What achievements has motherwell made in the field of painting?

Motherwell (1915 ~1991) is not only an important painter of abstract expressionism, but also an outstanding scholar. Some people attribute him to action painting, while others think that his art is between action painting and color gamut painting. He is a native American, born in Washington, and moved to new york at the age of 25. He studied at Otis College of Art in Los Angeles and California Academy of Fine Arts, and received degrees in aesthetics from Stanford University and Harvard University. 194 1 year, under the influence of surrealists, especially Mata, Mason, Ernst and others, he began his career as a painter. Motherwell is interested in the concepts of intuition, psychological automatism and unconscious surrealism. For the unconscious, he thinks that he can't rely on it because he can't control it. "If you don't provide the opportunity to choose any form of expression, if you completely indulge in the unconscious, you will become a slave." And automatic creation "is not an unconscious problem at all, it is to invent new forms of plastic weapons to a greater extent." Motherwell's profound theoretical accomplishment makes rational power occupy an important position in his artistic creation. He tried to find a balance between consciousness and unconsciousness, and achieved some harmony between formal structure and free expression. His work is "a dialectic of consciousness (straight lines, pre-designed shapes, speculative colors, abstract language) and unconsciousness, which is in such a state that irrelevant whole melts into a synthesis."

From 65438 to 0944, motherwell held his first solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art in new york, and then exhibited his works at the "New American Painting" exhibition at the new york Museum of Modern Art, the Sao Paulo Biennale and the Kassel Literature Exhibition. From 1949 to 1976, he drew more than 150 elegies of Spain * * * and China according to Rocca's poems, which showed the theme of the destruction of Spanish democracy under Franco's regime. These different paintings are all made up of black rectangles and ovals on a white background. The picture is simple and clear, and the thick and wide blocks reveal traces of brush strokes and paint dripping. This perceptual, almost calligraphy abstraction shows the style characteristics of behavioral painting. Spanish Elegy * * *No. 100 is a representative work of this elegy series, with a huge format, magnificent momentum and immortal solemn feeling. Thick black ink is solid and thick, which makes the picture full of tension.

In the school of abstract expressionism, there is another school represented by Newman, Steele and Roscoe, besides the action school represented by Pollock and De Cunin, and their works are called color gamut painting.

Although Pollock's paintings are related to the so-called prototype and human instinct, as well as some mysterious prayer ceremonies, he claims that his paintings have no metaphysical characteristics. However, three other painters of abstract expressionism-Roscoe, Steele and Newman claimed that their art had this feature. Steele once said: "I have made it very clear (about 1946) that a stroke backed by labor and a mind that knows its own potential and essence can return the freedom lost in the two thousand-year conquest to mankind." This sentence reminds people of Kandinsky's famous saying: "The contact between the sharp corner of a triangle and the circle is as effective as the finger of God touching Adam's finger in Michelangelo's painting." Different elements of painting can fully express people's feelings and inner spirit through some combination and treatment. The profound meanings in the works of Roscoe, Steele and Newman may be related to their experiences and encounters. They all experienced World War II, which caused great trauma to people's minds. As early as 19 15, paul klee said a prescient sentence: "The more terrible the world becomes, the more abstract the art becomes." This may explain why their works are so abstract and expressive. Their art is actually a silent reflection of their times.