part showcase of works by American artist Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), celebrating his collage practice and his works on paper.
Motherwell's first collages were composed in 1943, in the studio of fellow Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock. Collector Peggy Guggenheim invited the pair to create new mixed media works for a group exhibition she was curating for the springtime at her New York gallery, Art of this Century.
These earliest collages featured coloured papers sourced from his formative travels around Mexico with the Surrealist artist Roberto Matta, and a glass button gifted to him by Pollock. As his practice matured, Motherwell would go on to incorporate maps, cigarette packaging and newspaper clippings.
Robert Motherwell, U.S. Art New York N.Y. (1962).
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Works
- Robert MotherwellElegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110C, 1968Acrylic and graphite on paper
- Robert MotherwellLyric Suite, 1965Ink on rice paper
- Robert MotherwellLyric Suite, 1965Ink on rice paper
- Robert MotherwellLyric Suite (Brown No. 4), 1965Ink on rice paper
- Robert MotherwellLyric Suite: Liberté Toute Entière No. 3, 1965Black ink with orange bleed on rice paper
- Robert MotherwellLyric Suite: Liberté Toute Entière No. 3, 1965Black ink with orange bleed on rice paper
- Robert MotherwellU.S. Art New York N.Y., 1962Oil and pasted paper on paper
- Robert MotherwellXylol, 1977Acrylic and pasted papers and graphite on canvas mounted on board
- Robert MotherwellBlack Image with Ochre, 1967Acrylic and ink on paper
- Robert MotherwellPregnant Nude No. 1, 1958Watercolour on paper
- Robert MotherwellGesture Series (A), 1979Acrylic on paper
- Robert MotherwellBrasileira, 1975Acrylic, graphite and printed paper collage on canvas laid on board
- Robert MotherwellUntitled, 1979Oil and graphite on paper
- Robert MotherwellUntitled, 1973Acrylic on paper
- Robert MotherwellGauloises on Green with Ultramarine No. 3, 1972Acrylic and paper collage on board
- Robert MotherwellAutomatism No. 11, 1965Ink and oil on paper
- Robert MotherwellGreen Gauloises, 1973Acrylic, graphite and printed paper collage on board
- Robert MotherwellStudy for Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110B, 1968Acrylic and graphite on paper
- Robert MotherwellIn Blue and White with Calligraphy, 1964Acrylic, pasted papers and ink on paperboard
- Robert MotherwellFrench Revolution Bicentennial No. 6, 1987Acrylic, enamel and pasted papers on paper
- Robert MotherwellFrench Revolution Bicentennial No. 5, 1987Acrylic, enamel and pasted papers on paper
- Robert MotherwellCountry Life, 1967Acrylic, graphite and paper collage on paper
- Robert MotherwellUntitled, 1944Gouache and ink on paper
- Robert MotherwellStudy for Open Series, 1968Acrylic and graphite on paper
- Robert MotherwellNight Dream, 1988Acrylic on pasted papers and china marker on canvas board
- Robert MotherwellLa Cuisinière, 1967Pasted paper and crayon on paperboard
- Robert MotherwellUntitled (In Brown with Gauloises and the Figure 4), 1972Acrylic and paper collage on canvas board
- Robert MotherwellUntitled (Ernte on Orange), 1973Pasted papers and lithograph on paper
- Robert MotherwellFrom Below, 1975Acrylic, pasted canvas, and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board
- Robert MotherwellStudy in Watercolour No. 1 (In Green and Blue), 1968Acrylic and watercolour on paper
- Robert MotherwellIrish Book, 1988Acrylic and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board
- Robert MotherwellThe Star of David, 1976Pasted canvas and pasted papers on canvas mounted on board
- Robert MotherwellUntitled, 1980Acrylic, china marker and graphite on mylar
- Robert MotherwellStudy in Watercolour No. 6 (In Green and Blue), 1968Acrylic, watercolour, and graphite on paper
- Robert MotherwellOpen Study No. 3, 1968Charcoal on paper
- Robert MotherwellCabaret No. 2, 1974Acrylic, pasted papers, and graphite on paper
- Robert MotherwellCabaret No. 8, 1974Acrylic, pencil and collage on paper
- Robert MotherwellOpen Study (White Line on Beige No. 1), 1968Acrylic on paper
- Robert MotherwellUntitled (In Brown with Gauloises and the Figure 4), 1972Acrylic and paper collage on canvas board
- Robert MotherwellGame of Chance, 1987Aquatint, lithograph and collage on paper
- Robert MotherwellSt. Michael Collage with Blue, 1985Acrylic and paper collage on canvas board
- Robert MotherwellUntitled, 1980Acrylic, pasted paper and graphite on canvas mounted on board
- Robert MotherwellUntitled (Collage study for Berggruen Series), 1980Acrylic on paper collaged to a colour lithograph
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Installation Shots
- Install shot,Robert Motherwell(2023)
- Install shot,Robert Motherwell(2023)
- Install shot,Robert Motherwell(2023)
- Install shot,Robert Motherwell(2023)
- Install shot,Robert Motherwell(2023)
- Install shot,Robert Motherwell(2023)
- Install shot,Robert Motherwell(2023)
- Install shot,Robert Motherwell(2023)
- Install shot,Robert Motherwell(2023)
- Install shot,Robert Motherwell(2023)
- Install shot,Robert Motherwell(2023)
- Install shot,Robert Motherwell(2023)
- Install shot,Robert Motherwell(2023)
Install shot,Robert Motherwell(2023)
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Born in 1915 in Aberdeen (Washington, USA), Motherwell decided to devote himself professionally to art at the age of 26, after an extensive education in both Philosophy and Art History at the universities of Stanford, Harvard and Columbia. Motherwell became a leading spokesman for the Abstract Expressionist movement and was greatly influenced, like many of his contemporaries, by the Surrealists. This introduced to Motherwell ‘automatism’, a practice that strives to create without conscious thought. Throughout his career, he stated that his work was an experimentation in visualising his feelings. Referring to his automatic practice as “doodling”, Motherwell tapped into his deepest thoughts in order to produce pictorial imagination, which set him aside from contemporaries who were often characterised by definitive artistic techniques.
In 1940 Motherwell began printmaking, and what started as a divertissem*nt became a central component of his artistic practice. He was interested in the technical process of printmaking and became knowledgeable in the various methods of printing, but predominantly favoured lithography due to its material appearing like ink or crayon. These techniques formed another basis upon which to transpose his artistic vocabulary. One of the most notable characteristics of his prints are his calligraphic gestures, offering a sense of spontaneity and a strong resemblance to his drawings.
Motherwell’s works are full of exploration, recording the transitions of his unconscious emotions onto paper. Motherwell was particularly drawn to this medium and admired its physical qualities, often allowing him to spontaneously draw with a sense of immediacy, liberated from the constraints presented by painting. Motherwell resisted the preconceived notion that works on paper are of lesser value, instead emphasising the medium’s significance in its explorative potential. Alongside his drawings, Motherwell produced many collages which were similarly used as a mode to channel his visual vocabulary and apply his automatic gesture. Such materiality enabled an intimate insight into the mind and artistic process, freeing his gestural impulses.
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