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THE BLOG
Robert Motherwell: Abstract Expressionism
 19/09/2016 14:25
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Robert
Motherwell:
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 19/09/2016 14:25
Bob Chaundy 
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Freelance journalist, ex-BBC News


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As a taster to the grand Abstract Expressionism exhibition opening later this
month Bob
at the
Royal Academy, the Bernard Jacobson Gallery is hosting
Chaundy 
anotherFreelance
show journalist,
that highlights
a selection of work from one of this movement’s
ex-BBC News
pre-eminent members, Robert Motherwell.
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become an authority on the artist, not only by buying up much of his work
but by also penning an accomplished biography, Robert Motherwell, The
“Though Motherwell was the youngest, he knew more than the others and he
Making of an American Giant from 2015.
was using everything. His pictures are loaded with so much more than what
The Ultimate Moments of Joy
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you see,” says Jacobson.
9/19/2016
Robert Motherwell: Abstract Expressionism | Huffington
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The
Ultimate Moments of Joy
“Though Motherwell was the youngest, he knew more than the others and he
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was using everything. His pictures are loaded with so much more than what
Playlist To Soundtrack Your Kids'
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?
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Robert Motherwell: Abstract Expressionism
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Robert Motherwell: Abstract Expressionism
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http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/bob-chaundy/robert-motherwell-abstrac_b_12046446.html?
abstract expressionist painting. The grey area to the left resembles the
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A View No.1 (above) is a case in point. Motherwell described it as his most
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3. Former 'Masterchef' Contestant
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A View No.1 (above) is a case in point. Motherwell described it as his most
abstract expressionist painting. The grey area to the left resembles the
shadow of what he called an Elegy, a motif that occurs again and again in his
oeuvre. It became a metaphor for a meditation on life and death, originally
inspired by the horrors of the Spanish Civil War.
“For me,” says Jacobson, “This is more powerful than any Rothko or Barnett
Newman because there’s an inner life in it. When you look at a Rembrandt
a week ago huffingtonpost.co.uk
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uktv
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self-portrait, you can never ever get to the end of it...and I think Motherwell
has that ability.”
The mainly monochrome of A View No.1, contains reflections on life’s moral
issues conveyed in abstract form through geometric patterns and improvised
swirls that delve into his subconscious. Motherwell was a great intellectual
steeped in philosophy, psychology and literature as well as art. He studied at
Stanford, Harvard and then Columbia and absorbed many influences
including that of the Surrealists.
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Robert Motherwell: Abstract Expressionism | Huffington Post
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Robert Motherwell: Abstract Expressionism
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The Surrealists’ practice of automatism, in which marks are made
spontaneously, can be seen most simply in Beside the Sea No.3 (above), one
of a series of works Motherwell painted at Provincetown, Massachusetts
while on honeymoon with the artist Helen Frankenthaler. He watched waves
crashing against a breakwater and to record the experience, he created this
abstract picture by throwing the paint at the canvas in imitation of the ocean.
The New York School, a title Motherwell himself coined for the Abstract
Expressionists, took on the European avant-garde from where they left off.
While Europe dwindled in the grey aftermath of World War II, ‘50s America
was a burgeoning power, full of confidence, energy and a willingness to
experiment further. The group’s work became brasher, bigger in scale, using
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the floor as well as the easel, and collage as well as pictures.
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The exhibition features two collages, the first he made and the last. The Blue
Guitar (above) was completed just before he died in 1991, aged 76. It was
inspired by TS Eliot’s allusion-rich poem, The Blue Guitar and by Picasso’s
The Old Guitarist, painted during his so-called Blue Period. Despite
Motherwell’s ill-health, the piece is full of joy and colour. The guitar becomes
a manuscript, music being another of Motherwell’s passions.
Motherwell took to collages in a way that fellow Abstract Expressionists like
Jackson Pollock did not. The medium was handed down to the pop artists
that came after. Both the Color Field and Minimalist movements were also
direct spawns of the New York Movement, confirming that America had
become pre-eminent in modern art.
9/19/2016
Robert Motherwell: Abstract Expressionism | Huffington Post
Robert his
Motherwell:
Abstract Expressionism
Yet throughout
career, Robert Motherwell harked back to Europe, and in
particular, to Spain. The Studio (above) from 1987, painted at night when
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/bob-chaundy/robert-motherwell-abstrac_b_12046446.html?
everyone had gone, references Lorca, Picasso as well as Matisse. In the
centre are bull’s testicles or an Elegy, or both. It’s another reflection on life
and death and can be read as a self-portrait with the artist sitting in his
studio with a recognisable seat and lampshade opposite. Its bold colours are
those of optimism and hope.
Robert Motherwell: Abstract Expressionism also contains examples from the
artist’s Elegy and Open series. It runs until 26 November 2016 at the Bernard
Jacobson Gallery, 28 Duke Street, St James, London SW1 6AG.
The images are used with the permission of the gallery.
Follow Bob Chaundy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BobChaundy
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