Agnes MARTIN (1912-2004) (page in reconstruction)
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Women artists Art by women ca 1960
Chronology : 1974 1980 1984
See also : Women artists Art by women ca 1960
Chronology : 1974 1980 1984
1964 The Beach
2013 SOLD for $ 6.5M 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 or Robert Ryman.
She later commented : "The value of art is in the observer. People who look at my painting say that it makes them happy. And happiness is the goal, isn’t it ?".
Her technique is repetitive and meticulous : on a canvas painted in monochrome oil, superseded after 1964 by acrylic, she draws a set of colored rectangles in a single repeating pattern from top to bottom, too thin at a distance for the naked eye but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.
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 clearly visible and reinforced with nails.
The Beach, oil and pencil on canvas 190 x 190 cm painted 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 seaside.
She later commented : "The value of art is in the observer. People who look at my painting say that it makes them happy. And happiness is the goal, isn’t it ?".
Her technique is repetitive and meticulous : on a canvas painted in monochrome oil, superseded after 1964 by acrylic, she draws a set of colored rectangles in a single repeating pattern from top to bottom, too thin at a distance for the naked eye but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.
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 clearly visible and reinforced with nails.
The Beach, oil and pencil on canvas 190 x 190 cm painted 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 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.
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.
1981 #12
2019 SOLD for $ 5.7M by Sotheby's
Untitled # 12, acrylic and color pencil on canvas 183 x 183 cmpainted in 1981, was sold for $ 5.7M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2019, lot 18.
1982 # II
2017 SOLD for $ 5M by Christie's
Untitled II, acrylic and graphite on canvas 183 x 183 cm painted in 1982, was sold for $ 5M from a lower estimate of $ 2.5M by Christie's on May 17, 2017, lot 29 B.
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 made in the next phase of her career, in 1983, lot 13 A.
This untitled opus consists of ten identical gray rectangles, equidistant and of equal width on a lighter gray background whose brightness has been carefully crafted.
This untitled opus consists of ten identical gray rectangles, equidistant and of equal width on a lighter gray background whose brightness has been carefully crafted.
1984 # 7
2018 SOLD for $ 5.7M by Christie's
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 Mountain Flowers
2020 SOLD for $ 5.2M by Sotheby's
Montain Flowers I, acryloc and graphite on canvas 183 x 183 cm, was sold for $ 5.2M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Sotheby's on June 29, 2001, lot 4.
