Agnes MARTIN (1912-2004)
1961 Grey Stone II
2023 SOLD for $ 18.7M by Sotheby's
Agnes Martin expresses the unlimited ground, after Pollock, and agrees to be considered among the artists of abstract expressionism. Inspired by Zen and Buddhism, she transfers her meditation and contemplation of quietness and beauty.
Her quest for the sublime may also be confronted with the minimalism of Donald Judd, Robert Ryman or Ellsworth Kelly. Martin's work may also be compared with Yayoi Kusama's Infinities. Both were in New York City at the turn of the 1960s. In the spirit of Rothko the 72 x 72 inch monumental format was selected so that the viewer can enter into the art work.
Her technique is repetitive and meticulous : on a canvas painted in monochrome oil, superseded from before 1967 by acrylic, she draws a set of colored rectangles in a single repeating pattern from top to bottom, too thin at a distance for the naked eye but endlessly bringing a renewed richness of texture. This practice based on the parallels is somehow reminiscent of the highly aesthetic weaving of the primitive Navajo blankets.
The art of Agnes Martin is formless without being simple. The difficulty for this demanding artist was to avoid what she names a dissonance between the aligned position of the grid and the strictly square format of the canvas. She brings her human touch in the irregularities of density of the pencil lines, drawn, paused and resumed by hand with a mere straight edge.
Painted in 1961, Grey Stone II is an early example of Martin's New York phase. This work is made of a tight pattern of tiny monochrome grey squares which are no more perceptible when viewed at a distance, meticulously painted in oil within in a grid drawn in pencil. The effect may be compared with the multitude of grains of sand that compose a beach.
This oil on canvas 183 x 183 cm has an additional brilliance from a background of gold leaf. The intention of rendering a quiet life in a natural surrounding is supported by the comparison with only two other large size works including gilding, Friendship and Night sea, both executed in 1963.
Grey Stone II was sold for $ 18.7M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on November 9, 2023, lot 8. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
On May 12, 2010, Sotheby's sold for $ 2.2M a small painting from 1962, 27 x 27 cm, titled Kyrie in which the grid is clearly visible and reinforced with nails, which is another example of her experimental phase.
Her quest for the sublime may also be confronted with the minimalism of Donald Judd, Robert Ryman or Ellsworth Kelly. Martin's work may also be compared with Yayoi Kusama's Infinities. Both were in New York City at the turn of the 1960s. In the spirit of Rothko the 72 x 72 inch monumental format was selected so that the viewer can enter into the art work.
Her technique is repetitive and meticulous : on a canvas painted in monochrome oil, superseded from before 1967 by acrylic, she draws a set of colored rectangles in a single repeating pattern from top to bottom, too thin at a distance for the naked eye but endlessly bringing a renewed richness of texture. This practice based on the parallels is somehow reminiscent of the highly aesthetic weaving of the primitive Navajo blankets.
The art of Agnes Martin is formless without being simple. The difficulty for this demanding artist was to avoid what she names a dissonance between the aligned position of the grid and the strictly square format of the canvas. She brings her human touch in the irregularities of density of the pencil lines, drawn, paused and resumed by hand with a mere straight edge.
Painted in 1961, Grey Stone II is an early example of Martin's New York phase. This work is made of a tight pattern of tiny monochrome grey squares which are no more perceptible when viewed at a distance, meticulously painted in oil within in a grid drawn in pencil. The effect may be compared with the multitude of grains of sand that compose a beach.
This oil on canvas 183 x 183 cm has an additional brilliance from a background of gold leaf. The intention of rendering a quiet life in a natural surrounding is supported by the comparison with only two other large size works including gilding, Friendship and Night sea, both executed in 1963.
Grey Stone II was sold for $ 18.7M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on November 9, 2023, lot 8. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
On May 12, 2010, Sotheby's sold for $ 2.2M a small painting from 1962, 27 x 27 cm, titled Kyrie in which the grid is clearly visible and reinforced with nails, which is another example of her experimental phase.
1964 The Beach
2013 SOLD for $ 6.5M by Sotheby's
The Beach, oil and pencil on canvas 190 x 190 cm painted by Martin in 1964, was sold for $ 6.5M from a lower estimate of $ 2.5M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2013, lot 17. This work simulates the light blues, grays, browns and cream white of a sand beach on seaside.
