Untitled

This untitled drawing is an exemplar of Brice Marden’s long-standing interest in exploring the spatial and structural properties of the rectangle. It also demonstrates his penchant for combining gestural mark making with a rigid geometric framework. Marden first gained notice in the mid-1960s with a succession of luminous monochromatic paintings and grid-patterned drawings that explored the expressive potential of color, light, and surface. Blending painterly tactility, a subdued palette, and formal restraint, these abstract works possessed a lyricism and subtlety that contrasted with the cool, emotionally detached style of his Minimalist contemporaries. Gestural marks impart a frenetic energy reminiscent of works by “action painters” of the Abstract Expressionist school. The composition is bordered by untouched paper calculated to establish spatial balance and a harmonious whole.