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Robert Motherwell — “I would say that in that sense there are certain colors that have become my colors; they’re yellow ochre, black and white, and so on. Colors are no different than shapes. Anybody recognizes a Tanguy shape, or a Magritte shape, or a Miró shape. Well, one has to use color as personally and as exactly as one does shapes.”
Robert Motherwell

“I would say that in that sense there are certain colors that have become my colors; they’re yellow ochre, black and white, and so on. Colors are no different than shapes. Anybody recognizes a Tanguy shape, or a Magritte shape, or a Miró shape. Well, one has to use color as personally and as exactly as one does shapes.”

Robert Motherwell's untitled work in black, ochre, and pink exemplifies his deeply personal relationship with color as a formal and expressive language. Bold, gestural forms in stark black contrast against warm ochre and soft pink tones, reflecting his belief that color carries as much individual identity as shape. The composition embodies Motherwell's Abstract Expressionist sensibility, where each hue functions not merely as decoration but as a defining element of his unmistakable artistic signature.

Medium
Untitled (Black Ochre Pink)

🔨 Auction Lot

Contemporary Art Day Sale

May 17, 2013

Estimate: $200,000$300,000

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About this work

Robert Motherwell, “I would say that in that sense there are certain colors that have become my colors; they’re yellow ochre, black and white, and so on. Colors are no different than shapes. Anybody recognizes a Tanguy shape, or a Magritte shape, or a Miró shape. Well, one has to use color as personally and as exactly as one does shapes.”

Robert Motherwell's untitled work in black, ochre, and pink exemplifies his deeply personal relationship with color as a formal and expressive language. Bold, gestural forms in stark black contrast against warm ochre and soft pink tones, reflecting his belief that color carries as much individual identity as shape. The composition embodies Motherwell's Abstract Expressionist sensibility, where each hue functions not merely as decoration but as a defining element of his unmistakable artistic signature.

Medium
Untitled (Black Ochre Pink)
Seen at
Phillips, New York, London, Hong Kong

Related themes

Bold, American, Expressive, Post-War, Abstract Expressionism, Gestural, Black, White, Oil on Canvas, Yellow Ochre

More works by Robert Motherwell

Collected by

Alex Capecelatro, Hamilton Selway Gallery, Kyle Stewart