Elegy to the Spanish Revolution, 70, by Robert Motherwell, 1961, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, © Dedalus Foundation, Inc./Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Motherwell was both a painter and an art historian. He is responsible for explaining the his work and the work of his fellow Abstract Expressionists to the world. A task that is still daunting, even today, sixty some years later. Motherwell combined his travel experience with his style of Action Painting to create bold works that were always poignantly titled.