Happy Birthday, Robert Motherwell

Had this birthday fallen during the 1940s, it is likely we would find Motherwell raising his glass among his New York City peers Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Hans Hofmann, and Mark Rothko. A resident of Greenwich Village, Motherwell was a part of the underground art scene of the city; one he is credited for helping create. Motherwell was both artistic and intellectual (a student of Stanford, Harvard, and Columbia), and although he was the youngest of his group, was a leader of the Abstract Expressionists. “For twenty years I read a book a day, from the time I was seven until I was twenty-seven,” he once said.

For further insights on Motherwell’s cerebral practice, follow the Dedalus Foundation.