Skip to main content
Questions & Answers
Our trusted network of 1stDibs sellers answer common questions

How did Motherwell paint?

1 Answer
How did Motherwell paint?
Robert Motherwell painted using techniques borrowed from action and color field painting. He sometimes dipped thinned paint right onto the canvas. In other works, he soaked paints into an unprimed work surface. Find a variety of Robert Motherwell art on 1stDibs.
1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022
Shop for Robert Motherwell Art on 1stDibs
Greenwich Arts Council Poster /// Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell NY
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Robert Motherwell (American, 1915-1992) Title: "Greenwich Arts Council" *Issued unsigned, though signed by Motherwell in the plate (printed signature) center right Year: 1976 Medium: Original Lithograph, Exhibition Poster on Strathmore paper Limited edition: 700. (There was also a signed and numbered edition of 42) Printer: Tyler Graphics, Ltd., Mount Kisco, NY Publisher: Greenwich Arts Council, Greenwich, CT Reference: "The Prints of Robert Motherwell - A Catalogue Raisonné 1943-1984" - Belknap Appendix: No. 28, page 282; "Robert Motherwell - The Complete Prints 1940-1991" - Engberg No. 202 Sheet size: 37.25" x 23" Condition: Never framed, has been professionally stored away for decades. Some minor edge wear. In excellent condition Rare Notes: Printed in three colors: black, green, and cream. Poster produced for a special exhibition "Sculpture 76" at The Greenwich Arts Council, Greenwich, CT from June - October, 1976. The image featured on this poster is Motherwell's 1972 acrylic painting on paper "Greenwich Sculpture". Artist's copyright lower left and printer's imprint lower right. GIA Gallery Poster Disclaimer: Not to be confused with thousands of contemporary inkjet/giclée/digital reproductions ignorantly or deliberately passed off as originals on the market today. The examples we offer here are the original period vintage (exhibition) posters, created and designed by, or under the supervision and authorization of the artist or their respective estate (posthumously), for various exhibitions and events in which they participated. If applicable, this poster is also fully documented within its respective artists' official catalogue raisonné of authentic graphic works, prints, and or posters. Biography: Robert Motherwell was born January 24, 1915, in Aberdeen, Washington. He was awarded a fellowship to the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles at age 11, and in 1932 studied painting briefly at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Motherwell received a B.A. from Stanford University in 1937 and enrolled for graduate work later that year in the Department of Philosophy at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He traveled to Europe in 1938 for a year of study abroad. His first solo show was presented at the Raymond Duncan...
Category

1970s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Africa Suite #10
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 abstract painters that radically defined Modern painting in Ameri...
Category

1970s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen

Tricolor (from XXe Siecle)
By Robert Motherwell
Located in Washington, DC
Artist: Robert Motherwell Title: Tricolor (from XXe Siecle) Medium: Lithograph Date: 1973 Edition: Unnumbered Frame Size: 18 1/2" x 16 1/2" Sheet Size: 12 1/2" x 10 1/2" Signature: U...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Octavio Paz Suite: Nocturne VI
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 50 Paper: Arches paper; Japanese Gampi handmade paper Other Collaborators: Image transferred from Mylar to...
Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Handmade Paper, Color, Lithograph

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 Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Samurai
By Robert Motherwell
Located in London, GB
Signature: Signed "R. Motherwell" in pencil lower right Inscriptions: Numbered in pencil lower right; workshop chop mark lower right Edition: 16
Category

1970s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Shop All