Moon Ⅰ ムーン Ⅰ

From the late 1960s and over the 1970s, Marden produced works made of joined panels each painted in single color. This work is an example, and is made of three panels. The surface of each panels, finished in paint mixed with wax and applied with a spatula and a palette knife, is perfectly done without trace of handiwork. Around the time he produced this piece，Marden was visiting Greece periodically and developing an interest in the Mediterranean culture. He began to title his works with names taken from Greek mythology instead of the former names of familiar places and persons, and then also started to make compositions inspired by ancient architecture. With the three works in the "Moon" series too, of which this particular piece is one, there is a corresponding passage in a book on Greek culture he was reading at the time, which says that the waxing and waning of the moon symbolizes the phases in a person's life. This first piece represents the new moon, that is, the person who has been just born and, though weak at the moment, has a great potential for growth. It has been pointed out that works bundled together by the label of Minimal Art often contain symbolic elements.