Morgan O'Driscoll Irish & International Art Auction 21st October 2019

I rish & I nternational A rt M onday 21 st O ctober 2019 at 6.00 pm 39 31 Robert Motherwell (1915-1991) American Norway (1980) signed with initials ‘RM’ lower right and numbered 36/50 limited edition lithograph in colours - numbered 36 from an edition of 50 23.5 x 25cm (9.3 x 9.8in) Provenance: Private Collection Literature: Engberg/Banach 274 €1,000-1,500 (£884-1,327) Robert Motherwell has been described as the intellectual force behind American Abstract Expressionism. He came from a wealthy background and, although his parents advised against it, he was inexorably drawn towards being an artist. Readings in philosophy and art history and travels in Europe informed the series of works that established him, his Elegy for the Spanish Republic. More personal pieces used everyday items such as cigarette packaging. This lithograph, made for the Sonja Henie- Niels Onstad Foundation, Oslo and named after the prize-winning skater, recalls the visceral-formal imagery of the Elegies.