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The problem of Motherwell
Robert Motherwell was not only a prolific artist until his death
two decades ago, but also gained recognition as a writer and
teacher on Abstract Expressionism. In his early writing he
advocated a significant role for art and artists as allies and
even leaders in the struggle for revolutionary social change. And
while some of these observations were insightful, under the weight
of events, Motherwell came to repudiate the optimism he once held
about the bond between art and social life.
One painting from the series he entitled “Elegy to the Spanish
Republic” (1965-67) is included in the AGO exhibition. A classic
Motherwell image, featuring his trademark large black ovals
pushing dark yellow shapes at the edges and imparting feelings of
a dark strength and tenderness, it is among his most moving works.
As the title indicates, and notwithstanding a growing skepticism,
he continued until the end of his life to feel great sympathy for
potentially emancipatory struggles such as the Spanish Revolution.
Extolling the combative spirit of the movement he helped to
develop, Motherwell once declared that, “Abstract Expressionism
was the first American art that was filled with anger as well as
beauty.” Although he continued to champion abstraction in art, in
his own way he acknowledged that it could represent a retreat in
the face of social reaction and political disappointment. “Until
there is a radical revolution in the values of modern society, we
may look for highly formal art to continue,” he commented, tellingly.
Furthermore, although the artist continued to assert that art
could only be truly understood and develop on the basis of an
internationalist outlook, he did grow increasingly conservative
politically. Under the influence of the Cold War, and his own
relatively privileged position, Motherwell came to view the
prospect of socialism as incompatible with the supposed freedom of
the artist. He justified his abandonment of explicitly left-wing
views by claiming that “The middle-class is decaying, and as a
conscious entity the working-class does not exist.”
What hope he saw then lay in the activity of the individual, the
artist. Defending the trend toward increasing abstraction in art,
Motherwell argued that, “now artists especially value personal
liberty because they do not find positive liberties in the
concrete character of the modern state.”
In short, the artist fell back on rather banal, anti-communist
conceptions, so popular in the academic and artistic worlds in
Cold War America, counterposing all too easily and self-servingly
artistic and social aspirations. He argued, for example, that
“Criticism moves in a false direction, as does art, when it
aspires to be a social science,” as though any conscientious
critic or artist would propose such a thing. Moreover, he asserted
that art could not be rationally understood: “[M]ake no mistake,
abstract art is a form of mysticism.” Not a very helpful
conclusion to reach.
full: http://wsws.org/articles/2011/aug2011/abex-a08.shtml
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