New discourse on four decades of painting by one of the 20th century’s most influential artists

Gorgeously quiet in color and composition, Agnes Martin’s paintings have a distinctive grace that sets them apart from those of the Abstract Expressionists of her day and the Minimalist artists she inspired. Martin attributed her grid-based works to metaphysical motivations, lending a serene complexity to her oeuvre that has defied any easy categorization. Perhaps for this reason, critical and scholarly analysis of her paintings has been scarce-until now. This important new anthology brings together the most current scholarship on Martin’s paintings by twelve multidisciplinary essayists who consider various aspects of the artist’s four-decade career.

Organized by Dia Art Foundation, whose extensive holdings of Martin’s paintings and ambitions to support in-depth research on the works are unparalleled, the publication brings renewed focus and energy to Martin’s career and her contributions to the art historical narrative.