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Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 70

Ariel Salazar

Roots: ART 150-01

April 12, 2019

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1
​Motherwell, Robert. Elegy to the Spanish Republic LXX.
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In the twentieth century, an American author and painter known as Robert Motherwell

dedicated most of his life expressing his feelings and opinion about the outcome of the Spanish

Civil War through his work. He grew up in a family of intellect and luxury and spent most of his

childhood in California; it was in the Golden State where he fell in love with the bright colors of

the desert landscape and later used vibrant colors in his style of art. His interest in bright colors

(such as orange) as a child is one of the reasons why Motherwell picked up an art style of

Abstract Expressionist art.2

The American author and painter dedicated several years of his life making a series of

over 100 paintings called “Elegy to the Spanish Republic.” The Spanish Civil War took place

from 1936 to 1939, and it was the main inspiration to the series.3 While the paintings did not hint

Motherwell’s message simply by observation, he had a couple of reasons for making the series.

One of his reasons involved co-editing a magazine with his first sketch of the series accompanied

by a poem that Harold Rosenburg, Motherwell’s colleague, wrote. He also dedicated the series to

a Spanish poet and play-writer known as Federico García Lorca4 and quoted his poem “At Five

in the Afternoon.”5

2
​James Fitzsimmons, "Robert Motherwell," ​Design Quarterly​, no. 29 (1954): 21.
doi:10.2307/4047197.
3
​Wall text, ​Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 70​, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New
York.
4
​Ingram, Cindy Zerm, "States of Feeling: Using Emotion to Connect Artist and Viewer," ​Art
Education​ 60, no. 3 (2007): 29.
5
​Harris, Beth, and Steven Zucker, “Robert Motherwell, Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 57.”
Video, 2:25-2:30.
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Motherwell was only a young adult when the Spanish Civil War took place6. When

Francisco Franco, a Spanish general, won the war, he became a dictator, fascism overruled, and

democracy was lost. A decade later, Motherwell portrayed the defeated of republicanism in

Spain through the Elegy to the Spanish Republic by using only black oil paint to represent the

sorrow and violence that arose while Franco was in power.7 It seemed as if Motherwell was

looking ten years into the past and remembering the turn of political events that occurred in

Spain at the time. Considering that American was not involved in Spanish politics during the war

because the nation was practicing its Neutrality Law8, Motherwell’s involvement and

lamentation of the war is controversial. However, Motherwell (as well as other American

painters) shows us that Abstract Expressionism and its problems are not only American but also

associated with Europe.9

Motherwell created Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 70 in 1961. Today, the painting is

in the Modern and Contemporary art section at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New

York. The painting is enormous, with dimensions of about 69 x 114 inches or 175.3 x 289.6

centimeters.10 The massive size of the picture can surprise the viewer if he or she considering the

first version of the series, which is on an 8.5 x 11-inch sheet of paper. The painting, much like all

6
Craven, David, Robert Motherwell, and Meyer Schapiro, "Commentary: Aesthetics as Ethics in
the Writings of Robert Motherwell and Meyer Schapiro," ​Archives of American Art
Journal​ 36, no. 1 (1996): 28.
http://www.jstor.org.www.library.manhattan.edu/stable/1557552.
7
​Harris, Beth, and Steven Zucker. “Robert Motherwell, ” Video, 1:23-1:31.
8
​Finch, George A. "The United States and the Spanish Civil War." ​The American Journal of
International Law​ 31, no. 1 (1937): 74. doi:10.2307/2190716.
9
​Harris, Beth, and Steven Zucker. “Robert Motherwell,” Video, 3:44-3:48
10
​Metropolitan Museum of Art, ​Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 70.​
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the other versions, is both a political statement and a metaphor to life and death.11 For example,

the black ovals and rectangular figures contrast with the white canvas; Motherwell presented the

extrema of color (white and black) as symbols of life, purity, sorrow, and violence. Also, the

black shapes do not touch the bottom of the canvas, which represents endless lamentation

according to experts.12

Motherwell made this painting on a white canvas and used only black oil paint for the

shapes. His strict use of black oil paint is compelling because he rejected his childhood passion

of brilliant, Californian landscape colors like orange, yellow, and blue (which he also used

throughout his career) and instead used an exceedingly sorrowful and depressing color like

black. Therefore, using black as the only color on the canvas can imply how upset Motherwell

felt while Franco ruled Spain as a dictatorship. Also, Motherwell used brush stroke as his

technique, which he demonstrates at the top right corner of the canvas by leaving a faded black

color and traces that resemble a brush’s path. While the massive scale of the black shapes does

not give the painting an illusion of perspective or space, the amount of black oil paint used is

almost the same as the exposed white canvas, which makes the art piece proportionate and

balanced. The picture is also commensurate because if one flips the image horizontally, the

resulting permutation will be very similar to the original version of the painting.

