Robert Motherwell: Elegy

Barakat Contemporary is pleased to announce Robert Motherwell – Elegy on view from 6th March to 12th May 2019. Robert Motherwell was one of the leaders in Abstract Expressionism, the most revolutionary movement in 20th century contemporary art. He was one of the first-generation of Abstract Expressionist group known as the New York School alongside Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko. Motherwell is also known as an artist who have made a milestone beyond his work by introducing American to European contemporary art, Dadaism in particular.

In 1948, Motherwell began the series, Elegy to the Spanish Republic, which became his most celebrated work. Intended as a work of mourning for the Spanish Civil War, it acquired the “elegy” name later on; the series would be seen as the best example of the artist’s approach to Abstract Expressionist painting. Consisting of different combinations of vertical rectangles or lines and ovals in black and white, the series share a profound philosophical message about life and death, inviting viewers to experience the power of all living things through consolation and meditation.

His artistic body of work regarded as representation of the very essence of 20th century modernist painting. Clement Greenberg, one of the most Influential critics of American modernism, described Motherwell as “the very best of the Abstract Expressionist painters.” Robert Motherwell’s paintings and artistic approach would prove influential to many later artists.