As the most intellectual of the Abstract Expressionists, Robert Motherwell was fascinated by literature and music. In fact, the first of his Elegies, the artist’s most iconic and sought-after body of work, was painted in 1948 to accompany a poem by Harold Rosenberg. In these works, Motherwell sought to capture the human suffering and loss of the Spanish Civil War. Here, Sotheby’s Contemporary Art specialist Saara Pritchard reveals a work from the series that Motherwell believed to be one his best.
Auctions and Exhibitions
The Elegy Painting that Robert Motherwell Bought Back for Himself
New York | 12 May
