Grove Group III 1973

Brice Marden’s *Grove Group III* is a painting of three vertical colour fields, each one subtly different. Looking at it, I get the sense that painting, for Marden, is a kind of alchemy – a process of layering and mixing until something unexpected happens. Up close, you can see the materiality of the paint, maybe oil and wax, built up in thin, transparent layers. It’s not about a perfect surface, but more about the history of its making. Look closely at the middle panel, where the pale colour seems to glow from within, it's like Marden has trapped light itself inside the paint. Marden reminds me of Agnes Martin, who was another master of quiet abstraction. Like Martin, he shows us that less can be more, that a simple gesture or colour can hold a whole world of feeling. And in the end, that's what art is all about – finding new ways to see, think, and feel.