Artwork Details
Robert Motherwell
American,
1915 - 1991
Black Plant and Window
1950
Medium
Oil on masonite
Dimensions
35 1/2 x 47 1/2 inches
Location
Level 3, Gallery 7
Accession Number
2006.1
Credit
Museum Purchase, Kate P. Wolters Family in memory of Richard Wolters, and Gift of Dedalus Foundation
About the Artwork
One of the leading American Abstract Expressionists of the mid-20th 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.