Agnes Martin, the great American minimalist painter, once told a story about coming out of the hills onto the vast plains
near Tulsa and feeling relief. She was captivated by the expanse, simplicity and impact of the landscape’s single horizonal line. She recounts that the more she drew that line the happier she became and in her own words just “went to town on that horizontal line.” The piece shown here, untitled #2, completed in 1985, was a part of this singular obsession. I have always been drawn to Martin’s work; it has afforded me profound experiences that align with her simple, elegant story
I regret not having the resources to personally own one of Martin’s works, so I
must experience her paintings when visiting museums. Museums can be overwhelming environments. Even a modest collection can exhaust the most seasoned art enthusiast — so much to see and process. As a strategy to cope with this overload, I will often limit myself to viewing and pondering two or three works per visit. This requires some discipline — like knowing when to stop gorging yourself at a lavish, all-you-can-eat buffet. Martin’s work has always provided a relief from the forest of artwork vying for my attention. Her work is a welcome, comforting, calming reprieve that allows me to re-center — a cleansing of the palate.
This is very interesting thank you for sharing. Next time I am at a museum I will try that technique for myself.
The idea of personal discipline and all-you-can-eat buffets seems like a juxtaposition of unmanageable proportions!
Still, I value the idea of an “emotional/intellectual cleansing of the palate.”
Thanks for relaying this story behind Martin’s work!
So true, how much more rewarding it is to spend quality time with a few works, when gallery-going, than to superficially breeze through the whole place.