Three years after Brice Marden's death, his daughters helped complete a catalogue raisonné of his paintings, covering nearly 500 works from 1961 to 2023. This fall, Gagosian will mount "I Am Plane Image," a major survey of Marden's paintings at its Chelsea flagship, opening September 10. The exhibition, the first such survey in New York in two decades, includes works from museums like the Art Institute of Chicago and the Whitney Museum, as well as private collections and the artist's estate, featuring rarely or never-before-seen pieces. The catalogue, edited by Tiffany Bell and distributed by Yale University Press, includes Marden's own words alongside entries, offering intimate insight into his artistic process.
This exhibition matters because it provides a comprehensive view of Marden's six-decade career, revealing how he consistently explored the same core questions about surface, space, color, and the physical act of painting, even as his style evolved from monochromes to calligraphic works. The show, alongside the catalogue raisonné, solidifies Marden's legacy as a pivotal figure in postwar American painting. Additionally, Gagosian's plan to bring a major Marden painting to Art Basel underscores the enduring market demand for his work, connecting his artistic journey to the broader contemporary art market.