Living Modern Artist...
Oran G. Tang
Agnes Martin, in her 92nd year! And she still
paints at least 3 hours every day. Only concession
to age has been a reduction of her famous square
canvases from 6 ft to 5 ft and the use of a stool
to sit on instead of standing up to work.
I like her quip about the prices her paintings
command these days: "You can get two for a million."
(that's as in million dollars).
If there ever was a female counterpart to Mark
Rothko, it has to be Martin. Her paintings are
more formal and rigid than Rothko's "square" works,
but they are just as stark, cold, and unrelenting
in their minimalism - IMO!
You can find a warm insightful article about Martin
in the November issue of New Mexico magazine. Yes,
I know, it's not an art magazine that's widely
available, but perhaps a web version will emerge soon.
The author is Linda Mason Hunter of Des Moines, Iowa.
For the female contingent of RAF out there, and
particularly for Nerdgerl, I think the article on
Martin should be inspiring. It certainly makes me
stop and think when considering that Martin has
been painting for 60 years the same formal and
frequently austere canvases.
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/martin_agnes.html
This web site has links to images of some of her
works, but copyright restrictions apparently prevent
other works from being shown. You can find good
biographical information on some of the links.
"Flying_Naked_People" <
news:3f88...@news.zianet.com...
> For the female contingent of RAF out there, and
> particularly for Nerdgerl, I think the article on
> Martin should be inspiring. It certainly makes me
> stop and think when considering that Martin has
> been painting for 60 years the same formal and
> frequently austere canvases.
Thanks for the thought and the link, however (aw... you knew it was coming!) I
don't understand why someone would paint SQuaReS for 60 years!
Oran G. Tang
<http://www.rcip.com/nerdgerl/email.htm says...
>Thanks for the thought and the link, however (aw... you knew it was coming!) I
>don't understand why someone would paint SQuaReS for 60 years!
That's the beauty of her art, IMO.
When you can understand people like her,
and their persistence, centeredness, etc.
then you're on your way to understanding
yourself, I suspect. It's so totally alien
to most of us, I think,
that we end up admiring the artist AND
her work, once we understand where
she's coming from by comparing her life style
and philosophy to our own.
DNALJM
>I
>don't understand why someone would paint SQuaReS for 60 years!
>
>
It would be hard for her to admit she was a fraud who couldn't draw in the
geriatric ward, wouldn't it? Maybe her grandkids get to roll around in all the
money.
Jane
http://www.geocities.com/teslathemothgod
Competent art done cheaply without the scam