A Portrait of the Artist
Peter A. Juley and his son Paul specialized in photographing art and artists between 1896 and 1975. The Smithsonian American Art Museum's Peter A. Juley & Son Collection documents the works of approximately 11,000 artists and includes about 4,500 artist portraits.
The Juley studio captured today's featured artist, Robert Motherwell, and his artwork in the portrait above. Motherwell was a painter, printer, collage maker, and author. A leading Abstract Expressionist, in 1949 he began his most famous series, "Elegies to the Spanish Republic," which is comprised of more than 100 oil paintings and numerous sketches and drawings. He was editor of the important book series Documents of Modern Art.
Shown below is a lithograph made by Motherwell from the Smithsonian American Art Museum collection.
Want to find out about other American artists? Look up selected artist portraits or search the entire Juley Collection online.
Pictured top: Portrait of Robert Motherwell from the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Peter A. Juley & Son Collection.
Source: Joan Stahl. American Artists in Photographic Portraits from the Peter A. Juley & Son Collection (Washington, D.C. and Mineola, New York: National Museum of American Art and Dover Publications, Inc., 1995).
Pictured bottom: Robert Motherwell, 1915–91, Untitled (Portfolio 9), 1966, lithograph on paper, 19 3/4 x 14 1/4 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase.