03 juni 2013

Robert Motherwell #8






Surrounded by a feast for the eyes—examples of their own creativity, and treasured objects that span the history of art—Mr. and Mrs. Robert Motherwell occupy a country estate as akin to the Cotswolds as to Connecticut.

A carriage house with a hayloft aerie, a beautiful old barn and a gabled guest cottage adjoining a one-hundred-foot-long studio—the whole surrounded by verdant parklike grounds—provide the setting for what Motherwell calls their “cottage industry.” He elaborates, “With six studios in the carriage house complex; Renate’s photography studio in the barn; and a curator, a printer and a painting assistant here all week long from 9:30 to 5:00, it’s always a beehive of activity.”

The world-renowned artist recalls that “the whole complex has simply grown,” since he acquired it in 1970, shortly before his marriage to artist-photographer Renate Ponsold. “It is said that the estate was built before the first World War for the daughter of the president of U.S. Steel. The property, of which I have one-third, had a mansion, a summerhouse, tennis courts, and an Olympic-size swimming pool. It was the working buildings that I bought. At the time, the cottage was liveable; the stable was in beautiful condition, with varnished oak stalls; and upstairs in the carriage house—in front of the huge hayloft—was an apartment I intended to use as my bachelor living quarters. Then, when Renate and I were married, there just was not enough room.” (bron: Achitetural Digest, foto's: Peter Vitale, tekst: Constance W. Glenn)

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