Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
American, 1915-1991
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.
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Artist: Robert Motherwell
Mediterranean Light
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
Lithograph on white Tyler Graphics Ltd. (TGL) handmade paper
32 1/2 x 76 in. (82.6 x 193 cm)
Edition of 40
Category
1990s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Color, Lithograph
Red Sea III
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
Aquatint and lift-ground etching on Georges Duchêne Hawthorne of Larroque handmade paper, Edition of 70
1983
90.2 x 46.4 cms (35 1/2 x 18 1/4 ins)
Category
1980s Abstract Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Etching, Aquatint
Norway
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
54.9 x 56.5 cms (21.6 x 22.25 ins)
Edition of 50
Paper: Somerset paper
Signature:Signed "RM" in pencil lower right
Inscriptions:Numbered in pencil lower right
Proofs:20 AP, numbered I/XX-XX/XX, 2 HC, numbered I-II, 3 PP, 1 TP, other proofs (unrecorded)
Publisher:Derriere LEtoile Studios, New York, for the Sonja Henie...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Color, Lithograph
The Hospital
By Robert Motherwell
Located in San Francisco, CA
Original etching printed in two colors on Johannot wove paper.
Hand-signed with the artist’s monogram in pencil in the margin lower right RM.
A superb impression of the definit...
Category
20th Century Abstract Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Etching
On the Wing
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
46.75 x 30.5 ins (118.7 x 77.5 cms)
Edition of 70
Signed in pencil lower right.
Numbered in pencil lower right; workshop chop mark lower right; workshop number "RM83-718" in pe...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Mixed Media, Color, Lithograph
Put out all Flags
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
Aquatint, lift-ground etching and aquatint on German Etching paper
53.3 x 73.7 cms (21 x 29 ins)
Edition of 50
Category
1980s Abstract Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Etching, Aquatint
At the Edge
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
Aquatint, lift-ground etching and aquatint on Auvergne
a la Main Richard de Bas handmade paper
57.8 x 63.8 cms (22.75 x 25.1 ins)
Edition of 34
Signed "Motherwell" in pencil ...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Mixed Media, Color, Etching, Aquatint
Mexican Night II
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
44.5 x 44.5 cms (17.5 x 17.5 ins)
Edition of 70
Signature:Signed "Motherwell" in pencil lower right
Inscriptions:Numbered in pencil lower right; artist's chop mark lower right
...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Color, Etching, Aquatint
Game of Chance
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
88.3 x 69.9 cms (34.7 x 27.51 ins)
Edition of 100
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Mixed Media, Color, Aquatint, Lithograph
The Tower
By Robert Motherwell
Located in San Francisco, CA
Original etching printed in two colors on Johannot wove paper.
Hand-signed with the artist’s monogram in pencil in the margin lower right RM.
A superb impression of the defini...
Category
20th Century Abstract Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Summertime in Italy (With Lines)
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), alongside Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning, made up the quartet of American abstract painters that radically defined abstraction and established New York City as the center of the art world for the second half of the 20th century.
Motherwell was also the unofficial spokesman of the New York School, writing, teaching, and lecturing on behalf of the movement, his fellow artists, and the merits of abstraction.
His work appears in museum collections around the world and is instantly recognizable for its boldness and black forms. Yet in addition to his impressive paintings, Motherwell is also revered as a printmaker. He is one of the most innovative and prolific printmakers of the 20th century. He was always searching for new techniques, whether at his own printmaking atelier or collaborating with others, to expand his ideas and express his aesthetic.
In the 1960s, Motherwell visited Italy on vacation with his then-wife, Helen Frankenthaler. Motherwell became enamoured with the Italianate landscape and the mountainous terrain of the Liguria region, which inspired a series of paintings, "Summertime in Italy...
Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
Black Flag CR 304
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Saint Louis, MO
Robert Motherwell
Black Flag CR 304 , 1983
Etching
18 1/4 x 22 inches
31 x 34 1/2 x 2 1/8 inches
Edition of 42
Category
1980s Minimalist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Archival Paper, Etching
Black for Mozart
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
Robert Motherwell
Black for Mozart
1991
Lithograph and collage, Edition 23/40
162.6 x 104.1 cms (64 x 41 ins)
RM15195
Paper: White Tyler Graphics Ltd. (TGL) handmade paper; white Ri...
