“At a certain point, I started looking beyond Western art.”
—Brice MardenThe mid-1980s signaled a considerable visual shift in the style of Brice Marden’s work, catalyzed by a newfound interest in Asian art. While the artist had initially dismissed the arts of Asia as being irrelevant to his vision, a trip to Thailand with his family changed his mind completely, exposing him to the art form of calligraphy. Upon the artist’s return to New York he subsequently made multiple visits to a 1984 exhibition held jointly at the Japan House Gallery and Asia Society entitled Masters of Japanese Calligraphy 8th – 19th Century. Soon, his interest in the cultural offerings of the Far East expanded, steering his attention to the historic literature, philosophy, and art of the region.
Han Shan Exit exemplifies Marden’s blossoming interest in the arts of Asia, specifically highlights his admiration of Chinese literature. Its title pays homage to the hermetic Tang dynasty poet, spiritual writer, and Buddhist monk Han Shan, also known as ‘Cold Mountain’, whose Zen poems Marden would later credit with inspiring his definitive creative break from monochrome to calligraphic modalities. By the late 1980s, Marden had encountered the work of Han Shan through The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain, a volume of his poetry translated by Red Pine. These verses, which touch upon universal themes of nature, spirituality, and the human condition, brought about Marden’s cycle of paintings, drawings and etchings in the late 1980s and early 1990s that merged elements of Chinese calligraphy with the emotive approach of Abstract Expressionism.
Baisaō, Chinese Poem on the Autumn Moon by Hanshan, 1760. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2018, 2018.853.24 The gestural strokes of the Han Shan Exit etchings see Marden metabolize the calligraphic art of Chinese poetry into his own evolving lexicon of abstraction. With serpentine lines and swirling energy, these etchings visually progress, slowly expanding in increasing volume and complexity. Through these six escalating, arabesque compositions Marden recalls a myriad of personal influences: the lyricism of ancient poetry, the evolution towards enlightenment through meditation, the organic forms of the natural world, and the dense drip paintings of Jackson Pollock, a fellow New York artist whose work Marden held in high regard. The evocative power of these sinuous images proved greatly significant to Marden – the artist continued to evolve his calligraphic style across his career, leading the technique to become a primary motif in his imagery. As such, Han Shan Exit stands as an early example of the pioneering style that has since cemented Marden’s legacy among the canon of exceptional contemporary artists.
Provenance
Betsy Senior Fine Art, New York
Artist Biography
Brice Marden
American • 1938 - N/A
Born in Bronxville and working between New York City, Tivoli, New York, and Hydra, Greece, Brice Marden developed a unique style that departs from his Abstract Expressionist and Minimalist contemporaries. Drawing from his personal experiences and global travels, Marden’s works demonstrate a gestural and organic emotion channeled through the power of color. By the late 1960s, Marden received international recognition as the master of the monochrome panel and, in the late 1970s, began exploring the relationship between horizontal and vertical planes. His practice is deeply informed by his knowledge of classical architecture, world religion, ancient history, and spirituality. Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1998, Marden is represented in notable institutional collections including the Whitney Museum of Art, New York, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, and Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.
166
Han Shan Exit
1992-93
The complete set of six etching and aquatints, on handmade Twinrocker paper, with full margins.
all I. 7 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (19.1 x 14 cm)
all S. 15 x 11 1/8 in. (38.1 x 28.3 cm)
All signed, dated and numbered 7/45 in pencil (from the edition with wide margins, there was also an edition of 75 with smaller margins and some artist's proofs), published by the artist, New York, all framed.
Estimate
$25,000 - 35,000
Editions & Works on Paper
New York Auction 12 February 2025
10
This lot is no longer available.
149
This lot is no longer available.
