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Agnes Bernice Martin was born in Macklin, Saskatchewan, Canada, on March 22, 1912, a descendant of Scottish Presbyterian pioneers. Her father, a wheat farmer, died when she was 2; her mother supported the family by selling real estate. Ms. Martin spent much of her childhood with her maternal grandfather, a gentle, religious man who introduced her to inspirational literature, including John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," which remained important to her throughout her life. [...]
After hearing lectures by the Zen Buddhist scholar D. T. Suzuki at Columbia, she became interested in Asian thought, not as a religious discipline, but as a code of ethics, a practical how-to for getting through life.
"One thing I like about Zen," she wrote. "It doesn't believe in achievement. I don't think the way to succeed is by doing something aggressive. Aggression is weak-minded."
- HOLLAND COTTER, "Agnes Martin, Abstract Painter, Dies at 92," new york times December 17/2004
posted December 17, 2004 in art, print.