1965 Orange Grove
2016 SOLD for $ 10.7M by Christie's
The titles of Agnes Martin's most accomplished works of the mid-1960s express the diversity of the landscapes.
On May 16, 2007, Christie's sold for $ 4.7M Desert, painted in 1965 with a light beige dominance, and for $ 4.5M Mountain II, painted in 1966.
Orange Grove, painted in 1965, was sold for $ 10.7M from a lower estimate of $ 6.5M by Christie's on May 10, 2016, lot 25 B. This oil and graphite on her signature 183 x 183 cm six footer canvas is painted with a grid of pale orange horizontal lines grouped in four stacked cells.
On May 16, 2007, Christie's sold for $ 4.7M Desert, painted in 1965 with a light beige dominance, and for $ 4.5M Mountain II, painted in 1966.
Orange Grove, painted in 1965, was sold for $ 10.7M from a lower estimate of $ 6.5M by Christie's on May 10, 2016, lot 25 B. This oil and graphite on her signature 183 x 183 cm six footer canvas is painted with a grid of pale orange horizontal lines grouped in four stacked cells.
1967 Happy Valley
2015 SOLD for $ 6.3M by Christie's
Agnes Martin was involved in the artistic life of New York, but 1967 marks a challenge to her fragile mental health. The fame that is reaching her is not suitable for her aspiration to discretion. The building where she has her studio is scheduled to be destroyed and her artistic mentor, Ad Reinhardt, younger to her by one year, dies unexpectedly.
On November 10, 2015, Christie's sold for $ 6.3M an acrylic, graphite and ink on canvas 183 x 183 cm painted in 1967, lot 13B. The title, Happy Valley, indicates a feeling and thus marks her need to resume her lost peace of mind. Although the exact day is not known and the artwork is not located, it is probably one of the last paintings made by Agnes Martin before her grand leave to the unknown.
Aged 55, she takes the road alone in a pickup truck and caravan for a wandering life according to the hippie mood and stops painting. After 18 months she settled permanently in Taos, the small paradise for artists in New Mexico.
On November 10, 2015, Christie's sold for $ 6.3M an acrylic, graphite and ink on canvas 183 x 183 cm painted in 1967, lot 13B. The title, Happy Valley, indicates a feeling and thus marks her need to resume her lost peace of mind. Although the exact day is not known and the artwork is not located, it is probably one of the last paintings made by Agnes Martin before her grand leave to the unknown.
Aged 55, she takes the road alone in a pickup truck and caravan for a wandering life according to the hippie mood and stops painting. After 18 months she settled permanently in Taos, the small paradise for artists in New Mexico.
1974 # 44
2021 SOLD for $ 17.7M by Sotheby's
Agnes Martin expressed and disclosed in her art the perfect tranquility of nature. She shared with her audience her deep impregnation within Zen and Taoism. To achieve such a level of spirituality, her painting is devoid of form, space and time.
In the opposite, her life is a poignant fleeing from madness. She is subject to auditory hallucinations and catatonic trances and a paranoid schizophrenia has been diagnosed. In the big city, she forgets who and where she is, accepts exhibitions but rejects fame and catalogs. She once said that she is not a woman. It seems that her illness was aggravated by a frustrated homosexuality that she never confessed.
She decides in 1967 to go to the West. In her case, it is the best therapy. She lives alone without being actually isolated but refuses any help. In her wanderings in the desert she builds her own shelter huts. Old age will help Agnes to retrieve some social life but she deliberately ignores some usual aspects of it. She had never read a newspaper again.
She restarted painting in Taos in 1974. From then her penciled lattices are replaced by bands of pale color. The artist's personal touch in the painting is maintained by her hand guided by a mere straight edge without a masking tape.
Untitled # 44, acrylic and pencil on canvas 183 x 183 cm painted in 1974, was sold for $ 17.7M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 6. It is a highly rare example with a vertical central ivory line that may reminds the structural zips of Barnett Newman. The parallel bands are painted in pale blue and crimson lined with ivory that bring an exceptional luminescence.
In the opposite, her life is a poignant fleeing from madness. She is subject to auditory hallucinations and catatonic trances and a paranoid schizophrenia has been diagnosed. In the big city, she forgets who and where she is, accepts exhibitions but rejects fame and catalogs. She once said that she is not a woman. It seems that her illness was aggravated by a frustrated homosexuality that she never confessed.
