Agnes Martin

Over the course of a career that spanned fifty years, Agnes Martin’s austere, serene work anticipated and helped to define Minimalism, even as she battled psychological crises and carved out a solitary existence in the American Southwest. ‘I paint with my back to the world’, she claimed; when she died at ninety-two, in Taos, New Mexico, it is said she had not read a newspaper in half a century. Here, for the first time, is an account of Martin’s extraordinary life, and a long- awaited critical discussion of her work. Nancy Princenthal tells her story chronologically – from Martin’s birth in Saskatchewan and her early days as an artist, living in derelict Manhattan shipping lofts with Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Ad Reinhardt and other artists as neighbours; to the seven years she stopped painting, just as her career was taking off, and the months she spent roaming the country in a pick-up truck; and her last thirty years, in Taos some of that time, in an adobe house she built with her own hands. Martin did not achieve recognition until she was in her late forties. Her work – pencilled grids on square canvases, washed with pale or neutral colours – at last receives the critical appraisal it deserves.

Over the course of a career that spanned fifty years, Agnes Martin’s austere, serene work anticipated and helped to define Minimalism, even as she battled psychological crises and carved out a solitary existence in the American Southwest. ‘I paint with my back to the world’, she claimed; when she died at ninety-two, in Taos, New Mexico, it is said she had not read a newspaper in half a century. Here, for the first time, is an account of Martin’s extraordinary life, and a long- awaited critical discussion of her work. Nancy Princenthal tells her story chronologically – from Martin’s birth in Saskatchewan and her early days as an artist, living in derelict Manhattan shipping lofts with Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Ad Reinhardt and other artists as neighbours; to the seven years she stopped painting, just as her career was taking off, and the months she spent roaming the country in a pick-up truck; and her last thirty years, in Taos some of that time, in an adobe house she built with her own hands. Martin did not achieve recognition until she was in her late forties. Her work – pencilled grids on square canvases, washed with pale or neutral colours – at last receives the critical appraisal it deserves.

Canadian-born Agnes Martin was one of the pre-eminent painters of the second half of the twentieth century, whose work has had a significant influence both on artists of her own time and for subsequent generations. A contemporary of the abstract expressionists though often identified with minimalism, Martin was of the few woman artists who came to prominence in the predominately masculine art world of the late 1950s and 1960s, and became a particularly important role model for younger women artists. This groundbreaking survey provides an overview of Martin's career, from lesser-known early experimental works through her striped and grided grey paintings and use of colour in various formats, to a group of her final works that reintroduce bold forms. A selection of drawings and watercolours is also included. With essays by leading scholars that give a context for Martin's work - her life, relationship with other artists, the influence of South- Asian philosophy - alongside focused shorter pieces on particular paintings, the book will appeal to art students, academics and all those interested in abstract art. Presenting new research, and beautifully designed, the book is also an opportunity to introduce the life and work of Agnes Martin to those unfamiliar with her oeuvre.

Canadian-born Agnes Martin was one of the pre-eminent painters of the second half of the twentieth century, whose work has had a significant influence both on artists of her own time and for subsequent generations. A contemporary of the abstract expressionists though often identified with minimalism, Martin was of the few woman artists who came to prominence in the predominately masculine art world of the late 1950s and 1960s, and became a particularly important role model for younger women artists. This groundbreaking survey provides an overview of Martin's career, from lesser-known early experimental works through her striped and grided grey paintings and use of colour in various formats, to a group of her final works that reintroduce bold forms. A selection of drawings and watercolours is also included. With essays by leading scholars that give a context for Martin's work - her life, relationship with other artists, the influence of South- Asian philosophy - alongside focused shorter pieces on particular paintings, the book will appeal to art students, academics and all those interested in abstract art. Presenting new research, and beautifully designed, the book is also an opportunity to introduce the life and work of Agnes Martin to those unfamiliar with her oeuvre.

An exploration of Martin's intuitive, idiosyncratic approach to beauty, as evinced through her written meditations and reproductions of several key paintings "When I think of art I think of beauty. Beauty is the mystery of life," wrote Agnes Martin in 1989. Edited by Milly Glimcher, this handsomely produced volume collects writings by the artist centered around the theme of beauty, as well as a range of subjects related to her life and work, from the workings of nature and politics to the inspiration to be found in solitude and silence. Poetic and reflective, these texts range from compact insights, as with "Underside of the Leaf" and "Awareness of Perfection," to longer meditations, such as "The Current of the River of Life Moves Us" and "The Untroubled Mind." On Beauty also includes reproductions of paintings such as Blessings (2000) and Tranquillity (2001), among others, while the front and back covers are debossed with reproductions of Affection (2001) and Little Children Playing with Love (2001). By providing a window into the thoughts and feelings that moved her, this title is the perfect companion for anyone who admires Martin's intuitive approach to art. Canadian American artist Agnes Martin (1912-2004) was one of the most influential painters of her generation and left an enduring mark on the history of modern and contemporary art. Characterized by austere lines and grids superimposed upon grounds of muted color, her paintings elegantly negotiate the confines of structure, space, draftsmanship and the metaphysical. Their underlying ideologies can be found in the writings she composed over the course of her career.

