Animated series

The Story of Agnes Martin
Little Stories of Great Women Artists
03.05.2023

Little Stories of Great Women Artists is an original project of playful and educational animated videos for children from the age of 7 and older.The objective of each episode? To shed light on the life and work of a woman artist from the 19th or 20th century in a three-minutes video. Imagined by screenwriter Sophie Caron, each story conveys the originality of an artist’s approach, their importance within an artistic movement, certain significant biographical stories, as well as difficulties that the artist may have encountered in her practice.

In a landscape where children’s publications and activities about art privilege male artists, this new and unique project intends for younger audiences to be able to identify important figures beyond all gender stereotypes. Through the discovery of these women artists, we hope to invite as many people as possible to discover the emotion that art can bring.

This new episode takes us on a journey from Maklin and Vancouver (Canada) to New Mexico and New York (USA) to discover the works of the artist Agnes Martin.

Born in Canada in 1912, Martin left to study and teach in the United States 1932. In 1947, she moved to New Mexico, then to New York in 1957, where she met Barnett Newman, Ad Reinhard and Jasper Johns. Her painting evolved, gradually abandoning color, and adopting the form of the grid with a palette of gray and brown tones. The very constructed and rigorous appearance of her work seems to suggest a visual link with minimalism, yet Agnes Martin has always felt close to the abstract expressionists. When observing her works, one discovers a non-mechanical, non-systematic gesture: a gesture that reveals the trace of the painter’s hand.

In 1967, she moved back to New Mexico, built a house and stopped painting for 7 years. In 1974, she agreed to exhibit again; she had by then become a legend.

This project is made possible by the support of the Délégation à la transmission, aux territoires et à la démocratie culturelle of the Ministry of Culture, and the Fondation ENGIE.

Coordination : Mathilde de Croix with the AWARE team.
Screenwriter: Sophie Caron.
Illustrator: Louise Nelson.
Sound and image Editor: Hugo July.
Voice: Melha Mammeri Bossard.

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