A la pintura: title page

Robert MotherwellWW-1971-082232

1971·Letterpress in black with graphite, red colored pencil, and cutout additions on white wove paper·34.1 × 69.5 cm (13 7/16 × 27 3/8 in.)

According to John McKendry, former curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, if nothing else survived of Robert Motherwell’s oeuvre save his A la Pintura, he “would still be seen as a major artist of the twentieth century.” Motherwell’s book of 24 unbound pages, with 21 mixed intaglio prints, “illuminates the poetry” of Raphael Alberti. After Robert Motherwell discovered Ben Belitt’s translation of Raphael Alberti’s A la Pintura (On Painting), Motherwell recalled, “I had found the text for a livre d’artiste, a text whose every line set into motion my innermost painterly feelings. . . . This poetry is made for painters, and this livre was made for the poetry. I meant the two to be wedded, as in a medieval psalter, but with my own sense of the modern.” Just as Motherwell was inspired by poetry, Alberti found constant source material in the visual arts. A la Pintura was his homage to the collection of master paintings in the Prado Museum in Madrid and was dedicated to his friend and fellow Spaniard Pablo Picasso.

Catalogue

Year: 1971
Medium: Letterpress in black with graphite, red colored pencil, and cutout additions on white wove paper
Dimensions: 34.1 × 69.5 cm (13 7/16 × 27 3/8 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Robert Motherwell

Artist

Robert Motherwell

Painting

Alongside such great artists such as Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, and Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell is considered one of the key progenitors of Abstract Expressionism. His bold, abstract, and often intuitive style and approach to painting not only garnered him international acclaim during his lifetime, but has also helped establish his standing in art historical canon, as the presence of his work in a multitude of national and international collections can attest.Born on January 24 in Aberdeen, Washington, Motherwell’s artistic talent was recognized early on; at the tender age of 11 he was awarded a fellowship to the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. After temporarily studying painting at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco, he went on to complete formal training at Stanford University, where he ultimately received his B.A. Motherwell subsequently undertook graduate studies at both Harvard University in Cambridge, and Columbia University in New York City (where he studied the history of art with Meyer Schapiro)—his extensive experience in academia reflects the intelligence and contemplativeness that he came to be known for, both in his personality and his p

New York and Greenwich, Connecticut, USA

Full artist profile →