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agnes MARTIN
For more than forty years, Agnes Martin (1912–2004) created serene paintings composed of grids and stripes. With an attention to the subtleties of line, surface, tone, and proportion, she varied these forms to generate a body of work impressive both in its intricacy and focus. Martin’s commitment to this spare style was informed by a belief in the transformative power of art, in its ability to conjure what she termed “abstract emotions”—happiness, love, and experiences of innocence, freedom, beauty, and perfection.
visual elements
minimalism
linear
precision
repetition
in her words
Agnes Martin created her art in a time when the art world valued masculine abstract expressionism. Her fine lines are representative of the "closeting" gay artists had to perform to their sexual orientation, which could not be expressed publicly. Her minimalist paintings are intimate in a more subtle way.
themes in martin's work
related artists
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