Sharon Butler blogs about the Agnes Martin retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, on view through January 11, 2017.

Butler writes: “Martin’s austere paintings, with neutral palette and delicate line, are beautifully installed in the Guggenheim’s warm white ramp. Unlike other artists, Martin didn’t find her voice until she was well past forty and she destroyed most of her early work. A few that survived, reminiscent of Gorky and Motherwell and devoid of the light touch and line work for which she is known, are on view. But for the most part, the show consists of her notoriously plain but moving canvases, in which minimal color and simple, hand-drawn pencil lines quietly carry the emotional content.”