Category
1990s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Mixed Media, Color, Lithograph
Summer
By Robert Motherwell
Located in New York, NY
An original lithograph of certain beauty, Paris Suite II: Summer, by Robert Motherwell is hand-initialed in pencil measuring 19 ¼ x 16 1/8 in (49 x 41 cm), unframed. From the editio...
Category
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
America La France Variations III
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Robert Motherwell (1915-1991) is one of the essential American abstract painters who radically defined post-war abstraction in New York City.
Today, his work appears in museum colle...
Category
1970s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
Beau Geste pour Lucrèce
By Robert Motherwell
Located in New York, NY
The complete suite of six individual, lyrical lithographs, each hand-signed and numbered, each measuring 22 x 15 in (56 x 38 cm), unframed, from the edition of 100 with 15 AP’s. Avai...
Category
20th Century Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
Summer Light Series: Pauillac, No.2
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
Robert Motherwell
Summer Light Series: Pauillac, No.2
1973
Lithograph, screenprint, pochoir, and collage, Edition of 55
91.4 x 45.7 cms (36 x 18 ins)
RM12795
Category
1970s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
Three Poems: Spanish Elegy
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Palo Alto, CA
Created in 1988, this lithograph and chine appliqué is hand-signed by Robert Motherwell (Aberdeen, 1915 - Provincetown, 1991) in pencil in the lower right margin and is numbered from the edition of 50 in pencil in the lower right margin.
About the Framing:
Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Robert Motherwell Three Poems...
Category
1980s Modern Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
America La-France Variations IX
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Palo Alto, CA
Created in 1984, this lithograph and collage on paper is hand-signed by Robert Motherwell (Aberdeen, 1915 - Provincetown, 1991) in pencil in the lower right margin. Numbered from the...
Category
1980s Modern Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Mixed Media, Lithograph
Palo Alto
By Robert Motherwell
Located in New York, NY
Created by Robert Motherwell in 1978, Palo Alto is an original lithograph in colors on Arches 88 wove paper measuring 36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61 cm), unframed. Hand-signed in pencil, th...
Category
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
The Basque Suite: Untitled (ref. 86)
By Robert Motherwell
Located in New York, NY
Robert Motherwell
The Basque Suite: Untitled (ref. 86), 1971
screenprint on J.B. Green paper, ed. of 150
41 x 28 1/4 in. (104.1 x 71.8 cm)
Category
1970s Abstract Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
London Series II: Untitled (Orange/Pink)
By Robert Motherwell
Located in New York, NY
Robert Motherwell
London Series II: Untitled (Orange/Pink), 1971
screenprint on white J.B. Green mould-made Double Elephant paper, ed. of 150
28 1/2 x 41...
Category
1970s Abstract Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
London Series II: Untitled (Blue/Cream)
By Robert Motherwell
Located in New York, NY
Robert Motherwell
London Series II: Untitled (Blue/Cream), 1971
screenprint on white J.B. Green mould-made Double Elephant paper, ed. of 150
28 1/2 x 41 ...
Category
1970s Abstract Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
Untitled
By Robert Motherwell
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this color monotype on cream wove paper. Signed, dated and dedicated in pencil by Motherwell. Dedicated to the art dealer and gallerist, Brooke Alexander.
Category
1970s Contemporary Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Color, Monotype
Paroles peintes III: Untitled
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
Open-bite etching printed in dark, brownish black on fibrous Japan paper. Signed "R. Motherwell," or "Motherwell" in pencil, lower right. Numbered in pencil, lower right. Paper size:...
Category
Mid-20th Century Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Etching
Untitled (Basque #5)
By Robert Motherwell
Located in New York, NY
Robert Motherwell’s iconic ‘Basque Suite’ demonstrates the artist’s innovative and painterly approach to printmaking. Designated as image number 5 in the suite, the artwork shown her...
