Dr. Marla Price, director of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, announced the opening of Robert Motherwell: Pure Painting, the first major exhibition in more than 25 years to examine the work of Robert Motherwell (1915–1991), a pivotal figure in postwar art. The exhibition runs through Sept. 17.
© Courtesy of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
The Modern is an especially appropriate venue for this retrospective given the museum’s long-standing commitment to Motherwell’s work, which began in the 1960s and 1970s. The museum’s permanent collection now includes more than 70 works by Motherwell across media — paintings, collages and prints — and the selection in this exhibition and catalogue celebrates the depth and influence of his practice while highlighting the organic revisionism that marks much of his oeuvre.
Organized by guest curator Susan Davidson, the show presents 56 thoughtfully chosen works spanning Motherwell’s career, including 12 paintings from the Modern’s collection. The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue shed new light on the artist’s development and his role in shaping modern art. While Motherwell excelled as a collagist, printmaker and draftsman, this retrospective emphasizes his expansive commitment to painting.
© Courtesy of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Beginning with the abstracted-figurative works that defined Motherwell’s early decade in the New York art scene of the 1940s, the exhibition traces the range and continuity of a career that spanned roughly 50 years. Key series such as Elegies to the Spanish Republic, Je t’aime and Open demonstrate how he probed the possibilities of abstraction. Motherwell’s paintings combine intellectual rigor with an expressive intensity and often engage historical trauma, political themes and humanitarian concerns. Those concerns continue to resonate with contemporary audiences.
Robert Motherwell: Pure Painting offers a careful reassessment of the artist’s development and intentions, emphasizing his persistent effort to render the unseen. The Modern’s collection now comprises 72 works by Motherwell, the second-largest institutional holding after the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
© Courtesy of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 208-page catalog featuring 63 plates and 84 figures. The volume includes four original essays offering new research on Motherwell’s life and work, alongside a detailed chronology of the artist’s career.
Admission to the Modern includes special exhibitions. Prices are: $16 general (ages 18+); $12 for seniors (60+), active and retired military personnel, and first responders with ID; $10 for students with ID; and free for visitors under 18. The museum offers half-price admission on Sundays and free admission on Fridays. The Modern is closed on Mondays and major holidays.