Happy Holiday
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? 2009 Agnes Martin / DACS

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Happy Holiday 1999
  • Artist Rooms
Agnes Martin's spare, geometric compositions have drawn comparison with the work of Minimalist artists. However, Martin maintained that her paintings were concerned with the inner emotional world, searching for a perfection which was impossible to achieve, combined with the desire for contentment and serenity. The artist wrote that all her work, ?is about perfection as we are aware of it in our minds but that the paintings are very far from being perfect ? completely removed in fact ? even as we ourselves are.? This is one of a series of paintings from the 1990s in which the artist used titles to evoke happy memories from the past.

Glossary Open

Composition

The arrangement of different elements in a work of art.

Minimalism

An art movement of the 1960s onwards, primarily in sculpture. It was in part a reaction against the flamboyance of Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism. It is characterised by a lack of expressiveness and the use of simple forms, often in repetition.

Composition, Minimalism

Details

  • Acc. No. AR00179
  • Medium Acrylic and graphite on canvas
  • Size 152.40 x 152.40 cm
  • Credit ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008

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