Workbook--Hydra, Tampere, N.Y.C., Bucks Co. 1988

Brice Marden made this ink on paper drawing, entitled 'Workbook', naming the places that inspired it. The work references locations as diverse as Hydra, Tampere, New York City, and Bucks County. Marden’s marks evoke landscapes, but his work is primarily interested in the aesthetic possibilities of line, form, and composition. In doing so, Marden references both the American and European traditions of landscape painting. In the mid-to-late twentieth century, as art museums flourished and abstract expressionism became a popular style, ‘Workbook’ represents a broader trend among artists working in the United States and Europe to test the limits of what painting could be. Was painting just about depicting recognizable things, or could it be about the pure aesthetic experience? To understand art fully, one must consider the social and institutional contexts in which it was made. Art history databases and artists’ biographies can provide additional information to help illuminate the meaning of a work like this.