Wall Painting with Stripes

Of all the New York School painters, scholar and artist Robert Motherwell aligned himself most closely with modern European art and literature. An early painting by Motherwell, Wall Painting with Stripes fuses the geometric rigor found in the art of Henri Matisse, Piet Mondrian, and Pablo Picasso with an organic or biomorphic abstract language that is reminiscent of the imagery employed by Surrealists Max Ernst and Joan Miró. Although signed and dated 1944, this painting shows signs of having been altered over time by the artist. Pentimenti (evidence of previous compositions), including a complex network of lines that were simplified into egg-shaped forms and bulging curves, are visible underneath the vertical bands of ocher and white paint. Motherwell once wrote, “My pictures have layers of mistakes buried in them—an X-ray would disclose crimes—layers of consciousness, of willing.”