Brice Marden
Arbeitsbücher
(work books)
02 July – 24 August 1997
The illustrated work books of Brice Marden, born in 1938, have never been the subject of an exhibition before. The drawings contained therein, with their unparalleled abundance and quality, testify to the continuous development of the artistic design of the painter's work, who also has to be regarded as one of the most important draftsmen of his generation. Starting from the early studies for monochrome paintings from the sixties, the arch spanned over a large number of papers, which are nourished by the immediate impression of nature (landscapes, tree forms, sea, etc.), up to the works of the eighties and nineties. In these there dominates something calligraphic, meditative, which reflects Marden's intensive involvement with Far Eastern cultures. Marden's drawings in the intimate dimensions of the sketchbook are testimonials to the ascetic and silent art exercise of a highly sensitive mind, who is able to creatively reflect on the foundations of abstract autonomous art with rigor and poetry.
This exhibition was organized by the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich.