
A Sculptor's Picture, with Blue
1958
A Sculptor's Picture, with Blue is a bold, gestural oil painting by Robert Motherwell that reflects his deep engagement with Abstract Expressionism and the interplay between form and void. Rich, sweeping strokes of black and white are punctuated by a resonant field of blue, creating a dynamic tension between mass and space on the canvas. The work embodies Motherwell's characteristic exploration of the subconscious, evoking both monumental weight and lyrical movement through its raw, expressive marks.
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Spotted At
- Auction House · Phillips
🔨 Auction Lot
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
November 16, 2017
More by Robert Motherwell
Spotted works by Robert Motherwell
Artists in conversation

Franz Kline
American · b. 1910

Kline's monumental black and white gestural abstractions share the same bold, sweeping brushwork and dynamic tension between mass and void seen in this Motherwell piece, rooted in the same Abstract Expressionist movement and postwar American sensibility.

Pierre Soulages
French · b. 1919

Soulages built his career around powerful interactions of deep black paint fields against lighter grounds, creating the same sense of monumental weight and lyrical movement through raw gestural marks that define this Motherwell work.

Hans Hartung
German-French · b. 1904

Hartung's gestural abstractions employ bold sweeping marks and a carefully controlled interplay of dark forms against open fields, closely mirroring the expressive energy and non-representational language present in this Motherwell painting.
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