1 May 2023
Once the desire to copy and replicate the external world, or the visible reality, had been wholly satisfied with the invention of photography by the mid-19th century, the need for the pictorial aspect of painting was abandoned. However, artists were not yet ready to ditch the visible reality altogether. Initially, abstract artists held on to the geometrical shapes, refusing to turn their backs to the cognitive aspect of our 3D reality. In time, this survival impulse gave way to gestural brush strokes, though the challenge to depict the unseen in a seen reality remained. After all, as human beings, we are imprisoned by our five senses. Therefore, we can only utilize what can be perceived by these senses to create art. In a way, abstract art is the search for an escape out of this imprisonment.
Impressionism, post-impressionism and cubism all led to the idea that art can be non-representative. Artists began to focus on representing the inner state of being, as well as spirituality. With the development of color theory, which led to the color theory of emotions, art became a tool to express thoughts, feelings and emotions, making the invisible visible through symbolic correspondences (Wright). The challenges of depicting this invisible reality with the visible colors, shapes and lines in place, abstract artists set forth to produce abstract expressionism. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, these trials kept the artists of abstract expressionism creatively occupied, resulting in some of the most inventive and original art-making techniques and styles.
Agnes Martin, Untitled, 1953, via Harwood Museum of Art, Taos
One of those extraordinary artists was Agnes Martin who stated that her paintings were not about what is seen, but about what is known forever in the mind. Born in 1912 in Macklin, Saskatchewan Canada, Martin is considered a leading figure in the Abstract Expressionism movement, and was a prolific artist, making art until the last few months before her death at the age of 92. She is said to have had a difficult childhood, losing her father when she was only two years old, and not feeling genuinely loved by her authoritarian mother who Martin considered was emotionally abusive. Despite struggling with schizophrenia for much of her life, she eventually seemed to find a balance between the practical realities of life and her inner world. In 1941, she moved to New York City to study fine arts at the Teachers College, Columbia University (Laing), and remained in New York until the summer of 1967 when she abruptly left the city to move to New Mexico.
Author Henry Martin (no relation) notes in his new biography of the artist; “her being poor while struggling to make it as a New York artist — particularly as a woman, a lesbian, and an immigrant — was not particularly romantic. Her successes, in that regard, and the fact that she was dealing with debilitating mental illness, seem all the more compelling” (Abatemarco). After being exposed to Zen Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies while studying in Columbia, Martin’s art began to reflect the soothing yet disciplined nature of these teachings. She painted recurrent grids over luminous layers that appear to be whispering repeated mantras of peace and calm, and the fixed determination needed to maintain these states. Initially reflecting the influence of the Color Field Theory, minimalist principles of Buddhism emerged in her later pieces of warmer palettes. She believed in reincarnation and causeless joy and insisted that her paintings depict “not what is seen” (Lot Essay). Her mathematical grids show a steady progression away from external reference into the internal experience.
Painter Jay Meuser said the following about abstract expressionism: “It is far better to capture the glorious spirit of the sea than to paint all of its tiny ripples” (Rise Art). Contradicting Meuser, Martin’s grid paintings captured the spiritual essence of physical reality with their tiny lines and dots. She made paintings that spoke the language of the metaphysical matrix. She was not concerned with the ideas of the outer world, to the extent that she did not read any newspapers, despite being an avid reader of mystery novels. She was adamant that personal experience had nothing to do with her works, that they did not embrace ideas, and certainly not personal emotions or biographical elements. She said, “My paintings are about merging, about formlessness ... A world without objects, without interruption.” (Laing) None of her art came from pure intellect.
Martin has achieved depiction of the intangible and spiritual in her art, without fanfare or pretense. She said she waited for it -the download-, sometimes for weeks. She allowed her art to come through by rasping the control of the incessant intellect, despite constantly hearing voices from the abyss. This is a feat worthy of herculean proportions that can only be accomplished by unique souls such as the Nobel Prize winner economist John Nash who also battled with schizophrenia yet was able to attain enormous success. She managed to transcend the material reality into the sublime, despite not naming it God, she said her secret religion was love (Guggenheim).
Though she has been portrayed in the media as an isolated hermit, more recent accounts of her life reveal her role as a generous philanthropist who was involved with the local communities around her, in Cuba and later Galisteo, where she donated funds for improving local facilities, while giving generously to charities for supporting disadvantaged youths and victims of violence (Laing).
In conclusion, Agnes Martin has demonstrated that the essence of her art comes from the spectral. as opposed to material reality. Combining her strong formal art education with her personal philosophy of life, she has left us her divine and resounding art to contemplate. As author Deborah Barlow said, Martin made mystery a solid object. Martin says of her work, “I’m hoping that people, when they respond to them, will realize that…their lives are broader than they think” (Regimbal). She was a fan of American novelist, poet, playwright Gertrude Stein (Steinke). I believe this line of Stein expresses the axiom of Agnes Martin’s art with absolute perfection, “There is no there there”.
From the book “The User Illusion” by Tor Norretranders, quoting professor John A. Wheeler. To learn about Wheeler,, click on the link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Archibald_Wheeler
Works Cited
Wright, Angela. “How It Works. What exactly is colour psychology?” Colour Affects Website. Accessed on 17 April, 2023.
Abatemarco, Michael. “The dimensions of the artist: A new book on Agnes Martin explores her depth.” Pasatiempo, The Santafe NewMecan Website. Published on 16 March, 2018 Updated Mar 16, 2018.
Guggenheim. “Agnes Martin Speaks about Emotion and Art.” Published on 17 Nov., 2016. The audio excerpts track was published on the occasion of the exhibition Agnes Martin, on view at the Guggenheim October 7, 2016–January 11, 2017.
Laing, Olivia. “Agnes Martin: the artist mystic who disappeared into the desert.” The Guardian Newspaper. Published in the Art and Design Segment on 22 May, 2015.
Lot Essay. “Post War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale. New York: Christie's.” Agnes Martin, Untitled #1 (1989). 12 November, 2008. Accessed on 19 April, 2023.
Regimbal, Christopher. “Agnes Martin Life and Work.” Significance and Critical Issues page in Art Canada Institute Website. Accessed on 20 April, 2023.
Rise Art. “What is Abstract Art? The Complete Guide.” Accessed on 21 April, 2023.
Steinke, Darcey. “Please Pretend That I am Dead.” Darcey Steinke on the Long, Complicated Life of Painter Agnes Martin.” Lit Hub Website. 7 Dec., 2022
Further Readings
Concerning the Spiritual in Art by Wassily Kandinsky (Author), M. T. H. Sadler (Translator)
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