Incollect Magazine Issue 7

Incollect Magazine 85 Robert Motherwell Bernard Jacobson Gallery “Robert Motherwell painted pictures that are abstract in appearance, but there is meaning behind his work,” says Constance Aehlig from Bernard Jacobson Gallery in London. “There is an intellectual thought behind his brushwork and abstract gestures and the feelings he has in the artworks. It is not like Jackson Pollock and the style of drip paintings which are about the overall surface and visual effect. For Motherwell, it is an intellectual thing. Motherwell was interested in Asian calligraphy, science, and unconscious gestures in art and his paintings frequently draw inspiration from these eclectic sources. Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 163, from 1979–1982 is an acrylic and Conté crayon on board painting depicting a rough black irregular shape in different sizes. It belongs to his most famous series of works using this same shape and related title as a lamentation for the destruction and loss of life during the Spanish Civil War. Robert Motherwell (1915–1991) Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 163, 1979–1982 Acrylic and Conté crayon on board 23¼ x 29¼ inches Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, England Available through Incollect.com