The Dedalus Foundation's Robert Motherwell Recordings

in The Museum of Modern Art Archives

The Museum of Modern Art Archives
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019-5497
moma.org/learn/resources/archives

© 2008

The Museum of Modern Art Museum Archives

Finding aid prepared by Molly Shea under the direction of Michelle Elligott, 2008.

Biographical Note

Robert Motherwell (1915 - 1991) Renowned as one of the founders of Abstract Expressionism, Motherwell was an artist of international stature. His career encompassed more than five decades, he received virtually every honor accorded to an artist, and his work has been the subject of countless museum exhibitions and publications. Born on January 24, 1915 in Aberdeen, Washington, Motherwell received a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from Stanford University in 1937. He briefly pursued graduate studies in philosophy at Harvard before moving to Paris for a year. In 1939 he moved to New York City where he studied art history with Meyer Schapiro at Columbia University. In 1941, after a brief time in Mexico where he married his first wife Maria Emilia Ferreira y Moyers, Motherwell returned to New York and became acquainted with Pollock, Rothko, Baziotes, and de Kooning. In 1943, Motherwell, Baziotes, and Pollock were selected to exhibit at Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century Gallery, which was followed by a one-man exhibition of Motherwell's work in 1944. Motherwell moved to East Hampton in 1945 where he maintained his studio, and he exhibited exclusively at the Samuel Kootz gallery. In 1946, Motherwell was included in The Museum of Modern Art exhibition, Fourteen Americans [MoMA Exh. #329, September 10 - December 8, 1946], and in 1947 he began to work on his Elegy series, perhaps his most well known body of work. Motherwell divorced Maria Emilia Ferreira y Moyers in 1948, and in 1950 married Betty Little, with whom he had daughters Jannine (1953) and Lise (1955). In 1953 Motherwell expanded his studio to include a space in Provincetown, MA, where he had been summering since 1942. There he began to focus on printmaking and collage, media he had experimented with since the death of his father in 1943, and he eventually helped to found the Fine Arts Work Center, a foundation providing support for emerging artists. In 1958 he changed affiliation to the Sidney Janis Gallery and married Helen Frankenthaler, a fellow Abstract Expressionist artist, and spent time in Spain and France. In the following years Motherwell continued to travel throughout Europe and to exhibit both in the States and abroad, and had his first major museum retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art in 1965, which subsequently traveled to major venues in Europe. In 1969 he moved to Greenwich, CT, and separated from Helen Frankenthaler. By 1972 he married his fourth wife, German-born photographer Renate Ponsold. Motherwell's career continued to be actively innovative as he experimented with etching and aquatints and incorporated music and poetry into his work. He also continued to devote a significant portion of his time to teaching, writing, and editing publications. During the remaining decades of his life, Motherwell experienced great success, with many exhibitions devoted to his work and many honors celebrating his achievements. Motherwell died in July of 1991.

Scope and Content

The Dedalus Foundation's Robert Motherwell Recordings consist of 34 compact discs, totaling 19 recorded events and 26 DVDs totaling 26 videotaped events, resulting in 2 linear feet. The majority of the collection contains recordings of lectures given by Robert Motherwell and interviews between the artist and Jack Flam, art historian and president of The Dedalus Foundation. The collection also contains documentary footage of symposia, conferences, biographical films and television programs that relate to Motherwell. The Dedalus Foundation provided the title, date and production information for each recording.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The records are open for research and contain no restricted materials.

Service copies of these recordings are available for consultation at both The Museum of Modern Art and The Dedalus Foundation. The original and archival master copies are maintained by The Dedalus Foundation.

Ownership and Literary Rights

The Dedalus Foundation's Robert Motherwell Recordings service copies are property of The Museum of Modern Art. Literary rights, including copyright belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business resides with The Museum of Modern Art. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the Museum Archivist.

Related Material

See also the George Wittenborn Papers; the Robert Motherwell Scrapbooks compiled by John Cuddihy; The Dedalus Foundation's Robert Motherwell Scrapbooks arranged by Eve Lambert; and numerous Sound Recordings in The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.

The Dedalus Foundation, New York, maintains comprehensive archival collections of the artist.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Long version: The Dedalus Foundation's Robert Motherwell Recordings, [item]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.

Short version: Motherwell Recordings, [item]. MoMA Archives, NY.

Processing and Condition Information

The Dedalus Foundation's Robert Motherwell Recordings original source media consist of 25 audio cassettes, 23 VHS cassettes, 2 Beta master broadcast videocassettes and 1 HGX-M 8 mm videocassette. In 2007, the recordings were sent to an off-site vendor for preservation and digital mastering. When necessary, the recordings were physically cleaned. An archival master copy and service copies were created for each recording.

For the audio recordings, the archival master was created as a Broadcast Wave File (BWF) at 24 bit 96 kHz. The Dedalus Foundation received the archival masters for each recording. The duplication of the original 25 standard audiocassettes, which document 19 events in which Motherwell participated, resulted in a set of 34 compact discs that are to be used as service copies. The Museum of Modern Art received one complete set of the 34 service CDs, and The Dedalus Foundation received two sets.

For the video recordings, the archival master was created on a Digibeta cassette. The Dedalus Foundation received the archival masters for each recording. The duplication of the original 26 video recordings, in total amounting to 26 programs in which Motherwell participated, were transferred to 26 DVDs that are to be used as service copies. The Museum of Modern Art received one complete set of the 26 service DVDs, and The Dedalus Foundation received two sets.

The recordings were in stable condition and did not require extensive preservation.

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