Robert Motherwell

American · 1915–1991 · Painter, Printmaker

Robert Motherwell was an American abstract expressionist painter, printmaker, and editor of The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology. He was one of the youngest of the New… (Wikipedia)

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703lots offered1995–2026years recorded92%sold (616)$3kSign up free to seemedian price

6 works by Robert Motherwell coming up at auction · bid with the house ↓

Record prices

Show prices also in

At Five in the AfternoonPhillips · May 2018$12,690,000≈ £9,389,567≈ €10,749,682Sign up to see
Untitled (Elegy)Phillips · May 2019$4,580,000≈ £3,575,611≈ €4,088,191Sign up to see
Open No. 25: In Blue with VariationsPhillips · Nov 2022$2,329,000≈ £1,957,801≈ €2,238,562Sign up to see

Robert Motherwell’s highest prices recorded at auction, ranked in US dollars at each sale-date exchange rate and shown in the currency of the sale (with the buyer’s premium where the house publishes it).

Coming up at auction

6 in forthcoming sales · bid with the house

Listed from the auction houses’ own websites; estimates are the houses’ own, not results.

Average price

$55.5kSign up free to see

median $3kfree account

High

$13MSign up free to see

auction record in database

Lots sold

616

of 670 offered · 1995–2026

Sell-through

92%

sold ÷ offered

Price trend

Each dot is a sold lot (price realized incl. premium where published, converted to USD at the sale-date rate; log scale). Dashed line: yearly median.

Showing 556 of 611 priced sales (evenly sampled; every year’s high and low included). Medians use all sales.

5 lot(s) catalogued with a qualifier (e.g. “attributed to”, “after”, “circle of”) are listed in the results but excluded from these statistics.

33 lot(s) offered at auction whose result the house did not publish are listed under “Also offered” on the results tab and excluded from these statistics.

5 sold lot(s) are awaiting a USD exchange rate and are excluded from averages.

By medium

Medium	Offered	Sold	Sell-through	Average	Median	High
Paintings	32	24	75%	$1.3MSign up	$222kSign up	$13MSign up
Oil	4	3	75%	$1.3MSign up	$1.2MSign up	$2.2MSign up
Acrylic	27	20	74%	$1.3MSign up	$158kSign up	$13MSign up
Mixed media	1	1	100%	$36.2kSign up	$36.2kSign up	$36.2kSign up
Works on paper	26	22	85%	$31.8kSign up	$17.6kSign up	$113kSign up
Watercolor	2	2	100%	$15.4kSign up	$15.4kSign up	$20.2kSign up
Drawing	9	8	89%	$18.5kSign up	$13.3kSign up	$52.5kSign up
Prints & multiples	586	545	93%	$5.1kSign up	$2.8kSign up	$75kSign up
Etching	127	120	94%	$6.2kSign up	$3.3kSign up	$47.5kSign up
Engraving	1	1	100%	$3.8kSign up	$3.8kSign up	$3.8kSign up
Aquatint	48	43	90%	$5.4kSign up	$3.8kSign up	$18.8kSign up
Lithograph	289	265	92%	$5.1kSign up	$2.6kSign up	$75kSign up
Screenprint	112	109	97%	$3.8kSign up	$2.5kSign up	$22.5kSign up
Print (other)	9	7	78%	$7.3kSign up	$3.3kSign up	$28.1kSign up
Other	26	25	96%	$6.4kSign up	$2.8kSign up	$46.9kSign up

Medium classes are derived from the medium text as published by each house; “Other” includes lots whose medium wasn’t stated.

By year

Year	Offered	Sold	Median
2026	61	53	$2.5kSign up
2025	99	89	$2.2kSign up
2024	53	49	$3kSign up
2023	64	60	$3kSign up
2022	58	53	$2.8kSign up
2021	60	57	$2.5kSign up
2020	23	20	$2.9kSign up
2019	34	32	$4.1kSign up
2018	33	31	$4.4kSign up
2017	52	49	$4kSign up
2016	31	30	$5.3kSign up
2015	24	20	$6.3kSign up
2014	15	12	$8.4kSign up
2013	18	16	$7.2kSign up
2012	9	9	$2.5kSign up
2011	5	5	$1.5kSign up
2010	9	9	$1.8kSign up
2009	4	4	$3.2kSign up
2008	1	1	$2.3kSign up
2007	2	2	$5.6kSign up
2006	5	5	$3.1kSign up
2005	1	1	$3.4kSign up
2002	2	2	$945Sign up
2001	6	6	$2.7kSign up
1995	1	1	—Sign up