Robert Motherwell and the New York school

Episode of Series “Phaidon art collection”.
Robert Motherwell was the leading figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement in New York in the 1940’s and was to revolutionise the face of American painting. Made shortly before his death in 1991 this is director Tatge’s elegy to Motherwell, the vanguard of American modernism. Along with Arshille Gorky, William Bazeodis, Hans Hoffman, Franz Kline, William de Kooning, Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and David Smith, Motherwell made up what is known as “The New York school”. The journey or search in their work as artists was to make art in the U.S. that was equal to that in Europe. Within a hostile political environment and known historically as the most hated of all the art movements, the Abstract Expressionists had achieved this by the early 1950’s. With archival footage and interviews this documentary paints an inspirational portrait of a man and movement in one of the most volatile times in modern history. Juxtaposed throughout is footage of Motherwell preparing for his retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.