She decides in 1967 to go to the West. In her case, it is the best therapy. She lives alone without being actually isolated but refuses any help. In her wanderings in the desert she builds her own shelter huts. Old age will help Agnes to retrieve some social life but she deliberately ignores some usual aspects of it. She had never read a newspaper again.
She restarted painting in Taos in 1974. From then her penciled lattices are replaced by bands of pale color. The artist's personal touch in the painting is maintained by her hand guided by a mere straight edge without a masking tape.
Untitled # 44, acrylic and pencil on canvas 183 x 183 cm painted in 1974, was sold for $ 17.7M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 6. It is a highly rare example with a vertical central ivory line that may reminds the structural zips of Barnett Newman. The parallel bands are painted in pale blue and crimson lined with ivory that bring an exceptional luminescence.
1980 #13
2017 SOLD for $ 8.1M by Sotheby's
Untitled # 13, acrylic and graphite 183 x 183 cm painted by Agnes Martin in 1980, was sold for $ 8.1M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Sotheby's on May 18, 2017, lot 7.
It is made of bands of hazy blue, icy yellow and pale pink for a striking luminescent visual effect which is not cancelled by grey, white or black. Any thick band is flanked by two thin bands of faded hues. The primary acrylic is tinted with chalky white gesso.
Untitled # 12, acrylic and color pencil on canvas 183 x 183 cm painted in 1981, was sold for $ 5.7M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2019, lot 18.
It is made of bands of hazy blue, icy yellow and pale pink for a striking luminescent visual effect which is not cancelled by grey, white or black. Any thick band is flanked by two thin bands of faded hues. The primary acrylic is tinted with chalky white gesso.
Untitled # 12, acrylic and color pencil on canvas 183 x 183 cm painted in 1981, was sold for $ 5.7M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2019, lot 18.
1983 # 6
2016 SOLD for $ 6.7M by Christie's
On November 15, 2016, Christie's sold for $ 6.7M an acrylic and graphite 183 x 183 cm painted by Martin in 1983, lot 13 A. This opus consists of ten identical gray rectangles, equidistant and of equal width on a lighter gray background whose brightness has been carefully crafted.
Untitled # 7, acrylic and graphite on canvas 183 x 183 cm painted in 1984, was sold for $ 5.7M by Christie's on May 17, 2018, lot 49 B.
Untitled # 7, acrylic and graphite on canvas 183 x 183 cm painted in 1984, was sold for $ 5.7M by Christie's on May 17, 2018, lot 49 B.
1985 # 11
2022 SOLD for $ 6.4M by Sotheby's
The Untitled # 11 of 1985 by Agnes Martin, acrylic on canvas 183 x 183 cm, reaches a high luminescence by the reduced palette of a gray just interrupted by a regular pattern of lighter gray horizontal lines.
This minimalist large size opus was sold for $ 6.4M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2022, lot 14 in the second sale of the Macklowe collection. In a close inspection, each line appears as unique by the hand made hesitations in the pencil mark.
This minimalist large size opus was sold for $ 6.4M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2022, lot 14 in the second sale of the Macklowe collection. In a close inspection, each line appears as unique by the hand made hesitations in the pencil mark.
1999-2000
2022 SOLD for $ 6.1M by Christie's
A deteriorating health caused Agnes Martin to move to an assisted living facility in Taos in 1993, aged 81.
Restarting her experiments with faint colors, she was able to bring a deep impression of peace and happiness in her fully abstract paintings while maintaining her signature style of regular horizontal stripes drawn with the imperfections of hand application.
The uneven surface of a gesso ground imbues the paint with a unique spatial depth and luminosity. When her thinned acrylic is applied to the chalky white primer, the colors both absorb and reflect the light in an increased radiance, seeming to emit light from within.
She said : “The value of art is in the observer. When you find out what you like, you’re really finding out about yourself. Beethoven’s music is joyous. If you like his music, you know that you like to be joyful. People who look at my painting say that it makes them happy, like the feeling when you wake up in the morning. And happiness is the goal, isn’t it?”
She also said : "I want people, when they look at my paintings, to have the same feelings they experience when they look at a landscape so I never protest when they say my work is like a landscape. But it’s really about a feeling of beauty and freedom, that you experience in a landscape”.
An Untitled acrylic and graphite on canvas 152 x 152 cm painted ca 1999-2000 was made of broad diaphanous stripes, only discernable in close up inspection. For example, an innovative reddy-pink hue is created by mixing a blend of pink with a tinge of warmer orange.
