Writings of Robert Motherwell

Dore Ashton is Professor of Art History at the Cooper Union and author or editor of over 30 books on modern art and culture, including Noguchi East and West, The New York School: A Cultural Reckoning, A Fable of Modern Art, and A Critical Study of Philip Guston, all from UC Press. Joan Banach worked with Robert Motherwell from 1981 to 1991. She is an artist who lives in New York.

• PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION BY DORE ASHTON NOTES ON MONDRIAN AND CHIRICO, 1942 REVIEW OF ART OF THIS CENTURY, ca. 1943 NOTE ON MODERN ART, ca. 1943 PREFACE TO APOLLINAIRE'S THE CUBIST PAINTERS, 1944 THE MODERN PAINTER'S WORLD, 1944 PLATE CAPTION IN ABSTRACT AND SURREALIST ART IN AMERICA, 1944 REVIEW OF CALDER'S THREE YOUNG RATS, 1944 PAINTERS' OBJECTS, 1944 PREFACE TO MONDRIAN'S PLASTIC ART AND PURE PLASTIC ART, 1945 PERSONAL STATEMENT, 1945 REVIEW OF HENRY MOORE'S SCULPTURE AND DRAWINGS, 1945 PREFACE TO PAALEN'S FORM AND SENSE, ca. 1945 STATEMENT, 1946 BEYOND THE AESTHETIC, 1946 STATEMENT, 1947 EDITORIAL PREFACE TO POSSIBILITIES I, 1947 PREFATORY NOTE TO MAX ERNST: BEYOND PAINTING, 1948 PREFATORY NOTE TO JEAN ARP'S ON MY WAY, 1948 A TOUR OF THE SUBLIME, 1948 PRELIMINARY NOTICE TO APOLLINAIRE'S THE CUBIST PAINTERS, 1949 PRELIMINARY NOTICE TO KAHNWEILER'S THE RISE OF CUBISM, 1949 PRELIMINARY NOTICE TO RAYMOND'S FROM BAUDELAIRE TO SURREALISM, 1949 A PERSONAL EXPRESSION, 1949 REFLECTIONS ON PAINTING NOW, 1949 ABSTRACT ART AND THE REAL, 1949 BLACK OR WHITE, 1950 FOR DAVID SMITH, 1950 PREFACE TO DUTHUIT'S THE FAUVIST PAINTERS, 1950 THE NEW YORK SCHOOL, 1950 EXPRESSIONISM, ca. 1950 A STATEMENT AND INTRODUCTION TO THE ILLUSTRATIONS IN MODERN ARTISTS IN AMERICA, 1951 NOTES ON CY TWOMBLY, 1951 PREFACE AND INTRODUCTION TO THE DADA PAINTERS AND POETS, 1951 PREFACE ["THE SCHOOL OF NEW YORK"], 1951 POSTSCRIPT TO THE PREFACE ["THE SCHOOL OF NEW YORK"], 1951 WHAT ABSTRACT ART MEANS TO ME, 1951 THE RISE AND CONTINUITY OF ABSTRACT ART, 1951 APROPOS "TRADITIONAL" AND "MODERN" METHODS OF TEACHING ART, 1952 IS THE FRENCH AVANT-GARDE OVERRATED? 1953 PREFACE TO A JOSEPH CORNELL EXHIBITION, 1953 SYMBOLISM, 1954 THE PAINTER AND THE AUDIENCE, 1954 OF FORM AND CONTENT, ca. 1954 THE ARTIST AND MODERN SOCIETY, 1955 THE ARTIST'S LIFE, 1956 NOTES ON BRADLEY WALKER TOMLIN, 1957 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MIRO, 1959 LECTURE WITH CHARLES R. HULBECK, 1959 STATEMENT FOR "CONVERSATIONS WITH ARTISTS," 1960 WHAT SHOULD A MUSEUM BE? 1961 PAINTING AS EXISTENCE: AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID SYLVESTER, 1962 HOMAGE TO FRANZ KLINE, 1962 A PROCESS OF PAINTING, 1964 DAVID SMITH: A MAJOR AMERICAN SCULPTOR, 1965 PLATE CAPTION FOR THE STEDELIJK MUSEUM CATALOGUE, 1966 STATEMENT, 1967 ON JACKSON POLLOCK, 1967 ON ROTHKO, 1967 ON THE "LYRIC SUITE," 1969 INTERVIEW AND LETTER TO MICHEL RAGON, 1969 STATEMENT ON THE "OPEN" SERIES, 1969 MOTHERWELL MUSES, 1969 THOUGHTS ON DRAWING, 1970 ON THE HUMANISM OF ABSTRACTION: THE ARTIST SPEAKS, 1970 STATEMENTS BEFORE CONGRESS, 1970 THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF CHILDREN'S ART, AND MODERNISM, 1970 ON ROTHKO, A EULOGY, 1970 INTRODUCTION TO CABANNE'S DIALOGUES WITH MARCEL DUCHAMP, 1971 STATEMENT ON RADICALISM IN THE VISUAL ARTS, 1971 A RECOLLECTION OF DAVID SMITH AND THE 1950s, 1972 INTRODUCTION TO THE JOURNAL OF EUGENE DELACROIX, 1972 STATEMENT ON PICASSO, 1974 THE NEW YORK SCHOOL (AND SYMBOLISM), ca. 1976 ART AND REALITY, ca. 1976 PARISIAN ARTISTS IN EXILE: NEW YORK 1939--45, 1977 PROVINCETOWN AND DAYS LUMBERYARD: A MEMOIR, 1978 WORDS OF THE PAINTER, 1978 PRESENTATION OF AN AWARD TO ERICK HAWKINS, 1979 THE INTERNATIONAL WORLD OF MODERNIST ART, 1980 NOTES FOR A JOYCE SYMPOSIUM, 1980 IN MEMORIAM: ANTHONY SMITH, 1981 JOURNAL ENTRY, ca. 1981 REFLECTIONS ON ABSTRACT ART, 1982 FOREWORD TO WILLIAM C. SEITZ'S ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST PAINTING IN AMERICA, 1983 KAFKA'S VISUAL RECOIL: A NOTE (FOR DORE ASHTON), 1983 ANIMATING RHYTHM, 1984 RESPONSE: WHEN IS A PAINTING FINISHED? 1985 ON NOT BECOMING AN ACADEMIC, 1986 A PERSONAL RECOLLECTION, 1986 NOMINATION OF JASPER JOHNS TO THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS, 1988 BIBLIOGRAPHY COMPILED BY KATY ROGERS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS INDEX