Agnes MartinLife & Work

While Agnes Martin (1912–2004) is often identified as an important postwar American artist, her roots are decidedly Canadian. She was born in Macklin, Saskatchewan, the third of four children, and lived briefly in Alberta before moving with her family to Vancouver, where she completed high school.

Agnes Martin: Life & Work explores the life, origins, and art of one of the most internationally celebrated painters to emerge from this country. It reveals how Martin gained renown in the male-dominated art world of the 1950s and 1960s, becoming a pivotal figure between two of the era’s dominant movements: Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism. Delving into Martin’s signature style composed of tranquil grids and stripes, the book investigates the origin of Martin’s method, which she perfected over the better part of four decades, following her belief in the transformative power of art. “I would like [my pictures] to represent beauty, innocence, and happiness,” said Martin. “I would like them all to represent that. Exaltation.”