Agnes
Martin
Agnes
Martin
Martin
Canadian, 1912 — 2004
Originally from Canada, Agnes Martin moved to the United States in 1931. She discovered the Southwest Desert (in New Mexico State). The idea of an open landscape in which silence, contemplation and the order of nature can coexist constitutes a strong axis of her work.
During her first solo exhibition in 1958, she showed a style that was both meditative and sober. But it was not until 1963 that it found its true mark of identification with the appearance of the square covered with orthogonal lines and forming a grid. The geometric character of her paintings often makes Agnes Martin associate with the minimalist trend: calling the latter "impersonal", she however prefers abstract expressionism. The artist is in fact committed to the principle of a pure and rigorously composed pictorial work, in which all figurative allusion seems outdated.
The artist's works were shown for the first time by Pinault Collectionin 2006 during the exhibition "Where Are We Going?" at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice.
"My paintings have neither objects nor space nor time nor anything – no forms. They are light, lightness, about merging, about formlessness, breaking down form."
During her first solo exhibition in 1958, she showed a style that was both meditative and sober. But it was not until 1963 that it found its true mark of identification with the appearance of the square covered with orthogonal lines and forming a grid. The geometric character of her paintings often makes Agnes Martin associate with the minimalist trend: calling the latter "impersonal", she however prefers abstract expressionism. The artist is in fact committed to the principle of a pure and rigorously composed pictorial work, in which all figurative allusion seems outdated.
The artist's works were shown for the first time by Pinault Collectionin 2006 during the exhibition "Where Are We Going?" at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice.
"My paintings have neither objects nor space nor time nor anything – no forms. They are light, lightness, about merging, about formlessness, breaking down form."
