On a clear day, #1 1973

Agnes Martin made this subtle grid, called On a clear day, #1, with ink on a sheet of Japanese paper. Look closely. The lines aren't solid, are they? They seem to hover. What I love about Martin’s work is the way she balances control and chance. You can see it here in the slightly wavering lines, and the delicate color that’s barely there. The grid is a structure, but within that structure, there's a lot of room for the unexpected. It’s like she's trying to find a way to map out a feeling. I often think about how her work relates to Sol LeWitt, another artist who used grids and lines in a similar way. But where LeWitt's work is cool and mathematical, Martin's is always so warm and human, even in its restraint. For both artists, the grid becomes a kind of stage for the exploration of pure space, line, and tone, but with different effect. And that to me is the magic of art.