Question

Robert Motherwell believed that abstraction communicated best____.

Answer 1

Robert Motherwell believed that abstraction was an effective medium for communicating emotional and philosophical concepts. His art aimed to evoke human emotions and connect on a deep level with viewers, emphasizing feeling over visual relationships.

Step-by-step explanation:

Robert Motherwell, a prominent figure in the New York School of Abstract Expressionism, was known for his belief that abstraction communicated emotional and philosophical concepts effectively. His approach to art was aligned with a form of 'mysticism', using imagination to delve into the unexpressed aspects of the human condition. Motherwell's experimentation with multiple materials and techniques aimed to convey states of feeling rather than literal visual references, with his artwork often invoking strong emotional responses from viewers.

In Motherwell's own words, "I'm not interested in relationships of color or form or anything else... I'm interested only in expressing basic human emotions—tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on." This statement underscores his commitment to creating art that transcends the merely visual to directly address human emotions, offering an intense and sometimes overwhelming experience that can lead to visceral reactions such as crying.

His artwork, therefore, strived to be more than abstract in the sense of being non-representational; it was an expression of the deep, sometimes inexpressible layers of human experience, from joy to despair. By not confining his expression to strict visual relationships but instead focusing on the evocation of feelings, Motherwell sought to communicate ideas and emotions that resonated on a universal level.

Answer 2

Robert Motherwell viewed abstraction as the best way to communicate the deepest human emotions and ideas, focusing on the organization of emotional states rather than visual reality.

Step-by-step explanation:

Robert Motherwell, a prominent figure within the New York School of Abstract Expressionism, believed that abstraction was the prime medium through which the most profound human emotions and ideas could be communicated. In his view, art served as a form of mysticism, using imagination to unearth the unspoken and the unexpressed. Motherwell emphasized that the essence of art was not the imitation of visual reality but the organization of emotional states with attributes like light, color, weight, and overall sentiment, whether airy, somber, or robust. Through his experimental approach that included paint, brushstrokes, and collages of torn paper, Motherwell endeavored to capture the human condition and externalize universal emotions such as tragedy, ecstasy, and despair. His paintings, often resonating deeply with viewers, were intended to provoke a visceral, emotional response rather than an analytical critique of their formal qualities.