Agnes Martin (b. 1912, Maklin, Saskatchewan, Canada; d. 2004 Taos, New Mexico) studied at Western Washington College of Education, Bellingham, WA, prior to receiving her B.S. (1942) from Teachers College, Columbia University. A few years following graduation, Martin matriculated at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, where she also taught art courses before returning to Columbia University to earn her M.A. (1952). Since her first solo exhibition in 1958 Martin's work has been the subject of more than 80 solo shows and two retrospectives including Agnes Martin: Paintings and Drawings 1974-1990 organized by the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, with subsequent venues in France and Germany (1991-92) and the survey Agnes Martin organized by Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, that later traveled to Milwaukee, Miami, Houston and Madrid (1992-94). Most recently, the Menil Collection, Houston, mounted Agnes Martin: The Nineties and Beyond (2002) and The Harwood Museum of Art at the University of New Mexico, Taos, organized Agnes Martin Paintings from 2001 as well as a symposium honoring Martin on the occasion of her 90th birthday in June 2002. In addition to participating in an international array of group exhibitions such as Documenta, Kassel, Germany (1972), the Venice Biennale (1976, 1980, 1997), and the Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial (1977, 1995), Martin has been the recipient of multiple honors including election to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York (1989), the Alexej von Jawlensky Prize awarded by the city of Wiesbaden, Germany (1991), the Oskar Kokoschka Prize awarded by the Austrian government (1992), the Golden Lion for Contribution to Contemporary Art at the Venice Biennale (1997), the Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement by the College Art Association (1998), the National Medal of Arts awarded by President Clinton and the National Endowment for the Arts (1998), and the Governor's Award for Excellence and Achievement in the Arts given by Governor Gary Johnson, Santa Fe, New Mexico (1998). Agnes Martin's work can be found in over 50 public museum collections throughout the United States and abroad including: the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (New York, NY); The Chinati Foundation/La Fundación Chinati (Marfa, TX); The Dia Center for the Arts (New York, NY); the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA); the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC); the Kunstmuseum Winterthur (Switzerland); the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Menil Collection (Houston, TX); The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY); the Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris, France); The Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY); the National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC); the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York, NY); the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, The Netherlands); the Stiftung Ludwig, Palais Lichtenstein (Vienna, Austria); the Tate Gallery (London, Great Britain); the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN); and the Whitney Museum of Art (New York, NY), among others. In 1997 The Harwood Museum of Art at the University of New Mexico, Taos, inaugurated a permanent gallery for Martin.