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Quote by Robert Motherwell

“Each brushstroke is a decision.”

Quote by Robert Motherwell

Book:Robert Motherwell

Work

Robert Motherwell

This biography offers an in-depth look at Motherwell's personal and professional journey, from his early years in the Midwest to his rise as a leading figure in the New York art scene. It examines his paintings, including his iconic 'Elegies to the Spanish Republic' series, and his critical writings, which have had a lasting impact on the understanding of modern art. more

Author

Robert Motherwell

Robert Motherwell was an American painter known for his abstract expressionist works. His art often features black and white colors, filled with strong emotions and philosophical thoughts. Motherwell held a significant position in the 20th-century art world, and his works have had a profound impact on later artists. more

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“The 'pure' red of which certain abstractionists speak does not exist. Any red is rooted in blood, glass, wine, hunters' caps and a thousand other concrete phenomena. Otherwise we would have no feeling toward red and its relations.”

Doe Feelings Certain Speak Blood Thousand Pure Red Relation Wine Glasses Concrete Rooted Hunters Caps

Author:Robert Motherwell

“What could be more interesting, or in the end, more ecstatic, than in those rare moments when you see another person look at something you've made, and realize that they got it exactly, that your heart jumped to their heart with nothing in between.”

Looks Heart Persons Made Ends Moments Realizing Interesting Communication Ecstatic Rare Moments

Author:Robert Motherwell

“I dislike a picture that is too suave or too skilfully done. But, contrariwise, I also dislike a picture that looks too inept or blundering.”

Looks Done Dislike Competence Suave

Author:Robert Motherwell

“In a way, painting is like wine: it is as old, as simple, as primitive and as varied. Like wine, it is a very specific means of expression, with a limited vocabulary, but vast in its expressive potential.”

Way Mean Simple Painting Expression Wine Primitive Vocabulary Expressive

Author:Robert Motherwell

“If you give a child something very complex to paint, such as a bouquet of flowers or a natural landscape, if he is very good, eventually he will get back - like Cezanne - to the essential forms of what he sees.”

Ifs Giving Children Form Natural Flower Essentials Complexes Paint Very Good Landscape Get Back Bouquets Cezanne

Book:Robert Motherwell

Source: Robert Motherwell

“It is sometimes forgotten how much wit there is in certain works of abstract art. There is a certain point in undergoing anguish when one encounters the comic.”

Art Sometimes Certain Humour Forgotten Wit Comic Abstract Encounters Anguish Abstract Art

Book:The Collected Writings of Robert Motherwell

Source: The Collected Writings of Robert Motherwell

“I almost never start with an image. I start with a painting idea, an impulse, usually derived from my own world.”

World Ideas My Own Painting Impulse My Own World

Book:Robert Motherwell

Source: Robert Motherwell

“The problems of inventing a new language are staggering. But what else can one do if one needs to express one's feeling precisely?”

Ifs Needs Feelings Problem Language Inventing Staggering

Book:The Collected Writings of Robert Motherwell

Source: The Collected Writings of Robert Motherwell

“To pick up a cigarette wrapper or wine label or an old letter or the end of a carton is my way of dealing with those things that do not originate in me, in my I.”

Way Ends Materials Picks Letters Wine My Way Labels Cigarette Old Letters

Book:Robert Motherwell on paper: drawings, prints, collages

Source: Robert Motherwell on paper: drawings, prints, collages

“I never had the... common anxiety as to whether abstract painting had a given 'meaning.”

Given Common Painting Anxiety Abstract Abstract Painting

Author:Robert Motherwell