+ Expand

Description: signed, inscribed with title and dated 1981 on the overlap

oil on canvas over pencil

+ Expand

Dimensions: 91.5 by 91.5cm, 36 by 36in.

+ Expand

Provenance: Annely Juda Fine Art, London
Waddington Galleries, London

+ Expand

Exhibited: London, Serpentine Gallery, Arts Council of Great Britain, Kenneth Martin: The Late Paintings, 1985;
London, Annely Juda Fine Art, Kenneth & Mary Martin, 1987, no.85, illustrated in colour in the exhibition catalogue, p.106.

+ Expand

Notes: This long and important series of works has its origin in a series of studies which Martin began in 1969 after the death of his wife and fellow artist, Mary. Using a square grid with equal numbers along each axis, the corresponding numbers were written on slips of paper and were then picked at random in pairs, giving the start and finish co-ordinates of each line, chance thus determining the length and orientation of each line. The paintings thus become a combination of chance and the hand of the artist in the execution of that process, the visually pleasing results taking on a third, independent, character.

Whilst the original works of the series each used a single colour (cf. Chance & Order 4 (Green) 1970, sold in these rooms 17^th November 2004 for £21,000 (hammer, an auction record for the artist), over the years, additional colours and new rules have been added to the working method for developing these works, giving an increasing complexity and visual impact to the paintings.