An exploration of Martin's intuitive, idiosyncratic approach to beauty, as evinced through her written meditations and reproductions of several key paintings "When I think of art I think of beauty. Beauty is the mystery of life," wrote Agnes Martin in 1989. Edited by Milly Glimcher, this handsomely produced volume collects writings by the artist centered around the theme of beauty, as well as a range of subjects related to her life and work, from the workings of nature and politics to the inspiration to be found in solitude and silence. Poetic and reflective, these texts range from compact insights, as with "Underside of the Leaf" and "Awareness of Perfection," to longer meditations, such as "The Current of the River of Life Moves Us" and "The Untroubled Mind." On Beauty also includes reproductions of paintings such as Blessings (2000) and Tranquillity (2001), among others, while the front and back covers are debossed with reproductions of Affection (2001) and Little Children Playing with Love (2001). By providing a window into the thoughts and feelings that moved her, this title is the perfect companion for anyone who admires Martin's intuitive approach to art. Canadian American artist Agnes Martin (1912-2004) was one of the most influential painters of her generation and left an enduring mark on the history of modern and contemporary art. Characterized by austere lines and grids superimposed upon grounds of muted color, her paintings elegantly negotiate the confines of structure, space, draftsmanship and the metaphysical. Their underlying ideologies can be found in the writings she composed over the course of her career.

The critically acclaimed, indispensible illustrated monograph on Agnes Martin, published to accompany the major retrospective exhibition organized by the Tate and on view in 2016 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Guggenheim This groundbreaking survey provides an in-depth account of Martin's artistic career, from lesser-known early experimental works through her striped and gridded grey paintings and use of color in various formats, to a group of her final pieces that reintroduce bold forms. A selection of drawings and watercolors and Martin's own writing are also included. Edited by the exhibitions's co-curators Frances Morris and Tiffany Bell, and with essays by leading scholars that give a context for Martin's work--her life, relationship with other artists, the influence of South-Asian philosophy--alongside focused shorter pieces on particular paintings, this beautifully designed volume is the definitive publication on her oeuvre. Frances Morris places Martin's work in the art historical context of the time; art historian Richard Tobin analyzes Martin's painting "The Islands"; conservator Rachel Barker offers the reader a close viewing of "Morning"; curator Lena Fritsch provides a visual biography by comparing photographic portraits of Martin from different periods; and art historian Jacquelynn Baas delves into the spiritual and philosophical beliefs so present in Martin's art, including Platonism, Christian mysticism, Zen Buddhism and Taoism. Agnes Martin was born in Maklin, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1912, and moved to the US in 1932, studying at universities in Oregon, California, New Mexico and New York. She painted still lifes and portraits until the early 1950s, when she developed an abstract biomorphic style influenced by Abstract Expressionism. Her first one-woman exhibition was held at the Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, in 1958. Partly through close friendships with artists such as Ellsworth Kelly and Ad Reinhardt, Martin began to experiment with symmetrical compositions of rectangles or circles within a square, then from around 1960-61 to work with grids of delicate horizontal and vertical lines. She left New York in 1967, shortly after the death of Reinhardt, and moved to New Mexico, where she lived until her death in 2004.

The critically acclaimed, indispensible illustrated monograph on Agnes Martin, published to accompany the major retrospective exhibition organized by the Tate and on view in 2016 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Guggenheim This groundbreaking survey provides an in-depth account of Martin's artistic career, from lesser-known early experimental works through her striped and gridded grey paintings and use of color in various formats, to a group of her final pieces that reintroduce bold forms. A selection of drawings and watercolors and Martin's own writing are also included. Edited by the exhibitions's co-curators Frances Morris and Tiffany Bell, and with essays by leading scholars that give a context for Martin's work--her life, relationship with other artists, the influence of South-Asian philosophy--alongside focused shorter pieces on particular paintings, this beautifully designed volume is the definitive publication on her oeuvre. Frances Morris places Martin's work in the art historical context of the time; art historian Richard Tobin analyzes Martin's painting "The Islands"; conservator Rachel Barker offers the reader a close viewing of "Morning"; curator Lena Fritsch provides a visual biography by comparing photographic portraits of Martin from different periods; and art historian Jacquelynn Baas delves into the spiritual and philosophical beliefs so present in Martin's art, including Platonism, Christian mysticism, Zen Buddhism and Taoism. Agnes Martin was born in Maklin, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1912, and moved to the US in 1932, studying at universities in Oregon, California, New Mexico and New York. She painted still lifes and portraits until the early 1950s, when she developed an abstract biomorphic style influenced by Abstract Expressionism. Her first one-woman exhibition was held at the Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, in 1958. Partly through close friendships with artists such as Ellsworth Kelly and Ad Reinhardt, Martin began to experiment with symmetrical compositions of rectangles or circles within a square, then from around 1960-61 to work with grids of delicate horizontal and vertical lines. She left New York in 1967, shortly after the death of Reinhardt, and moved to New Mexico, where she lived until her death in 2004.

The only complete career retrospective of this visionary painter, including all her most iconic works, which are prized for their exquisite visual poetry, together with personal letters and facsimiles, reprinted in Martin’s own hand, adding intimacy to this classic book Agnes Martin’s career spanned over seven decades, with a profile that has skyrocketed since the 2015-17 major exhibition at Tate Modern, London that travelled globally to great acclaim. Though a major influence on Minimalist painters, Martin saw her own work more closely related to Abstract Expressionism, her paintings being ‘meditations on innocence, beauty, happiness and love.’ This much-anticipated reissue of Martin’s exhibition manager and close friend Arne Glimcher’s highly-acclaimed book presents 130 of her paintings and drawings alongside her previously unpublished writings and lecture notes. Glimcher’s illuminating introduction, his personal memories of visits to Martin at her studio, and their correspondence throughout her career, reveal many insights into the artist’s life and work.