Untitled #12

Agnes MartinWW-1977-048850

1977·India ink, graphite, and gesso on canvas·182.9 × 182.9 cm (72 × 72 in.)

<p>Early in her career, Agnes Martin identified with her contemporaries Barnett Newman and Ad Reinhardt, sharing with them an interest in monochromatic color schemes, geometric forms, and spiritual or emotional content. In the 1960s Martin stopped making art and moved to rural New Mexico. When she resumed painting in 1974, her consistent vocabulary of grids and lines began to reflect her surround-ings. <em>Untitled #12</em>—part of a series of I5 square canvases painted in 1977—is a hand-drawn graphite grid on a muted gray ground that quietly invites a slow study of gradation and light.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1977
Medium: India ink, graphite, and gesso on canvas
Dimensions: 182.9 × 182.9 cm (72 × 72 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Agnes Martin

Artist

Agnes Martin

Painting

Agnes Bernice Martin was a Canadian-American abstract painter known for her minimalist style and abstract expressionism. Born in Saskatchewan, she moved to the United States in 1931, where she pursued higher education and became a U.S. citizen in 1950. Martin's artistic journey began in New York City, where she immersed herself in modern art and developed a deep interest in abstraction. Despite often being labeled a minimalist, she identified more with abstract expressionism. Her work has been defined as an "essay in discretion, inwardness and silence."

Macklin, Canada

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