{"data":{"id":"1235","type":"artwork","attributes":{"id":1235,"topgoose_id":8431,"portfolio_id":null,"tms_id":1235,"title":"Milk River","display_artist_text":"Agnes Martin","display_date":"1963","accession_number":"64.10","dimensions":"Overall: 72 × 72 1/4 in. (182.9 × 183.5 cm)","medium":"Oil and colored pencil on linen","department":"collection","classification":"Paintings","credit_line":"Purchase, with funds from the Larry Aldrich Foundation Fund","is_virtual":false,"is_portfolio":false,"portfolio_tms_id":null,"portfolio":null,"edition":null,"publication_info":"","description":"\u003cp\u003eAgnes Martin, \u003cem\u003eMilk River\u003c/em\u003e, 1963. Oil and colored pencil on linen, overall: 72 × 72 1/4 in. (182.9 × 183.5 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Larry Aldrich Foundation Fund 64.10. © Estate of Agnes Martin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York\u003c/p\u003e","object_label":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMilk River\u003c/i\u003e exemplifies Agnes Martin’s signature compositional style, which coalesced in the late 1950s, as well as the standard 6-foot square format that she used for all of her paintings until 1993. Martin’s canvases are structured with symmetrical, repetitive linear elements that are highly controlled, and yet resolutely handmade and grounded in the impulses of drawing. In this work, a central square is framed by two borders. The outermost border is plain canvas, while the second is made of mottled paint, softening the transition to the large white inner square. The center square is patterned with red horizontal pencil lines that the artist incised into the thin layer of white paint using a taut string as a guide. The lines’ repetitive quality creates a strong sense of systematic and geometric order, but because they are hand-drawn, each one differs slightly in emphasis and weight. \u003ci\u003eMilk River\u003c/i\u003e—like all of Martin’s paintings and drawings—is not, therefore, as minimal as it first appears. Rather, its subtle modulations and linear irregularities invite the viewer to engage in intimate, careful contemplation.\u003c/p\u003e","ai_alt_text":"Large light beige sheet with faint horizontal lines surrounded by a darker beige border.","alt_text":null,"visual_description":null,"on_view":false,"created_at":"2017-08-30T16:21:19.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-02-06T12:00:15.603-05:00","images":[{"id":92758,"url":"https://whitneymedia.org/assets/artwork/1235/64_10_cropped.jpg"}]},"relationships":{"artists":{"data":[{"id":"842","type":"artist"}]}}}}