It was sold for £ 2.84M by Sotheby's on October 15, 2015, lot 7 and for $ 6.1M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 18 in the sale of the Paul G. Allen collection.
Restarting her experiments with faint colors, she was able to bring a deep impression of peace and happiness in her fully abstract paintings while maintaining her signature style of regular horizontal stripes drawn with the imperfections of hand application.
The uneven surface of a gesso ground imbues the paint with a unique spatial depth and luminosity. When her thinned acrylic is applied to the chalky white primer, the colors both absorb and reflect the light in an increased radiance, seeming to emit light from within.
She said : “The value of art is in the observer. When you find out what you like, you’re really finding out about yourself. Beethoven’s music is joyous. If you like his music, you know that you like to be joyful. People who look at my painting say that it makes them happy, like the feeling when you wake up in the morning. And happiness is the goal, isn’t it?”
She also said : "I want people, when they look at my paintings, to have the same feelings they experience when they look at a landscape so I never protest when they say my work is like a landscape. But it’s really about a feeling of beauty and freedom, that you experience in a landscape”.
An Untitled acrylic and graphite on canvas 152 x 152 cm painted ca 1999-2000 was made of broad diaphanous stripes, only discernable in close up inspection. For example, an innovative reddy-pink hue is created by mixing a blend of pink with a tinge of warmer orange.
It was sold for £ 2.84M by Sotheby's on October 15, 2015, lot 7 and for $ 6.1M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 18 in the sale of the Paul G. Allen collection.
2001 Early Morning Happiness
2022 SOLD for $ 9.9M by Sotheby's
Agnes Martin never got rid of her creative meditation. In her old age, she manages to reach the deep meaning of nature and light through the merging of rich pale colors, without taking any care to the lines of a landscape. Her personal approach to Zen had for long cancelled the objects.
An acrylic on canvas 152 x 152 cm painted in 2001, joyfully titled Early Morning Happiness, was sold for $ 9.9M from a lower estimate of $ 2.5M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2022, lot 3. The use of a title describing her emotion is a rare come back to her early practice.
This opus is made of parallel horizontal bands alternating the pale yellow and clear blue of sand and sky in the New Mexico desert at dawn, painted on a luminescent white gesso ground. The supporting graphite lines are voluntarily imperfect.
Aged 89 at that time, she is a rare example of an artist who had been able to make the very long journey from mental disorder to a joyfully shared contemplative serenity.
An Untitled painted in 2003 in same technique and size in yellow, blue and rocky red was sold for $ 4.7M by Christie's on November 15, 2017, lot 14 B. This opus is made of parallel horizontal bands of pale yellow, clear blue of the sky and rocky red of the desert.
Agnes Martin stated that she likes the ocean better than the mountains. In 2003 the elderly artist shares that feeling in her Untitled #6. The composition is very simple, with two hues of blue in three large stripes and four smaller separated by the usual thin graphite lines. The three darker represents the ocean and the four lighter a dense rain over it. This acrylic on canvas 152 x 152 cm was sold for $ 3.7M by Christie's on November 19, 2024, lot 44A.
An acrylic on canvas 152 x 152 cm painted in 2001, joyfully titled Early Morning Happiness, was sold for $ 9.9M from a lower estimate of $ 2.5M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2022, lot 3. The use of a title describing her emotion is a rare come back to her early practice.
This opus is made of parallel horizontal bands alternating the pale yellow and clear blue of sand and sky in the New Mexico desert at dawn, painted on a luminescent white gesso ground. The supporting graphite lines are voluntarily imperfect.
Aged 89 at that time, she is a rare example of an artist who had been able to make the very long journey from mental disorder to a joyfully shared contemplative serenity.
An Untitled painted in 2003 in same technique and size in yellow, blue and rocky red was sold for $ 4.7M by Christie's on November 15, 2017, lot 14 B. This opus is made of parallel horizontal bands of pale yellow, clear blue of the sky and rocky red of the desert.
Agnes Martin stated that she likes the ocean better than the mountains. In 2003 the elderly artist shares that feeling in her Untitled #6. The composition is very simple, with two hues of blue in three large stripes and four smaller separated by the usual thin graphite lines. The three darker represents the ocean and the four lighter a dense rain over it. This acrylic on canvas 152 x 152 cm was sold for $ 3.7M by Christie's on November 19, 2024, lot 44A.
