One of the leading American Abstract Expressionists of the mid-20^th century, Robert Motherwell worked alongside painters Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Grace Hartigan.

This work, Black Plant and Window, was critically important to Motherwell who kept it in his personal collection. It provided him with ongoing inspiration for the rest of his life. The painting compresses the subject of plant and window, so that while the figures are still recognizable, the painting is not a literal representation of the subject. This early painting inspired Motherwell’s later Open series, which explored abstract depictions of windows and doors, examples of which are also in GRAM’s permanent collection galleries.