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Her technique is repetitive and meticulous : on a canvas painted in monochrome oil, superseded from before 1967 by acrylic, she draws a set of colored rectangles in a single repeating pattern from top to bottom, too thin at a distance for the naked eye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 Garden
2025 SOLD for $ 17.6M by Sotheby's
The Garden, oil and graphite on canvas 183 x 183 cm executed by Agnes Martin in 1964, was sold for $ 17.6M from a lower estimate of $ 10M for by Sotheby's on November 18, 2025, lot 12.
Asking Grok to compare with The Beach and The Peach.
Grok thought :
Overview
Agnes Martin's The Garden (1964), The Beach (1964), and The Peach (1964) are exemplary works from her pivotal early grid period, a time when she refined her minimalist aesthetic in response to nature's sublime qualities while living in New York. These large-scale square canvases share a reductive visual language of hand-drawn grids on subtle, luminous grounds, evoking emotional and transcendental experiences rather than literal representations. Titles like these often drew from Martin's memories of vast landscapes, emphasizing purity, beauty, and stillness. Artistically, they align with her philosophy of capturing "awareness in the mind" through disciplined abstraction, bridging Abstract Expressionism's emotional depth (e.g., influences from Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman) and a rejection of Minimalism's industrial precision. While highly similar in concept and execution, subtle variations in palette, scale, and optical effects distinguish them. Market-wise, they reflect Martin's rising value over time, with The Beach setting a record in 2013, The Peach achieving a solid result in 2025, and The Garden poised for a potentially strong performance in its upcoming sale.
Medium
Oil and graphite on canvas.
Dimensions
72 x 72 in (182.9 x 182.9 cm) for The Garden and The Peach
75 x 75 in (190.5 x 190.5 cm) for The Beach
Artistic Comparison
These paintings represent Martin's mature grid style developed in the early 1960s, where she employed systematic yet hand-drawn horizontal and vertical lines to create optical veils that dissolve at a distance, fostering a sense of infinite space and emotional resonance. Unlike the bold gestures of her Abstract Expressionist contemporaries or the mechanical forms of Minimalists like Frank Stella, Martin's grids are intimate and imperfect, reflecting her human touch and spiritual influences (e.g., Zen Buddhism and Taoism). She described her work as evoking "simple joy" from nature, without literal forms: "My paintings have neither object nor space nor line nor anything – no forms."
Market Comparison
Martin's market has strengthened significantly since 2013, driven by demand for her 1960s grids. The Beach outperformed its estimate by nearly double, setting a then-record of $6.549 million amid a booming postwar art market. By 2025, The Peach sold near the low end of its estimate at $4.89 million, reflecting a more tempered result possibly due to market cooling or comparable supply. The Garden's higher estimate ($10-15 million) suggests optimism, bolstered by its prestigious Lauder provenance and the artist's elevated status—recent records like Grey Stone II (1961) at $18.72 million in 2023 indicate potential for upside. Factors like size (The Beach's larger format may have contributed to its premium) and exhibition history enhance value, positioning these as blue-chip investments in minimalist abstraction.
Asking Grok to compare with The Beach and The Peach.
Grok thought :
Overview
Agnes Martin's The Garden (1964), The Beach (1964), and The Peach (1964) are exemplary works from her pivotal early grid period, a time when she refined her minimalist aesthetic in response to nature's sublime qualities while living in New York. These large-scale square canvases share a reductive visual language of hand-drawn grids on subtle, luminous grounds, evoking emotional and transcendental experiences rather than literal representations. Titles like these often drew from Martin's memories of vast landscapes, emphasizing purity, beauty, and stillness. Artistically, they align with her philosophy of capturing "awareness in the mind" through disciplined abstraction, bridging Abstract Expressionism's emotional depth (e.g., influences from Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman) and a rejection of Minimalism's industrial precision. While highly similar in concept and execution, subtle variations in palette, scale, and optical effects distinguish them. Market-wise, they reflect Martin's rising value over time, with The Beach setting a record in 2013, The Peach achieving a solid result in 2025, and The Garden poised for a potentially strong performance in its upcoming sale.
Medium
Oil and graphite on canvas.
