Agnes Martin (March 22, 1912- December 16, 2004) was a Canadian-American minimalist painter.
She was born in Maklin, Saskatchewan and moved to the United States in 1931, becoming a citizen in 1950. She is most closely associated with Taos, New Mexico, although she also lived in New York City for a time.
The bulk of her work is composed of square grids. While minimalist in form, these paintings were quite different in spirit from those of her minimalist counterparts; she shied away from intellectualism, favoring the personal and spiritual. Many of her grids represent Taoist reflections. Because of her work's added spiritual dimension, she preferred to be classified as an abstract expressionist.
She worked only in black, white, and brown before moving to New Mexico. During this time, she introduced light pastel washes to her grids, colors that shimmered in the changing light.
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Last updated: 10-13-2005 11:46:58
