Best known for his striking calligraphic abstractions and serene early monochromes, Brice Marden is among the most esteemed and influential artists working today. In his trademark lyrical works, Marden paints a network of serpentine lines flowing hypnotically throughout the picture plane; he sometimes replaces paintbrushes with sticks or other natural implements to effect a more gestural and organic appearance. Marden draws on a range of influences in his practice, including Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg (for whom he worked) and Asian art and calligraphy, as well as the Old Masters, rejecting most of his contemporaries as overly clinical. In his early monochrome works, created amidst the Color Field Painting and Minimalism of 1960s New York, Marden used abstraction deliberately as a way to evoke an emotional and subjective response from his viewers. “You should just look at it and react to it on your own,” he says. “Just relax and let go.”