I had the pleasure of interviewing Motherwell twice. The
first time was on a simmering August day in 1979 in
Provincetown, where he had been spending summers
since the mid-1950s. I talked to him again the following
spring in his Greenwich, Connecticut, home, a converted
turn-of-the
century
carriage house. We
spent most of the time in
the largest of his seven
studios, surrounded by
five of his huge Elegy
paintings,
propped
against the walls.
After lunch, Motherwell
took me upstairs to show
me his second-floor living
space, once a chauffeur���s
quarters and a hayloft. I
was struck by the light that
filled the large L-shaped
room, furnished with
a mix of antiques and
contemporary
pieces.
Robert Motherwell, collage, 1967
His own art, along with
works by Henri Matisse, Franz Kline, and Jean Mir��,
decorated the walls.
Motherwell���s summer place in Provincetown was quite
another environment. He lived on the main street in a
HYLAND