Agnes Martin: On Beauty

by Agnes Martin (Artist)

72 pages, Hardcover

Published March 24, 2026

Reviews

[Carissa]

Exceptional

[victoria marie]

You can't think "My life is more important than the work" and get the work. You have to think the work is paramount in your life. An artist's life is adventurous. One new thing after another. (39)

[Leticia]

While I think that I technically agree with the artist’s philosophy, the idea that someone experiences poverty or suffering because they are unable to want more out of life really rubbed me the wrong way. The artist’s lack of nuance for the inevitability of human suffering and consistent emphasis on having “negative” feelings as “not being alive” is a reflection of the privileged position they hold in society as a white woman. That being said I am actually a fan of their work as an abstract painter. What I will take away from this book is the feeling of a constant thread connecting artists throughout history, this ability to see the world for what it is, in all its beauty.

[Michael]

Bought this at the lacma this genuinely changed my life and is going to make me start acting in ways a lot of people aren’t going to like