Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American abstract expressionist painter, printmaker, and editor, widely recognized as one of the founders of the Abstract Expressionist movement and a leading figure in the New York School. Born in Aberdeen, Washington, he was raised in San Francisco and studied philosophy at Stanford University and Harvard University before turning to art in the early 1940s.

His artistic career was deeply influenced by Surrealism, particularly through his encounters with artists like Max Ernst, André Masson, and Wolfgang Paalen, which led him to embrace automatic drawing as a core creative principle. This approach became central to his work, especially in his most famous series, the Elegies to the Spanish Republic—a body of over 100 paintings and prints exploring themes of life, death, and political trauma.

Motherwell was a prolific artist and intellectual, known for his articulate writings and lectures, as well as his editorial work, including The Dada Painters and Poets: An Anthology and the Documents of Modern Art series. He taught at institutions like Black Mountain College and Hunter College, and his work was featured in major retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the National Gallery of Art.

He received the National Medal of Arts in 1989 and established the Dedalus Foundation in 1981 to promote modernism and art education. His legacy endures through his vast body of work, held in major collections worldwide, including the MoMA, the Tate, and the National Gallery of Art.