October 12, 2016

Agnes Martin at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, October 7, 2016 – January 11, 2017

“The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum presents a major retrospective of the work of American painter Agnes Martin (1912–2004), the first since her death. One of the preeminent painters of the twentieth century, Martin created subtle and evocative paintings composed of grids and stripes and frequently inscribed with penciled lines. Her canvases significantly influenced artists of her time and subsequent generations. Often associated with Minimalism yet kindred with the Abstract Expressionists, Martin was one of the few prominent female artists to emerge from these prevailingly masculine art movements of the late 1950s and ’60s. This historic survey, the most comprehensive ever mounted, features more than 115 works and traces Martin’s career from her lesser-known paintings of the 1950s to her final canvases of the early 2000s.” — Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

“I want to draw a certain response. . . . Not a specific response but that quality of response from people when they leave themselves behind, often experienced in nature, an experience of simple joy.” — Agnes Martin

 “I would like [my pictures] to represent beauty, innocence and happiness. I would like them all to represent that. Exaltation.”— Agnes Martin

mid-winter_ca1954

Agnes Martin. Mid Winter, ca. 1954. Oil on canvas, 83.8 x 121.9 cm. Taos Municipal Schools Historic Art Collection, New Mexico © 2016 Agnes Martin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

am-untitledca1957

Agnes Martin. Untitled, ca. 1957. Oil and graphite on gypsum board, 121.9 x 182.9 cm. Private collection © 2016 Agnes Martin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

am-buds1959

Agnes Martin. Buds, ca. 1959. Oil on canvas, 127 x 127 cm. Titze Collection © 2016 Agnes Martin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Martin Agnes

Agnes Martin. White Flower, 1960.Oil on canvas, 182.6 x 182.9 cm. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Anonymous gift 63.1653 © 2016 Agnes Martin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

untitled_1960

Agnes Martin. Untitled, 1960. Ink and graphite on paper, 21.6 x 21.6 cm. Courtesy The Elkon Gallery, New York © 2016 Agnes Martin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Agnes Martin

Agnes Martin. Little Sister, 1962. Oil, ink, and brass nails on canvas and wood sheet, 25.1 x 24.2 cm. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Gift, Andrew Powie Fuller and Geraldine Spreckels Fuller Collection 2000.40 © 2016 Agnes Martin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Agnes Martin The Egg, 1963 Ink on paper, 21.6 x 15.2 cm Courtesy The Elkon Gallery, New York

Agnes Martin. The Egg, 1963. Ink on paper, 21.6 x 15.2 cm. Courtesy The Elkon Gallery, New York © 2016 Agnes Martin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

untitled15_1988

Agnes Martin. Untitled #15, 1988. Acrylic paint and graphite on canvas, 182.9 x 182.9 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Gift of The American Art Foundation in honor of Charlotte and Irving Rabb, 1997 © 2016 Agnes Martin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

am-untitled2-1992

Agnes Martin. Untitled #2, 1992. Acrylic and graphite on canvas, 182.9 x 182.9 cm. Private collection © 2016 Agnes Martin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

untitled5_1998

Agnes Martin. Untitled #5, 1998. Acrylic paint and graphite on canvas, 152.4 x 152.4 cm. Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf. Acquired with assistance from the Gesellschaft der Freunde, numerous artists and art dealers and with special support from the guests of the dinner of 3 December 2011 © 2016 Agnes Martin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

am-gratitude2001

Agnes Martin. Gratitude, 2001. Acrylic and graphite on canvas, 152.4 x 152.4 cm. Glimcher Family Collection © 2016 Agnes Martin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

untitled2004

Agnes Martin. Untitled, 2004. Acrylic on canvas, 152.4 x 152.4 cm. Collection of Mitzi and Warren Eisenberg © 2016 Agnes Martin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

agnes-with-level-ladder

Alexander Liberman, Agnes Martin with level and ladder, 1960. Alexander Liberman Photography Archive, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. Photo: © J. Paul Getty Trust.

Agnes Martin is organized by Tate Modern, London, in collaboration with Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The Guggenheim presentation is cocurated by Tiffany Bell, Guest Curator, and Tracey Bashkoff, Senior Curator, Collections and Exhibitions.

Installation photo by David Heald. Images courtesy Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.