Martin Puryear
Birth dateMay 23, 1941 (age 85)
Birth placeWashington, D.C., United States
FieldSculpture
TrainingThe Catholic University of America (BA)
Yale University (MFA)
AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship
MacArthur Foundation Fellowship
Rome Prize
National Medal of Arts
J. Paul Getty Medal

Martin L. Puryear (born May 23, 1941) is an American artist known for his devotion to traditional craft. Working in a variety of media, but primarily wood, his reductive technique and meditative approach challenge the physical and poetic boundaries of his materials.

Puryear has participated in the Whitney Biennial three times and he has represented the United States multiple times with solo exhibitions at international biennials, including in 1989 at the São Paulo Biennial and in 2019 at the 58th Venice Biennale.

Early life and education

Martin Puryear was born May 23, 1941, in Washington, D.C., to Reginald Puryear and Martina Puryear. His father and mother worked as a postal worker and teacher, respectively.[1] Puryear was the eldest of seven children, with four brothers and two sisters.[2]

Puryear attended Syphax Elementary in Washington before going on to graduate from Archbishop Carroll High School, a Catholic school in the Brookland neighborhood.[3] He began exploring traditional craft methods in his youth, making guitars, canoes, and furniture.[4] Puryear enrolled at the District of Columbia Teachers College in Fall 1958, primarily taking science courses. He transferred to The Catholic University of America after two years, originally studying biology before switching to art as a junior with a focus on painting.[5] While an undergraduate, he learned about the Washington Color School painters, including faculty member Kenneth Noland, and he participated in several group exhibitions in the Washington area. Puryear graduated from Catholic with a BA in art in 1963.[4]

After graduation, Puryear spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone.[6] From 1966 to 1968, he studied printmaking at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm, funded by a grant from The American-Scandinavian Foundation.[4] He returned to the United States in 1969 after receiving a grant to enroll in the graduate program at the Yale School of Art. Among his professors and visiting teachers at Yale were sculptors Robert Morris, James Rosati, Salvatore Scarpitta, and Richard Serra, and he became close with the painting faculty member Al Held.[7] Puryear graduated from Yale in 1971 with an MFA in sculpture.[8] Although he discovered Minimalism at a formative period in his development, Puryear would ultimately reject its impersonality and formalism.[9]: 168–197

Life and career

1971–1979

In 1971, Puryear was hired to teach at the historically black Fisk University in Tennessee, having been offered the position by art department chair David Driskell.[8]

Puryear staged his first solo art exhibition in the United States in January 1972 at the Henri 2 Gallery in Washington.[8] The show received positive coverage from local critics.[10][11]

Puryear staged his second solo exhibition at Henri 2 Gallery in 1973.[12][13] He also left Fisk in 1973 and moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In 1974, he accepted a job offer at the University of Maryland, College Park, and began spending half of each week in both New York and Maryland.[8]

In 1977, following a devastating fire in his Brooklyn studio, Puryear moved to Chicago and began teaching at the University of Illinois.[14] In the summer of 1977, Puryear developed an outdoor installation for Artpark in Niagara County, New York. His work, Box and Pole, consisted of a 100 foot tall wooden pole placed next a 54-inch wooden cube and opened to the public in August 1977.[15] The same month, he opened a two-room exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, his first solo museum show. He exhibited a seventeen foot tall yurt-like wooden structure covered in animal hides that visitors could enter in the first room, along with a series of smaller sculptures in the second room.[16][17]

In 1979, Puryear was included in the Whitney Biennial at New York's Whitney Museum.[18] He also staged a solo exhibition at Protetch-McIntosh Gallery in Washington in 1979, showing a number of circular sculptures hung flat on the wall, made of various types of wood.[19][20]

1980–1989

In 1980, Puryear opened a small solo exhibition at the Joslyn Art Museum in Nebraska. He exhibited five new wood and stone sculptures, all abstract variations of a form similar to a mound or shark's tooth.[21] The same year, several of Puryear's wall-based wood circle sculptures were featured in the traveling group exhibition Afro-American Abstraction, a show exploring contemporary abstract art by African Americans, curated by April Kingsley and originating at the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center[a] in New York.[22] He participated in the Whitney Biennial again in 1981.[23]

Puryear staged a solo exhibition in February 1982 at Washington's McIntosh/Drysdale Gallery, showing new circular, wall-based works made of wood. Most of the sculptures comprised partial or imperfect circles hung on the wall, each with different stained or painted surface techniques and colors.[24] During the Summer of 1982,[25] Puryear worked on a commission for Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, creating a permanent public sculpture commemorating the university's 150th anniversary, which was unveiled in October 1982.[26] His commissioned sculpture, Sentinel,[27] a large wall-like concrete and stone form with rocks embedded in its surface, was funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.[28][29] Also that Summer,[25] he completed a commission for Governors State University in Illinois, building a large-scale land art piece titled Bodark Arc. The work consisted of two pathways in the form of a broad arc bisected by a straight line, with each path leading to a cast bronze chair sculpture.[30][31] Puryear was also awarded a John S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Grant in 1982.[25]

