Abstract Expressionists “M...-O...-”
for history of art and social studies classrooms.

Robert Motherwell
b. 1-24-1915; Aberdeen, WA
d. 7-16-1991; Cape Cod, MA

Motherwell's work falls between the experimental painting of the European Surrealist and Dada schools and the more vibrant work of Abstract Expressionism. He was married to artist Helen Frankenthaler.

Robert Motherwell quotes ~
• “It's not that the creative act and the critical act are simultaneous. It's more like you blurt something out and then analyze it.”
• “The public history of modern art is the story of conventional people not knowing what they are dealing with.”
• “Art is much less important than life, but what a poor life without it.”
• “Wherever art appears, life disappears.”
• “Most painting in the European tradition was painting the mask. Modern art rejected all that. Our subject matter was the person behind the mask.”

• The Writings of Robert Motherwell

Louise Nevelson
b. 9-23-1899; Kiev, Czarist Russia
d. 4-17-1988; NYC

Nevelson used found objects and everyday discards in putting together her “assemblages”.

Louise Nevelson quotes ~
• “The freer that women become, the freer men will be. Because when you enslave someone, you are enslaved.”
• “What we call reality is an agreement that people have arrived at to make life more livable.”
• “You must create your own world. I'm responsible for my world.”
• “I think most artists create out of despair. The very nature of creation is not a performing glory on the outside, it's a painful, difficult search within.”
• “I never feel age ... If you have creative work, you don't have age or time.”

• The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend

Barnett Newman
b. 1-29-1905; New York City, NY
d. 7-4-1970; NYC

Newman was a major figure in abstract expressionism and a leader in the color field movement.

Barnett Newman quotes ~
• “In times of violence, person predilections for niceties of color and form seem irrelevant.” (1945)
• “A painter is a choreographer of space.”
• “Man's hand traced the stick through the mud to make a line before he learned to throw the stick.”
• “Any art worthy of its name should address ‘life’, ‘man’, ‘nature’, ‘death’ and ‘tragedy’.”
• “I hope that my painting has the impact of giving someone, as it did me, the feeling of his own totality, of his own separateness, of his own individuality.”
• “... if ... could read it (my paintings) properly it would mean the end of all state capitalism and totalitarianism.”

• Barnett Newman