Before Motherwell began making his series, he practiced making Surrealist art, which

consists of creating a juxtaposition on the painting by displaying objects and figures that

11
Levine, Edward M, "Abstract Expressionism: The Mystical Experience," ​Art Journal​ 31, no. 1
(1971): 23. doi:10.2307/775629.
12
Emilio Steinberger, “Robert Motherwell: Elegy to the Spanish Republic,” accessed April 13,
2019, Video, 1:48-1:54. ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxXf8Ym6Zcc​.
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contradict one another.13 The Elegy to the Spanish Republic, along with other works of art by

Motherwell, was made using a style known as Abstract Expressionism. Abstract Expressionism

is a style of art that originated in Western Territory and was lead by artists, such as Jackson

Pollock and Franz Kline;14 this painting style consists mostly of spontaneously presenting

subjects rather than displaying objects.15 In terms of the painting, Motherwell drew several black

ovals and vertical bars that do not represent anything from the real world. Even though the title

of the artwork hints the audience about Motherwell’s purpose in making the painting, the content

on the canvas does not give any implications or information about the subject. However, the

delivery and spontaneity of the painting’s objects transmit negative feelings, such as sorrow and

entrapment, to the audience.16 There is both Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism in the

Spanish Elegy, and this is true for many reasons. First, the painting is delivered in a spontaneous

matter because the black shapes don’t resemble real-world objects or clarify what the painter is

showing. Secondly, the black and white colors serve as a juxtaposition of the themes of hope and

regret, which contributes to the definition of Surrealism. Thirdly, the reader does not know about

the historical context, if any, until he or she reads the wall text at the museum or analyzes the

title of the artwork. Motherwell rejects Expressionism (a style of art in which both objective

realities are combined with subjective feelings) because he believes that a painting is a

“collaboration between artists and canvas” and a picture is bad if an artist acts upon his tendency

13
​Levine, Edward M, "Abstract Expressionism", 23
14
​The Journal of Aesthetics and
​Kavolis, Vytautas, "Abstract Expressionism and Puritanism,"
Art Criticism​ 21, no. 3 (1963): 315, doi:10.2307/427440.
15
​Golub, Leon, "A Critique of Abstract Expressionism," ​College Art Journal​ 14, no. 2 (1955):
143, doi:10.2307/773024.
16
​Harris, Beth, and Steven Zucker, “Robert Motherwell,” Video, 2:00-2:08.
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to draw what he intends without regarding the canvas as an element in the illustration.17

Motherwell’s philosophy of painting explains how he worked together with the painting’s white

canvas to deliver his message to his audience. Abstract Expressionism is the has become a

universal style of art because it is for everyone to experience and because artists are given a

chance to express themselves freely.18

17
​Levine, Edward M, "Abstract Expressionism," 23.
18
​Kavolis, Vytautas, "Abstract Expressionism," 316.
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Bibliography

Craven, David, Robert Motherwell, and Meyer Schapiro. "Commentary: Aesthetics as Ethics in
the Writings of Robert Motherwell and Meyer Schapiro." ​Archives of American Art
Journal​ 36, no. 1 (1996): 25-32.
http://www.jstor.org.www.library.manhattan.edu/stable/1557552​.

Finch, George A. "The United States and the Spanish Civil War." ​The American Journal of
International Law​ 31, no. 1 (1937): 74. doi:10.2307/2190716.

Golub, Leon. "A Critique of Abstract Expressionism." ​College Art Journal​ 14, no. 2 (1955):
142-47. doi:10.2307/773024.

Harris, Beth, and Steven Zucker. “Robert Motherwell, Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 57.”
Smart History,​ Accessed April 13, 2019. Video, ​LENGTH
www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/abstract-exp-nyschool/abstract-expressionis
m/v/robert-motherwell-elegy-to-the-spanish-republic-no-57-1957-60​.

Ingram, Cindy Zerm. "States of Feeling: Using Emotion to Connect Artist and Viewer." ​Art
Education​ 60, no. 3 (2007): 25-32.
http://www.jstor.org.www.library.manhattan.edu/stable/27696213​.

James Fitzsimmons. "Robert Motherwell." ​Design Quarterly,​ no. 29 (1954): 19-22.

doi:10.2307/4047197.

Kavolis, Vytautas. "Abstract Expressionism and Puritanism." ​The Journal of Aesthetics and Art
Criticism​ 21, no. 3 (1963): 315-19. doi:10.2307/427440.

Levine, Edward M. "Abstract Expressionism: The Mystical Experience." ​Art Journal​ 31, no. 1
(1971): 22-25. doi:10.2307/775629.

Motherwell, Robert. 1961. Elegy to the Spanish Republic LXX.

https://library.artstor.org/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822001351889​.

Steinberger, Emilio. “Robert Motherwell: Elegy to the Spanish Republic.” Accessed April 13,
2019. Video, 0:00-3:17. ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxXf8Ym6Zcc​.

Wall text, ​Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 70​, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New
York.