Dimensions
72 x 72 in (182.9 x 182.9 cm) for The Garden and The Peach
75 x 75 in (190.5 x 190.5 cm) for The Beach
Artistic Comparison
These paintings represent Martin's mature grid style developed in the early 1960s, where she employed systematic yet hand-drawn horizontal and vertical lines to create optical veils that dissolve at a distance, fostering a sense of infinite space and emotional resonance. Unlike the bold gestures of her Abstract Expressionist contemporaries or the mechanical forms of Minimalists like Frank Stella, Martin's grids are intimate and imperfect, reflecting her human touch and spiritual influences (e.g., Zen Buddhism and Taoism). She described her work as evoking "simple joy" from nature, without literal forms: "My paintings have neither object nor space nor line nor anything – no forms."
- Similarities: All three feature subtle grids on large square formats, emphasizing symmetry, purity, and transcendence. They draw from nature's essence--The Garden as a "defining moment" in stillness and emotion ; The Beach evoking ocean waves and sands through muted blues, greys, browns, and whites ; The Peach suggesting a warm, pale veil into a secretive, contemplative world . Compositionally, they use slightly off-square rectangles for dissonance, creating a unified field where parts equal the whole, akin to Martin's Milk River (1963). This shared approach induces "rapt contemplation," aligning with her view of beauty as an eternal mental awareness rather than a physical attribute.
- Differences: The Beach stands out with its slightly larger scale and cooler, oceanic palette, which more explicitly references natural elements like dissolving horizons, potentially offering a more immersive "portal" effect. In contrast, The Peach's warmer tones create a diaphanous, ethereal quality, emphasizing metaphysical ambitions over direct landscape evocation. The Garden lacks detailed color descriptions in available records, but its title implies a verdant or harmonious serenity, positioned as a pinnacle of her 1960s practice. Optically, variations in line density and pressure (e.g., The Beach's quivering lines) add unique vibrations, making each a personal meditation despite the formulaic grid.
Market Comparison
Martin's market has strengthened significantly since 2013, driven by demand for her 1960s grids. The Beach outperformed its estimate by nearly double, setting a then-record of $6.549 million amid a booming postwar art market. By 2025, The Peach sold near the low end of its estimate at $4.89 million, reflecting a more tempered result possibly due to market cooling or comparable supply. The Garden's higher estimate ($10-15 million) suggests optimism, bolstered by its prestigious Lauder provenance and the artist's elevated status—recent records like Grey Stone II (1961) at $18.72 million in 2023 indicate potential for upside. Factors like size (The Beach's larger format may have contributed to its premium) and exhibition history enhance value, positioning these as blue-chip investments in minimalist abstraction.
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.
The Peach was executed with many similarities with The Beach, and the near homophony is possibly not a mere coincidence : same year, 1964, same standardized format 72 x 72 inches of the canvas, structured with the same fully regular rectangular line grid in graphite. The warm monochrome oil painting is here evoking the fruit. It was sold for $ 4.9M by Christie's on May 12, 2025, lot 14A.
In the conception of the artist the rectangular cells of the grid brought a dissonance with the overall square format of the picture.
The Peach was executed with many similarities with The Beach, and the near homophony is possibly not a mere coincidence : same year, 1964, same standardized format 72 x 72 inches of the canvas, structured with the same fully regular rectangular line grid in graphite. The warm monochrome oil painting is here evoking the fruit. It was sold for $ 4.9M by Christie's on May 12, 2025, lot 14A.
In the conception of the artist the rectangular cells of the grid brought a dissonance with the overall square format of the picture.
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.
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.
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.
In her case, moving to the West had been 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.
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.
In her case, moving to the West had been 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.
1995 # 4
2025 SOLD for $ 7.2M by Sotheby'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”.
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”.
The Untitled # 4 of 1995 by Agnes Martin, acrylic and graphite on canvas 152 x 152 cm, was sold for $ 7.2M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2025, lot 17 from the sale of the Lauder collection.
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 $ 6.1M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 18 in the sale of the Paul G. Allen collection.
Asking Grok to compare these two lots.
