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Robert Motherwell is considered a leading spokesperson for abstract expressionism.  In 1958, he married Helen Frankenthaler — also an American abstract painter whose work I love and encourage you to explore. 

Frankenthaler insisted on quality and high aesthetic standards, distinguishing herself from contemporary art scene orthodoxy.

Prior to their marriage, Motherwell met artists who introduced him to free-style painting and drawing used to access unconscious content, more like music and dance. 

Motherwell once said that Americans could “paint like angels” if they had a creative principle to guide them.  A foundation for this principle did appear earlier, in Wassily Kandinsky's Concerning the Spiritual in Art, which explores art as an expression of inner emotional life rather than external representation. 

Kandinsky's insights will later inform Anton Ehrenzweig's writing in The Hidden Order of Art.

Marsha Plafkin Hurwitz

March 10, 2026