Untitled (Beside the Sea)

Date1962

Maker Robert Motherwell American, 1915-1991

Label TextMotherwell served as a vital link between avant-garde artists in Europe before the war and post-war artists in New York. Best known for expressive paintings and collages using a method of spontaneous creation called automatism, he attempted to express the mind’s inner workings. The Beside the Sea series is an exercise in spontaneity: his visceral response to the sea at high tide as it broke against the bulkhead near his Provincetown studio. In response to the force he exerted on the paper, often tearing it through, he said, “The true way to 'imitate' nature is to employ its own processes." These images exist in a plane between description and metaphor.

Object number91.247

Photo CreditPhoto: Susan Cole

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Collection Highlights: 1945 to the Present, Sept. 12, 1996 - June 1, 1997. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Our Blue Planet: Global Visions of Water, Mar. 18 - May 30, 2022.Published ReferencesArnason, H.H. "Robert Motherwell." New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1977; n.p., reproduced fig. 147. Arnason, H.H. and Dore Ashton. "Robert Motherwell." Rev. ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1982; p. 149, reproduced fig. 184.

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Liberman

Dimensions29 x 23 in. (73.66 x 58.42 cm)

MediumOil on paper