Grok thought
Agnes Martin Works Compared
Medium
Both : Acrylic and graphite on canvas
Size6
Both : 60 × 60 in. (152.4 × 152.4 cm)
Style/Description
ex Lauder : Classic late-period Agnes Martin: pale, serene horizontal bands in soft tones (typically subtle washes of color like off-white, light blue, and beige with precise graphite lines), evoking tranquility and emotional clarity. This work represents Martin's mature phase of "serene, reconciliatory clarity" after decades of pursuing cosmic order in abstraction.
ex Allen : Late-period horizontal stripes in pale blue, soft apricot, and chalky yellow washes over a light ground; described as joyous and glowing, with rhythmic bands that create a hazy, meditative afterimage effect when viewed up close. From the pinnacle of her career, emphasizing subtle color infusions and precision.
Market Context
ex Lauder : Part of a white-glove (100% sold) Lauder sale totaling $527+ million; late Martins from top collections commanded premiums amid strong demand for her serene abstractions.
ex Allen : Part of the highest-grossing single-owner sale ever ($1.5 billion total); benefited from Allen's tech-billionaire pedigree and focus on female/minimalist masters.
Both paintings are quintessential examples of Agnes Martin's late style (post-1990s), where she refined her signature horizontal bands into even more subtle, luminous compositions—moving away from grids toward stripped-down serenity influenced by Taoism and her New Mexico isolation. The 1995 piece is slightly earlier in this final phase, while the c. 1999–2000 work incorporates marginally warmer, more varied pastel tones (e.g., apricot/yellow accents). Despite similar scales and formats, the 2022 Allen example carried a higher estimate, likely due to its position in the blockbuster $1+ billion sale and slightly later date (closer to Martin's passing in 2004). The 2025 Lauder work, however, overperformed its lower estimate significantly, reflecting sustained or growing appetite for provenanced late Martins from elite collections.
For reference, Agnes Martin's auction record remains around $18.7–$19 million for larger/mid-period grids (e.g., Grey Stone II, 2023), with colorful or transitional works often fetching premiums over monochromatic late stripes.
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 $ 6.1M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 18 in the sale of the Paul G. Allen collection.
Asking Grok to compare these two lots.
Grok thought
Agnes Martin Works Compared
Medium
Both : Acrylic and graphite on canvas
Size6
Both : 60 × 60 in. (152.4 × 152.4 cm)
Style/Description
ex Lauder : Classic late-period Agnes Martin: pale, serene horizontal bands in soft tones (typically subtle washes of color like off-white, light blue, and beige with precise graphite lines), evoking tranquility and emotional clarity. This work represents Martin's mature phase of "serene, reconciliatory clarity" after decades of pursuing cosmic order in abstraction.
ex Allen : Late-period horizontal stripes in pale blue, soft apricot, and chalky yellow washes over a light ground; described as joyous and glowing, with rhythmic bands that create a hazy, meditative afterimage effect when viewed up close. From the pinnacle of her career, emphasizing subtle color infusions and precision.
Market Context
ex Lauder : Part of a white-glove (100% sold) Lauder sale totaling $527+ million; late Martins from top collections commanded premiums amid strong demand for her serene abstractions.
ex Allen : Part of the highest-grossing single-owner sale ever ($1.5 billion total); benefited from Allen's tech-billionaire pedigree and focus on female/minimalist masters.
Both paintings are quintessential examples of Agnes Martin's late style (post-1990s), where she refined her signature horizontal bands into even more subtle, luminous compositions—moving away from grids toward stripped-down serenity influenced by Taoism and her New Mexico isolation. The 1995 piece is slightly earlier in this final phase, while the c. 1999–2000 work incorporates marginally warmer, more varied pastel tones (e.g., apricot/yellow accents). Despite similar scales and formats, the 2022 Allen example carried a higher estimate, likely due to its position in the blockbuster $1+ billion sale and slightly later date (closer to Martin's passing in 2004). The 2025 Lauder work, however, overperformed its lower estimate significantly, reflecting sustained or growing appetite for provenanced late Martins from elite collections.
For reference, Agnes Martin's auction record remains around $18.7–$19 million for larger/mid-period grids (e.g., Grey Stone II, 2023), with colorful or transitional works often fetching premiums over monochromatic late stripes.
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.
