Step inside the studio and home of Robert Motherwell and Renate Ponsold Motherwell to preview their collection offered in Sotheby’s Contemporary Day auction on 19 May in New York. The rare collection includes works by Max Ernst, Cy Twombly and Motherwell himself. Watch the video to discover more about Robert Motherwell’s relationship with Cy Twombly and his contribution to the abstract expressionism movement.

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So much of the last chapter of his life took place in Greenwich at the house.

And attached to the Carriage House, which

is this extraordinary studio that's purpose-built, and you get this incredible sense of the physicality of creation that took place there.

The floor is covered in these long, sharp, edge shapes all over, overlapping and aggregated on top of each other.

It really kind of narrates this grand history of image production and picture creation in that space.

We're really thrilled to be offering property from the private collection of Robert Motherwell and Renata Ponsord Motherwell.

This is a collection of works that belong to these 2 noted artists who have this fantastic story that really parallels a lot of the developments of abstract expressionism through the kind of third and fourth quarters of the 20th century.

We're incredibly excited to be offering works by Robert Motherwell himself including Summertime Beside the Sea, number 2, Open number 79 in grey with charcoal from

In Beige with Charcoal number 8 is a particularly seductive and gorgeous work on paper dated 5th February

Renate Ponsold-Motherwell arrived in New York from Germany in the 1950s and she immediately fell into the New York scene around Greenwich Village and around the Cedar Tavern.

She actually accompanied Rothko to a costume ball at the Metropolitan Museum where she first glimpsed Robert Motherwell and they were married a year later in 1972.

The collection consists of several works by friends of theirs that were mostly gifts.

Foremost among them is Cy Twombly's Clue from 1951.

Twombly did this painting at Black Mountain College and it's 1 of exceptionally rare, very, very early work that exactly mirrors what Motherwell was doing around the same time.

Motherwell and Twombly were great friends at Black Mountain College and in 1951 Robert Motherwell actually wrote the introduction for Twombly's first solo exhibition at the Seventh Stair Gallery in Chicago.

The fact that Sy gave Robert such an important work at that very, very germinal stage of his career encapsulates this sort of spirit of shared adventure that was almost ubiquitous among this generation of abstract expressionists.

The king playing with the queen tells a seminal story of 20th century art and connects the surrealists very palpably to the abstract expressionists.

Chess for the surrealist artists between World War I and World War II is a mode of expression.

It's a way of humanizing the war and bringing it to a scale where it's less atrocious and more approachable.

And Motherwell himself would play with Max Ernst later when Max Ernst is here on Long Island.

The arrival of this object into the collection of Robert Motherwell was a very organic process.

Ernst created the first plaster of this model, and Motherwell saw it right away and put it in the back of his car and took it home because he was so excited about it.

And then later when the work is cast in bronze, Ernst makes sure that a cast of this goes to Motherwell.

So the prominence of this work within Motherwell's collection cannot be understated.

So it's over 25 years now since Motherwell passed and I think his contribution towards 20th century art history is really beginning to be appreciated.

Somebody who was very close to the development of surrealism into abstract expressionism, really 1 of the kind of founding fathers in a way of abstract expressionism.

His legacy is being seen with the gravitas that it should be.


Speaker 0: So much of the last chapter of his life took place in Greenwich at the house. And attached to the Carriage House, which

Speaker 1: is this extraordinary studio that's purpose-built, and you get this incredible sense of the physicality of creation that took place there. The floor is covered in these long, sharp, edge shapes all over, overlapping and aggregated on top of each other. It really kind of narrates this grand history of image production and picture creation in that space. It's really a kind of painter's dream. We're really thrilled to be offering property from the private collection of Robert Motherwell and Renata Ponsord Motherwell.

This is a collection of works that belong to these 2 noted artists who have this fantastic story that really parallels a lot of the developments of abstract expressionism through the kind of third and fourth quarters of the 20th century. We're incredibly excited to be offering works by Robert Motherwell himself including Summertime Beside the Sea, number 2, Open number 79 in grey with charcoal from

Speaker 0: 1972,

Speaker 1: In Beige with Charcoal number 8 is a particularly seductive and gorgeous work on paper dated 5th February

Speaker 0: 1973.

Speaker 1: Renate Ponsold-Motherwell arrived in New York from Germany in the 1950s and she immediately fell into the New York scene around Greenwich Village and around the Cedar Tavern. She actually accompanied Rothko to a costume ball at the Metropolitan Museum where she first glimpsed Robert Motherwell and they were married a year later in 1972. The collection consists of several works by friends of theirs that were mostly gifts. Foremost among them is Cy Twombly's Clue from 1951. Twombly did this painting at Black Mountain College and it's 1 of exceptionally rare, very, very early work that exactly mirrors what Motherwell was doing around the same time.

Motherwell and Twombly were great friends at Black Mountain College and in 1951 Robert Motherwell actually wrote the introduction for Twombly's first solo exhibition at the Seventh Stair Gallery in Chicago. The fact that Sy gave Robert such an important work at that very, very germinal stage of his career encapsulates this sort of spirit of shared adventure that was almost ubiquitous among this generation of abstract expressionists.

Speaker 2: The king playing with the queen tells a seminal story of 20th century art and connects the surrealists very palpably to the abstract expressionists. Chess for the surrealist artists between World War I and World War II is a mode of expression. It's a way of humanizing the war and bringing it to a scale where it's less atrocious and more approachable. And Motherwell himself would play with Max Ernst later when Max Ernst is here on Long Island. The arrival of this object into the collection of Robert Motherwell was a very organic process.

Ernst created the first plaster of this model, and Motherwell saw it right away and put it in the back of his car and took it home because he was so excited about it. And then later when the work is cast in bronze, Ernst makes sure that a cast of this goes to Motherwell. So the prominence of this work within Motherwell's collection cannot be understated.

Speaker 1: So it's over 25 years now since Motherwell passed and I think his contribution towards 20th century art history is really beginning to be appreciated. Somebody who was very close to the development of surrealism into abstract expressionism, really 1 of the kind of founding fathers in a way of abstract expressionism. His legacy is being seen with the gravitas that it should be.

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Enter the Studio of Robert Motherwell