Brice Marden is joining the 16-venue Gagosian empire, reports the New York Times. It’s a surprising move, considering that the abstract painter has been with Matthew Marks Gallery, which boasts locations in New York and Los Angeles, for more than 20 years.
“I’ve been working with Matthew for a long time and it’s been very, very good—he’s an incredible dealer—I just felt I needed a change,” the 78-year-old artist told the Times. “I’m running out of time and I think I’ll be able to use my time better this way.”
“It’s a great honor for our gallery, and for me personally, to represent one of the most significant artists of his generation,” Larry Gagosian told Artnet News in an emailed statement.
The addition of Marden follows numerous changes to the Gagosian stable during 2016. Damien Hirst famously rejoined the fold just in time for Frieze New York, while Gagosian nabbed Katharina Grosse in August and poached Jeff Wall from Marian Goodman Gallery, where the artist had shown for 25 years, the following month.
Larry Gagosian at MOCA, Loa Angeles in 2016. ©Patrick McMullan. Courtesy of David Crotty/ PMC.
The gallery also lost three major artists last year, with William Eggleston, Richard Prince, and Julian Schnabel all setting sail.
Plans are reportedly already in progress for an October showing of new monochromatic work by Marden at Gagosian’s London gallery. In 2013, the gallery’s Upper East Side location hosted “Brice Marden: Red Yellow Blue,” an exhibition reuniting a four-painting series the artist created in 1974.
Brice Marden, The Attended (1996–99). Courtesy of Sotheby’s New York.
According to the artnet Price Database, Marden’s record at auction is $10.9 million, set at Sotheby’s New York in November 2013 for The Attended (1996–99), an oil painting featuring his signature overlapping squiggly lines. The sale exceed the high estimate by nearly $1 million.
Although it is one of only two works by the artist to break the $10 million barrier, no fewer than 23 Marden pieces have topped the $1 million mark. Among his most recent sales, a 1986 oil painting on linen, Green Painting, fetched $5.7 million at Sotheby’s New York in November.