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The monochrome paintings exude a meditative quietude. The subdued grey in Return 1 (1964-65) is typical for the color scheme of Marden’s early works. Initially, he limited himself to black, grey, and matte hues of green. He eliminated the visible brush stroke, smoothing the surfaces of his canvases with knives and spatulas and leaving scratches, cracks, and spots where the ground layer peeks through. A thin strip of blank canvas often remains along the bottom edge of the paintings, while traces of dripped paint refer to the painting process. In the beginning, the artist still used conventional oil paints, whose gloss he quickly began to alter. Since 1966, he’s mixed turpentine and hot bee’s wax into the paint, making the paint matter and less transparent and lending the works a very particular presence. Marden also began combining several identically sized canvases, such as in Point (1969), a subtle composition of three green-grey fields whose hues vary in nuances. The triptych quotes the altar form; instead of depicting a saint, however, it is dedicated to the variations of a single color.
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