WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Robert Motherwell

Robert Motherwell

Robert Motherwell

1915–1991

WA-00003763

PaintingAbstract ExpressionismExpressionism

Representation

None documented

71

Institutional Exhibitions

498

Works in Collection

768

Assets Indexed

5

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

WikidataQ165275

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

Master Prints from the Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1989

No image

Abstractions

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1988–1989

No image

Collage: Selections from the Permanent Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1988–1989

No image

Gifts of Works on Paper by Robert Motherwell

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1987–1988

No image

Master Prints from the Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1987–1988

No image

Drawing since 1940

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1987

No image

American Prints, 1960�1985

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1987

No image

Contemporary Works from the Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1985–1986

No image

Tatyana Grosman Gallery Inaugural Installation

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1985–1986

No image

Selections from the Permanent Collection: Prints and Illustrated Books

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1984

No image

Selections from the Permanent Collection: Painting and Sculpture

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1984

No image

The Modern Drawing: 100 Works on Paper from The Museum of Modern Art

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1983–1984

Field Verification (5 fields)

2 cross-verified · 3 single-source

Birth yearArtsy· 85%✓
Death yearGallery Generic· 72%✓
NationalityArtsy· 85%
BiographyGallery Generic· 72%
LocationGallery Generic· 72%

Source Registry (6)

Christies-Artsyhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/robert-motherwell
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
Kasminhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/robert-motherwell
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
Sothebyshttps://www.sothebys.com/en/artists/robert-motherwell
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
Templonhttps://www.templon.com/artists/
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/4126
Tier 1 · Institutional92%
Paula-Cooper
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred60%

About

Why this artist matters now

No biography available for Robert Motherwell yet.

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Abstract Expressionism

Medium

Painting

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago The Metropolitan Museum of Art Tate Whitney Museum of American Art

Canonical record

Artworks (498)

Game of Chance

1987 · Lithograph, aquatint, paper, pastel and acrylic paint on paper

image: 592 x 418 mm

America-La France Variations II

America-La France Variations II

1984 · Lithograph and printed paper on paper

image: 1067 x 650 mm

Art 1981 Chicago Print

Art 1981 Chicago Print

1981 · Color lithograph on white wove paper

86.4 × 63.5 cm (34 1/16 × 25 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

El General

1980 · Lithograph on paper

image: 994 x 698 mm

La Guerra II

1980 · Lithograph on paper

image: 704 x 997 mm

Brushstroke

1980 · Lithograph on paper

image: 399 x 295 mm

Elegy to the Spanish Republic #132

Elegy to the Spanish Republic #132

1975 · Acrylic paint on canvas

support: 2440 x 3050 mm

Spanish Elegy I

Spanish Elegy I

1975 · Lithograph on paper

image: 360 x 475 mm

Tallith for Meyer Schapiro

1973 · Etching and aquatint

Sheet (sight): 41 1/2 × 29 1/2 in. (105.4 × 74.9 cm) Plate (sight): 35 1/2 × 23 3/4 in. (90.2 × 60.3 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

Tricolor

1973 · Color off-set lithograph on white wove paper

Image: 32.2 × 23 cm (12 11/16 × 9 1/16 in.); Sheet: 37.5 × 26.7 cm (14 13/16 × 10 9/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Open on Two Whites

Open on Two Whites

1973 · Lithograph in white and black on white wove paper

121 × 80.5 cm (47 11/16 × 31 3/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Open on Two Whites

Open on Two Whites

1973 · Lithograph in white and black on white wove paper

121.5 × 80.5 cm (47 7/8 × 31 3/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1972 · Lithograph in black from one stone on pale pink wove handmade paper

Image: 36 × 18.5 cm (14 3/16 × 7 5/16 in.); Sheet: 59.3 × 46 cm (23 3/8 × 18 1/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1972 · Lithograph in black from one stone on pale pink wove handmade paper

Image: 40 × 20 cm (15 3/4 × 7 7/8 in.); Sheet: 58.5 × 45.8 cm (23 1/16 × 18 1/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1972 · Lithograph in black from one stone on pale pink wove handmade paper

