Agnes Martin (American/Canadian, 1912–2004) moved to the United States in 1931 from her native Canada. After studying Fine Art and Art Education at the Columbia University Teachers College, she moved back and forth between New York City and New Mexico before settling permanently in New Mexico in 1977. Though she preferred to be associated with the Abstract Expressionists, Martin is often categorized as a Minimalist because of her spare paintings and drawings, which featured large grids drawn by hand in ink or graphite on paper or canvas. Despite the rigorous repetition of these works, Martin was not striving for perfection; she was influenced by Taoist and other eastern philosophies, and felt her paintings were a reflection of the complex patterns of nature. As a result, Martin titled many works after natural phenomena, such as White Flower (1960) or Desert (1965).