Who

Renowned for his expansive minimalist paintings, Marden is one of the most prominent members of the generation of artists that rose to fame in the 1960s.

Backstory

As a student at Yale in the early 1960s, Marden was a classmate of future stars like Chuck Close, Nancy Graves, and Richard Serra. After graduating, he moved to the Lower East Side, where he earned a paycheck over the next few years working as a guard at the Jewish Museum, then as a studio assistant to Robert Rauschenberg. Marden had his first solo show in 1966 at the then-up-and-coming Bykert Gallery. He quickly rose to art-world stardom with his minimalist paintings, and by 1975, the year of a mid-career retrospective at the Guggenheim, he had become a household name. He moved away from minimalism in the 1980s, and began drawing instead of just painting. Although he still produces new work, Marden has now settled into a role as an elder statesman of his generation of artists.

Of note

Marden's trademark wavy lines have made him one of the most recognizable painters in America, and the cool abstraction of his work now feels like something of a throwback. In October 2006 he earned a well-publicized retrospective at MoMA, probably the greatest honor possible for a contemporary artist; Roberta Smith of the Times called the work on display "quietly magnificent." (Less magnificent, perhaps, were the t-shirt ads for Gap Marden did that same year.) His paintings are now among the most expensive of any living American artist, and he set a personal record in 2006 when one went for $2.98 million at Christie's.

Personal

Marden's first wife was Pauline Baez, sister of folksinger Joan Baez; he has a son from that marriage, Nick, who was a musician in the early NYC punk scene. Marden's now married to Helen Harrington, a fellow painter; the couple has two daughters, Melia Marden and art gallerist Mirabelle Marden.

Habitat

No one could accuse the Mardens of failing to live in style. Their properties include a 5,000-square-foot studio space on West Street; a townhouse near the studio; a country estate, Rose Hill, located in Tivoli, New York; a summer home in Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania, which is located on 400 acres; another summer home/studio on the Greek island of Hydra; and a home on the Caribbean island of Nevis, the latest addition to their real estate portfolio.