Brice Marden: Ru Ware, Marbles, Polke

Brice Marden: Ru Ware, Marbles, Polke features the most recent paintings from this towering figure in contemporary abstraction. The book's title alludes to the breadth of Marden's inspirations: rare Chinese pottery, coarse Greek marble and the late German artist Sigmar Polke. Each of the works or series in this volume stems from these sources: the Ru Ware Project (2007-2012), composed of nine small panels painted in pale blues and greens; 15 new paintings in oil on marble, which Marden completed on the Greek island of Hydra in 2012; and a large oil-on-linen painting, "Polke Letter" (2010-2011), a painterly homage to Marden's contemporary. Helping to pinpoint Marden's place in the flow of time is an essay by David Anfam, along with a statement written by the artist, an extended meditation on geometry, proportion and color.