Avrutun
Brice Marden
American, 1938–2023
1971
A two-panel oil-and-wax painting in which Brice Marden pares painting down to two quiet color fields—pale yellow above cool gray-blue—using wax and delicate brushwork to make minimal color feel tactile and meditative.
What first strikes you is the simple vertical stack and the thin, slightly ragged seam between the fields, the soft, rubbed edges and waxy sheen that reveal faint brush traces and make the color feel alive rather than flat.
Made in 1971, the work exemplifies Marden’s move from hard-edge Minimalism toward a lyrical, process-focused abstraction that showed how restrained color and surface could convey atmosphere and quiet emotional depth.
Medium
Oil and wax on canvas, two panels
Dimensions
6' x 36" (182.9 x 91.4 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Werner and Elaine Dannheisser
Accession
189.1996
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
