Untitled #4

Martin is known for paintings in which she combined delicate, transparent washes of paint with lightly drawn pencil grids, a practice she developed in the 1960s and would continue to explore thereafter. Untitled #4 demonstrates these techniques as well as her devotion to capturing the tension between a rigid structure and the hand-crafted. The precise pattern of repeated horizontal lines of this canvas is modulated by the slight wavering created by drawing across the bumpy woven canvas. These subtle contrasts demand close observation and contemplation, which Martin intended to heighten viewers’ attention to their surroundings.Martin developed this practice during a critical moment in her career, as a central member of New York’s circle of abstract artists. In 1957, she had moved to Coenties Slip in lower Manhattan, where she was part of a dynamic arts community. Her studio neighbors included Ellsworth Kelly, whose works are on view around the corner.