Category
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
Beau Geste I
By Robert Motherwell
Located in New York, NY
From a portfolio of six individual lithographs, each created as Robert Motherwell’s visualization of six poems by Marcelin Pleynet, Beau Geste I was printed in 1989 by Teluride Press...
Category
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
Black Open
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
Robert Motherwell
Black Open
1985
Aquatint and line etching on Whatman paper
40.6 x 43.2 cms (16 x 17 ins)
RM14234
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Aquatint
London Series I: Untitled (Orange)
By Robert Motherwell
Located in New York, NY
Screenprint
Edition of 150
Category
1970s Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen
Octavio Paz Suite: Nocturne VII
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
Lithograph and chine appliqué
64.5 x 54 cms (25 3/8 x 21 1/4 ins)
Edition of 50
Paper: Arches paper; Japanese Gampi handmade paper
Other Collaborators: Image transferred from Mylar ...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Handmade Paper, Color, Lithograph
Untitled
By Robert Motherwell
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this color screenprint on Arches Imperial paper. It is signed and numbered 106/250 in pencil by Motherwell. Printed by Maurel Studio, New York. Published by...
Category
1970s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Color, Screen
America - La France variations IV, 17/68 color lithograph with collage
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Three Oaks, MI
America-La France Variations IV 1984. Lithograph in colors with collage on Tyler Graphics Ltd. handmade paper. Signed in pencil Numbered 17/68 (there were also XVIII artist’s proofs ...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
America - La France variations I, 46/70 color lithograph with collage
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Three Oaks, MI
America-La France Variations I 1983-4. Lithograph in colors with collage on Tyler Graphics Ltd. handmade paper. Signed in pencil Numbered 46/70 (there were also XVIII artist’s proofs...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
Untitled, by Robert Motherwell
By Robert Motherwell
Located in New York, NY
Created by the artist in 1975, Robert Motherwell’s, Untitled is an exceptional etching and aquatint, hand-signed in pencil, and numbered, measuring 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 60 cm), unfram...
Category
20th Century Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Etching, Aquatint
Red Samurai, from Octavio Paz suite
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Miami, FL
TECHNICAL INFORMATION:
Red Samurai, from Octavio Paz suite
1987-88
Lithograph and linoleum cut in colors with chine appliqué on handmade Japanese Masa Dos...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Handmade Paper, Lithograph, Linocut
Sirens II - 20th Century, Robert Motherwell, Figurative, Print, Expressionist
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Köln, DE
An aquatint etching out of 1988 in a very good condition and bright colours. 57 x 66 cm. Edition of 90, signed and numbered.
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Aquatint
For Meyer Schapiro: Tallith for Meyer Schapiro
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
Robert Motherwell
For Meyer Schapiro: Tallith for Meyer Schapiro
1974
Lift-ground etching and aquatint on Arches Cover paper
Ed. 100, 13 AP, 1 CP, 11 HC
105.4 x 74.9 cms (41.5 x 29.5...
Category
1970s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Etching, Aquatint
America - La France Variations IX
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
Lithograph and collage
Edition of 60
72.4 x 55.3 cms (28 1/2 x 21 3/4 ins)
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (Poster) -- signed limited edition
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Missouri, MO
Original color lithograph designed by Robert Motherwell for the 94th Season, Powell Symphony Hall, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
From the limited edition of 120 + A.P.s on Arches Cove...
Category
1970s Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
Materials
Lithograph
Robert Motherwell prints and multiples for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Robert Motherwell prints and multiples available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of prints and multiples to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange, blue and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Robert Motherwell in lithograph, etching, aquatint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Robert Motherwell prints and multiples, so small editions measuring 6 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Sam Francis, Sam Gilliam, and Louise Nevelson. Robert Motherwell prints and multiples prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,000 and tops out at $90,000, while the average work can sell for $10,000.
Artists Similar to Robert Motherwell
Questions About Robert Motherwell Prints and Multiples
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Robert Motherwell was a part of the art movement called Abstract Expressionism. Artists who participated in the movement sought to express emotions through abstract forms. You'll find a range of Robert Motherwell art from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.