In 1983, Puryear completed Knoll for NOAA, a commission for a park on the site of a NOAA facility near Seattle. The work consisted of a dome of concrete forty-five feet in diameter and rising to a height of five feet, covered in a spiral double helix pattern made of glass pieces and surrounded by four curved concrete benches and maple trees.[32][31] He travelled to Japan in October 1983 using funds from his Guggenheim grant, where he studied religious and residential architecture as well as traditional Japanese crafts.[25]

The University Gallery at the University of Massachusetts Amherst[b] organized the first traveling museum survey of Puryear's work in 1984, exhibiting his art from the previous ten years.[33] The same year, Puryear was included in the group exhibition "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art at the Museum of Modern Art in New York,[34] a controversial exhibition aiming to explore the connections between 20th century western art and mainly non-western, so-called primitive art. He showed a large wall piece made of wire, his first wall-based work in that material.[35]

In January 1985, Puryear opened his first solo exhibition in Los Angeles at Margo Leavin Gallery, showing a range of new sculptures including works from his Boy's Toys series, all comprising small wooden forms attached to wooden rods, which several critics visually compared to phalluses or toilet plungers.[36][37][38] He exhibited several of his Boy's Toys sculptures in a solo show in August 1985 at the University Art Museum, Berkeley, as part of the museum's MATRIX exhibition series.[39][40] Puryear staged a solo exhibition at Chicago's Donald Young Gallery in October 1985. He presented the show across two gallery locations, exhibiting wall-based sculptures in one gallery and several large freestanding works in a separate location.[41] The same year, he completed a commission for the River Road station in Chicago, permanently installing River Road Ring. The work, a monumental wooden circle sculpture, was suspended from the ceiling in the station's open atrium.[30][42] Also in 1985, Puryear submitted a final design for a commission titled Arc at York College in Queens. The sculpture, completed in the ensuing three years, comprised a large skeletal form of copper tubes suspended from the ceiling in a long, narrow space in the college's interior walking mall.[43]

In 1986, Puryear married Jeanne Gordon, an artist and classical pianist.[44] The Chicago Cultural Center organized a ten-year survey of Puryear's work in February 1987.[30][45] He opened a solo exhibition in April 1987 at the Carnegie Mellon University Art Gallery in Pittsburgh, showing several sculptures and drawings.[46][47] In September 1987, Puryear presented another solo show at Donald Young Gallery in Chicago, primarily centered around a monumental work stretching 30 feet across the gallery, comprising a skeletal cone made from reeds attached to an oblong form of wire mesh covered in tar.[48] He staged a solo show at New York's McKee Gallery in November 1987, his first commercial gallery show in the city.[49][3]

Puryear opened a solo exhibition at McIntosh/Drysdale Gallery in Washington in March 1988, his first in the city in over five years. He showed several wall-based wood sculptures crafted so the thinned wood appeared to flow like a liquid.[3] In October 1988, he participated in a four-artist show at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington as part of the Spectrum exhibition series, showing a new bird-like iron sculpture as well as several older works.[50] He was commissioned by New York's Brooklyn Museum in November 1988 to create an installation for the museum's large atrium, reworking two previous monumental wood and mixed media pieces, one vertical and one horizontal, to fit the tall space.[51] Puryear also completed a commission for the newly opened Minneapolis Sculpture Garden in 1988 titled Ampersand,[52] comprising two large tapered granite columns, one upside down and one right side up, which framed an entrance to the garden.[53][54]

Puryear staged another solo exhibition at Margo Leavin Gallery in L.A. in April 1989, showing a number of new wood sculptures.[55][56] He was also included in the Whitney Biennial again in April 1989.[57][58][59] In July 1989, Puryear was awarded the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.[60]

In October 1989, Puryear represented the United States at the São Paulo Biennial in Brazil, becoming the first black artist to represent the United States with a solo show at a major international biennial.[61][62] His presentation, curated by Kellie Jones and featuring nine large sculptures mostly made of wood, was awarded the grand prize of the biennial.[63][64][65]

1990–1999

In 1990, Puryear was the inaugural participant in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston's Connections exhibitions series, creating new work in response to art from the museum's collection. Taking inspiration from a 17th-century painting of a falcon, he built a wooden yurt structure with gridded wooden slats, surrounded by abstract birdlike works made from wood, iron, bronze, and rawhide, all arranged on ledges on the walls.[66][67]

