Brice Marden, an abstract painter who revolutionized the art form when it was deemed stagnant, has passed away at the age of 84. His daughter Mirabelle Marden announced his death on Instagram, stating that he died on Wednesday at his home in Tivoli, New York.
In her Instagram post, Mirabelle wrote, “He was fortunate to have lived a long life doing what he loved.” She mentioned that he continued painting until just a few days before his passing.
Marden’s commitment to abstraction was unwavering. When asked if he had ever wanted to paint figuratively, his response was a simple “No.” However, he drew inspiration from figurative artists.
While other painters were attempting to break free from traditional boundaries, Marden focused on reinventing the medium. “People were saying ‘painting is dead’,” he explained. “It was my way of showing what can still be done.” He regarded rectangles as “a great human invention.”
In his first solo show in 1966 at New York’s Bykert Gallery, Marden used flat monochromes in muted colors. The Metropolitan Museum of Art described them as having an “indeterminate color characteristic,” with drips and brushstrokes that demonstrated gravity and the artist’s labor.
During that time, Marden lived a bohemian lifestyle and associated with Greenwich Village’s troubadours and poets. At the Bykert show, he paid homage to Bob Dylan with a bruised purple monochrome and to Nico with a tawny blond canvas.
As Marden’s painting evolved, he explored different minimalist styles. In 1984, he broke away from monochromes and began creating deceptively simple yet intricately reworked swirls of paint, often influenced by eastern calligraphy.
His Cold Mountain paintings series from 1989 to 1991 drew inspiration from Tang dynasty poet Hanshan. Each painting began as a landscape and gradually transformed into an abstract impression.
Marden’s unique approach to abstraction earned him recognition as a flame-keeper of radical abstraction, comparable to Giorgio Morandi. His artworks were known for their extraordinary beauty and meticulous craftsmanship, commanding high prices.
Acknowledging the abstraction challenge posed by artists like Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, Marden paid tribute to them, highlighting their contributions to the concept of reality in painting.
In 2017, Marden exhibited at the Gagosian Gallery in London and returned to monochromes. He described the process as repeatedly applying the same color, but each time resulting in a different experience of light and color. To him, it was a way of harnessing and communicating the powers of the earth.
Born on October 15, 1938, in Bronxville, New York, Marden studied at the Boston University School of Fine and Applied Arts. He later attended the Yale School of Art alongside notable artists like Chuck Close, Robert Mangold, and Richard Serra.
During his retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 2006, Marden explained how he knew when a painting was finished. He would stop when he felt he had put everything he could into the artwork and when it took on a life of its own, becoming something entirely new and exhilarating to him.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
