The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 1, 2023

Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. LV

1955–1960

Robert Motherwell

(American, 1915–1991)

America, 20th century

Oil on canvas

Framed: 181 x 196 x 4 cm (71 1/4 x 77 3/16 x 1 9/16 in.); Unframed: 178.1 x 193.7 cm (70 1/8 x 76 1/4 in.)

Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1963.583

© Dedalus Foundation, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Location

not on view

Description

This powerful, abstract composition is from a series that expressed Motherwell's response to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the struggle against fascism. "The Elegies reflect the internationalist in me, interested in the historical forces of the 20th century, with strong feelings about the conflicting forces in it," he once explained. These paintings, created from 1948 through the mid-1960s, are characterized by a strictly defined visual vocabulary of shape and color opposites, modified on each canvas to produce varied effects. Here the bold, black ovals and vertical rectangular bars press against one another in front of a background of sweeping white brushstrokes with occasional touches of orange. Although the surface is relatively even and opaque, subtle variations in tone, value, and texture are evident. The contrasts of form and color suggest metaphors for war and peace, life and death, freedom and oppression.

Provenance
(Marlborough Gerson Gallery, New York).
Citations
Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisitions Press Release,” February 19, 1964, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 202 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 202 archive.org
Cleveland Museum of Art. Art of the Twentieth Century in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Dept. of Art History & Education, CMA, 1969. Mentioned: p. 4 archive.org
Hamilton, George Heard. 19th and 20th Century Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1970. Reproduced: p. 372, fig. 343
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 250 archive.org
Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 35, no. 94
Flam, Jack D., Katy Rogers, and Tim Clifford. Motherwell: 100 Years. Milano, Italy: Skira; New York: Dedalus Foundation, 2015. Reproduced: p. 122, fig. 123; and p. 234. Mentioned: P. 119 and PP. 232, 235.
Cleveland Museum of Art. Masterworks on Loan: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Cleveland Museum of Art: July Through September 2016. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. p. 30
Lucie-Smith, Edward. Movements in Art Since 1945. London: Thames and Hudson, 2020. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 28-29, no. 13
Chassey, Éric de. Le surréalisme dans l'art américain: Dalí, Ernst, Tanguy, Pollock, Rothko, Johns, Bourgeois. Paris : Réunion des musées nationaux, 2021. Reproduced: p. 99, fig. 15
Exhibition history

São Paulo, Brazil, Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo, VI Biennial of The Museum of Modern Art of Sao Paulo (September - December 1961).

Pasadena, CA, Pasadena Art Museum, Robert Motherwell: A Retrospective Exhibition (18 February - 11 March 1962), no. 42.

Northampton, MA, Smith College Museum of Art, An Exhibition of the Work of Robert Motherwell (10-28 January 1963), no. 15.

Cleveland, OH, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Year in Review (1 - 31 January 1965)

Washington, DC, The National Gallery of Art, The White House Festival of the Arts, June 14-July 11, 1965, cat no. 27, p. 12.

New York, The Museum of Modern Art, Robert Motherwell, September 29-November 30, 1965, cat. no. 46, repr. p. 47.

also to: Amsterdam, The Stedelijk Museum, January 8-January 20, 1966, cat. no. 41; London, Whitechapel Gallery; Basel, Kunsthalle; Essen, Museum Folkwang.

Torino, Galleria Civica D'Arte Moderna, Robert Motherwell (September - October 1966), no. 41.

CMA: Works from the Contemporary Collection, July 1-mid-October, 1969

Mexico City, Museo de Arte Moderno, Retrospectiva del gran pinter northamericano, April-May 1975, cat. no. 8, listed p. 31.

Washington, DC, The National Gallery or Art, American Art at Mid-Century: The Subjects of the Artist, June 1, 1978-February 4, 1979, cat. no. 4, p. 109, repr. fig. 10.

Buffalo, NY, The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Robert Motherwell Retrospective Exhibition, September 15-November 27, 1983, cat. no. 35, p. 126, repr. p. 81.

also to: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, January 4-March 4, 1984; San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, April 7-May 28, 1984; Seattle, Seattle Art Museum, June 22-August 5, 1984; Washington, DC, Corcoran Gallery of Art, September 8-October 28, 1984; New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, December 1, 1984-January 31, 1985.

Minneapolis, MN, Walker Art Center, Robert Motherwell: The Spanish Elegies, October 11, 1992-January 3, 1993.

MOCA Cleveland (6/9/2006 - 8/20/2006): "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art", no. 94, p. 121, color repr. p. 35.

Year in Review (1964). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1964-January 31, 1965).

The White House Festival of the Arts. The White House, Washington, DC (June 14-15, 1965); National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (organizer) (June 18-July 11, 1965).

Robert Motherwell. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (organizer) (September 29-November 1, 1965); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1070 AB Amsterdam, Netherlands (January 8-20, 1966); Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (January 31-February 28, 1966); Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland (March 1-April 1, 1966); Museum Folkwang, 45128 Essen, Germany (July 2-August 14, 1966).

Works from the Contemporary Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 1-October 15, 1969).

American Art at Mid-Century: The Subjects of the Artist. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (organizer) (June 1, 1978-January 14, 1979).

The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1963.583