Agnes Martin

Agnes Martin (1912-2004) was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, but eventually lived and painted in Taos, NM, from 1952-1957 and from 1973 onward. Once the Agnes Martin Gallery was added on to the Harwood Museum, Taos, NM, Martin herself took great joy in sitting often in this gallery of her own seven paintings. The original Harwood Museum complex was comprised of a number of small adobe buildings that artists Burt and Elizabeth Harwood developed into their own beautiful home and public library for Taos beginning in 1916. The Harwoods were part of the significant movement of artists to northern New Mexico in the early part of the 20th century in pursuit of a true form of American art. They were influenced by the beauty of this high desert and mountainous region with its spectacular lighting and by the area’s defining Native American and Hispanic cultures.