About the author: Kate delves into the mystical realms of art and esotericism. With a Master's in Western Esotericism, her work highlights overlooked dimensions in art history, especially women’s contributions.
Agnes Bernice Martin, a pioneer of minimalist and abstract art, occupies a place in modern art history not only for her visual contributions, but also for the depth in her work. Born in 1912 in Canada, Martin moved to New York in 1932, where she developed her signature style – grids and bands of muted colour.
Her art, though seemingly simple, creates meditative spaces that evoke spirituality, joy, clearness, and transcendence. It is calming to stand in front of them as they transport you to a pale blue plane. She famously said, “I paint with my back to the world,” emphasising her pursuit of beauty and innocence over material existence. Martin believed that art must stem from inspiration, and for decades she painted what may seem to be the same thing – a structure with subtle changes, soft yet powerful.
Martin shared her early career with prominent artists like Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Ellsworth Kelly.
She distanced herself from the art world in the 1960s. Despite her success, Martin was ambivalent about fame and left the art scene to live in isolation in Cuba, New Mexico. She built her house by hand and did not paint until 1971. That year, curator Douglas Crimp organised her first solo, non-commercial exhibition. Martin lectured, wrote, and eventually painted again, leading her to connect with Pace Gallery, whose founder Arne Glimcher became her lifelong dealer. Her grids evolved to only horizontal or vertical lines, and her palette of grey and brown shifted to calm stripes of pale pink, blue, and yellow, evoking the state of infantile bliss.
Her 1958 solo show at Betty Parsons Gallery linked her to abstract expressionism and minimalism, followed by major retrospectives like the 1973 ICA Philadelphia and 1992 Whitney Museum shows. Internationally, her 1994 Stedelijk Museum and 2000 Menil Collection exhibitions broadened her recognition. A highlight was the 2015-2017 retrospective, which travelled to institutions like Tate Modern and the Guggenheim. Her legacy continues with exhibitions like Pace Gallery’s 2023 show, affirming her lasting influence. For collectors, understanding Martin’s spiritual and minimalist approach offers appreciation of her works’ intrinsic value. Her rejection of commercialism and focus on concepts like joy and beauty elevate her paintings beyond material worth. Contemporary artists continue to draw inspiration from her, adding historical significance to her art and establishing her as one of the cornerstones in modern art.
Despite being labelled a minimalist, Agnes Martin associated herself with abstract expressionism. Martin stated: “My work is about emotion… Not personal emotion, abstract emotion.” While minimalism focused on geometric forms and reduction, Martin’s work introduced meditative depth, creating tranquil spaces for reflection. Her grids and muted colours exemplify a blend of abstraction, minimalism, expressionism, and spirituality. Martin’s use of colour relates back to Kandinsky’s Concerning the Spiritual in Art, which explores links between colour and emotion. Martin’s delicate grids are not just repetitive patterns, but deliberate, meticulous creations reflecting a belief in process and the spiritual nature of art. She spent hours constructing each line by hand, forming a meditative space for the viewer. Pencil marks waver slightly, adding a human element that vibrates through her work. Their wavering creates a buzzing feeling, inviting the mind to wander. This meditative quality makes her work difficult to reproduce in print, adding to the subtlety that sets her apart.
Her works often carried positive names, reflective of her philosophy. For Martin, painting and creation were spiritual journeys. She believed one must eradicate thought and create from “the place beneath.” Images of her work would come to her in visions, which she would faithfully create on a larger scale. This links her to psychic automatism, bridging geometric abstraction with inner visions explored by Abstract Expressionist peers. Martin liked to view her art as part of an ancient lineage, drawing parallels to Egyptian, Greek, and Chinese cultures. Her geometry embodied American transcendentalism, Buddhist, and Taoist interests, linking her work to an older, universal essence of beauty and contemplation. She described her paintings as formless, aiming to create “a world without objects, without interruption… or obstacle.” This merging of formlessness and bliss, however, was not without struggle. Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, Martin experienced auditory hallucinations, catatonic states, and depression. Yet these experiences seemed separate from the inspirations she believed guided her artistic process.
Martin had close relationships with several women, including artist Lenore Tawney and sculptor Chryssa. While she often kept private about her identity, her beliefs were integral to her work. Martin saw her creative process as psychic automatism, where her lines mirrored thought, not material conditions. She believed inspiration was universal, accessible to anyone with a clear mind.
Martin’s spiritual minimalism has left a lasting impact on contemporary art and art collecting, resonating strongly in today’s art world. Artists like Emma Kunz and Agnes Pelton, like Martin, delve into the spiritual through abstraction. Kunz believed her works had healing properties, while Pelton used light and colour to evoke transcendence, echoing Martin’s quiet, contemplative aesthetic. More recently, many artists have expanded on this intersection of spirituality and minimalism. Harminder Judge uses visual art, sculpture, and performance to explore identity and spirituality. Judge draws from his Indian heritage and personal spiritual experiences to create art that resonates with both clarity and depth, mirroring Martin’s approach of revealing the essence. His process, layering pigments into wet plaster and excavating through sanding, polishing, and oiling, culminates in modular panels with ethereal shapes that appear to float, where colours and compositions gradually emerge and deepen over time.
Many other contemporary artists share affinities with Martin. Ellsworth Kelly’s bold geometric shapes similarly embrace simplicity, using form and colour. Barnett Newman uses colour blocks and subtle shade changes to represent transcendence. Anni Albers, through her meticulous grid-like textiles, offers contemplation, with colour variations inviting the mind to wander. Yayoi Kusama explores infinity and immersion through repetition, much like Martin’s grids. Brice Marden, influenced by Zen Buddhism, draws parallels with Martin in his gestural works that seek higher understanding.
Martin believed her greatest work stemmed from happiness, a topic she frequently explored. “The goal of life is happiness, and responding to life as if it were perfect is the path to achieving that happiness,” she said during a 1987 lecture. “This approach also leads to positive artwork.” She encouraged artists to reflect on happiness by asking, “What kind of happiness do I feel when I listen to this music or look at this picture?” She suggested that this joy could be foundational, offering insight into themselves.
With retrospectives like the recent one at Tate Modern and comprehensive studies of her work, Martin’s legacy is more prominent than ever. Her art, whether viewed in a museum or a private collection, continues to offer viewers a space to encounter the infinite, transforming the act of looking into a spiritual experience. Martin tells us, “beauty is unattached – it’s inspiration.”