A notable spontaneous art piece in Robert Motherwell’s Mexican Sketchbook, 1941 was noted as the first appearance of his ‘method’ of abstract painting.

 

However, in 1984, he states of his Dedalus Sketchbook, ‘The procedure is a marvelous release when one is so often butting ones head against the stone wall of painting’.

 

Various media, noted under the images.

 

Artist: Robert Motherwell.

Robert Motherwell 2
The Mexican Sketchbook. India ink on paper and watercolor paper. 1941. © The Museum of Modern Art
Robert Motherwell 1
18 October 1987 Sketchbook #22. 1987. Conté crayon on plastic sheet, sight sheet.
Robert Motherwell 3
Elegiac Study 1983, © Dedalus Foundation.