Image: 33.5 × 15 cm (13 1/4 × 5 15/16 in.); Sheet: 59.5 × 46.2 cm (23 7/16 × 18 1/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Folio box, from A la pintura

Folio box, from A la pintura

1972 · Box made of wood and plexiglas

71 × 110.6 × 15.3 cm (28 × 43 9/16 × 6 1/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Colophon, from A la pintura

Colophon, from A la pintura

1972 · Lift-ground aquatint, etching, and letterpress in black on white wove paper

Sheet: 64.7 × 96.5 cm (25 1/2 × 38 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

White 14-15, from A la pintura

White 14-15, from A la pintura

1972 · Color etching and aquatint from two copper plates, with letterpress, on white wove paper

Plates: 45.7 × 61 × 25.4 cm (18 × 24 1/16 × 10 in.); Sheet: 64.7 × 96.5 cm (25 1/2 × 38 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Table of contents, from A la pintura

Table of contents, from A la pintura

1972 · Letterpress on white wove paper

Sheet: 64.7 × 96.5 cm (25 1/2 × 38 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

White 10-13, from A la pintura

White 10-13, from A la pintura

1972 · Color soft ground etching from two copper plates, with leterpress, on white wove paper

Plates: 49.5 × 19 × 26.3 cm (19 1/2 × 7 1/2 × 10 3/8 in.); Sheet: 64.7 × 96.5 cm (25 1/2 × 38 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1972 · Lithograph in black from one stone on Mylar taped onto pale pink wove handmade paper

Image: 16.5 × 37 cm (6 1/2 × 14 5/8 in.); Sheet: 59 × 45.5 cm (23 1/4 × 17 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1972 · Lithograph in black from one stone on pale pink wove handmade paper

Image: 16.5 × 37 cm (6 1/2 × 14 5/8 in.); Sheet: 59.8 × 45 cm (23 9/16 × 17 3/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

To the Palette, from A la pintura

To the Palette, from A la pintura

1971 · Color lift-ground aquatint and soft ground etching from two copper plates, with letterpress, on white wove paper

Image/plate: 12.7 × 26.3 cm (5 × 10 3/8 in.); Sheet: 64.7 × 96.5 cm (25 1/2 × 38 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Gauloises Bleues (Raw Umber Edge)

Gauloises Bleues (Raw Umber Edge)

1971 · Color aquatint and etching on white wove paper

Plate: 29.3 × 16.2 cm (11 9/16 × 6 7/16 in.); Sheet: 76.5 × 56.8 cm (30 1/8 × 22 3/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

View all 498 artworks →

Artwork sources (6)

498 published of 765 catalogued · 613 with image

Art Institute Chicago
454 published454 img
Tate
35 published35 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
7 published
The Met
1 published
Whitney
1 published
+ 1 more source · 267 catalogued, not yet published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 10)

10 entries · 1 sources

No. 13
1970 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Africa 7
1970 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Africa 6
1970 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Africa 3
1970 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Game of Chance
1987 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
[no title]
1964 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
America-La France Variations II
1984 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
No. 7
1970 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
No. 5
1970 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
No. 8
1970 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

'Ulysses' by Robert Motherwell, Tate Modern

Wikimedia Commons

Relationships

16

Movements2

Abstract Expressionism Expressionism

Collections14

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Art Institute of Chicago Cleveland Museum of Art Whitney Museum of American Art Christie's The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Institutional

Representation & Collections

Represented by

Templon

Current

In collection

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Whitney Museum of American Art

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Tate

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction

Freeman's|Hindman

Heritage Auctions

Background

Education

Harvard University

Visual Arts

Stanford University

Visual Arts

Columbia University

Visual Arts

Market

Auction History

Work	Auction House	Date	Estimate	Hammer Price
Untitled	Artsy	May 2026	$2,000 – $3,000	Unsold
Untitled	Freeman's\|Hindman	Apr 2026	$1,000 – $2,000	Unsold
Untitled	Freeman's\|Hindman	Apr 2026	$5,000 – $7,000	Unsold
Untitled	Freeman's\|Hindman	Apr 2026	$6,000 – $8,000	Unsold
Untitled	Heritage Auctions	Oct 2025	$800 – $1,200	Unsold