The Art Institute of Chicago[c] mounted a twenty-year traveling retrospective of Puryear's art in 1991, featuring forty works.[68] The same year, Puryear was introduced to the choreographer Garth Fagan and began a collaboration on Fagan's dance work Griot New York.[69][70] Puryear designed the elaborate sculptural wooden sets for the piece, a reflection on the African diasporic community and culture of New York City, which premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in December 1991.[71][72] He participated in Documenta 9 in Kassel, Germany, in June 1992, installing a sculpture of a chained animal in a cage.[73]

Puryear staged a solo exhibition in March 1995 at McKee Gallery, his first in New York since 1987.[74] He showed four new sculptures, including several bulbous circular wood sculptures and a tall columnar work.[75][76] Also in 1995, Puryear completed a commission in Battery Park City, installing two large stainless steel pylon sculptures on the shoreline at the North Cove Marina.[77][78]

In 1996, Puryear completed a commission for Wanås Konst, an outdoor sculpture park in a forest at Sweden's Wanås Castle. His sculpture Meditation in a Beech Forest consisted of a 16 foot tall abstract biomorphic form covered in a thatch material traditionally used for roofs in the region.[79] He completed another commission in 1997 at the University of Washington's physics and astronomy buildings, installing Everything that Rises, a monumental abstract bronze sculpture shaped like an elongated hourglass.[80] Also in 1997, The New School opened a new courtyard plaza in Greenwich Village designed by Puryear in collaboration with Michael Van Valkenburgh. The space featured benches by Puryear made from metal, granite, and wood, as well as extensive landscaping and tree plantings.[80][81]

Puryear was commissioned by the federal General Services Administration in the mid-1990s to create a sculpture for the new Ronald Reagan Building in Washington's Federal Triangle area, although work was temporarily suspended on the project in 1996 amidst a budget shortfall.[82][83][84] His work Bearing Witness, a monumental abstract bronze sculpture, was completed in 1998 and permanently installed in a plaza outside the building.[85]

In 1999, Puryear completed That Profile, a public sculpture commissioned for the Getty Center in Los Angeles.[86] The work, installed at the arrival plaza for the museum's tram system, comprises a tall, oblong skeletal form made of long steel tubes joined with bronze.[87] In November 1999, he completed a commission in the Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière, for the Festival d'automne à Paris, an annual arts festival in Paris. His commissioned installation, This Mortal Coil, consisted of a monumental wooden spiral form within a wooden frame, displayed in the circular chapel building.[88]

2000–2009

In 2000, Puryear collaborated with Arion Press to design a deluxe reissue of the novel Cane, originally published at the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance, after meeting Arion's founder Andrew Hoyem at a print fair. Puryear designed a multi-toned wooden slipcase for the book and seven abstract woodcut prints that were bound in each copy.[89]

Puryear staged a traveling survey in 2001 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia,[d] exhibiting twelve large sculptures.[90] He staged a solo exhibition at McKee Gallery in New York in 2002, showing four new wood sculptures.[91][92][93]

In the early 2000s, Puryear served as a jury member for the competition to design the September 11 Memorial in New York, which announced a winning design in January 2004.[94] He opened a survey exhibition at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin in 2004, his first solo exhibition in the country, presenting sculptures from the previous two decades.[95][96] In 2006, he mounted a solo show at Donald Young Gallery in Chicago, his first exhibition in the city in fourteen years.[97]

New York's Museum of Modern Art[e] organized a traveling thirty-year retrospective in 2007 of Puryear's work.[98][99] The same year, the American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded Puryear its gold medal for sculpture.[100]

2010–2019

In 2012, president Barack Obama awarded Puryear the National Medal of Arts.[101] Puryear also mounted another solo show at McKee Gallery in 2012, exhibiting around a dozen new sculptures, including several that appeared like wheeled wooden carts.[102][103][104]

Puryear staged a solo exhibition at Matthew Marks Gallery in New York in 2014. He showed nine new sculptures and two works on paper, all visually based on the phrygian cap, a well-known symbol of freedom and emancipation from slavery.[105][106] The same year, he completed work on Slavery Memorial at Brown University, a stone and iron sculpture of broken chain links permanently installed on the school's campus.[107]

In 2015, the Morgan Library & Museum[f] in New York premiered a traveling exhibition of Puryear's drawings and works on paper, titled Martin Puryear: Multiple Dimensions.[108][109]

Puryear installed Big Bling, a monumental wood, fiberglass, and gold leaf sculpture, in New York's Madison Square Park[g] in 2016 for several months as part of the park's public art program.[110][111] The sculpture consisted of a forty foot tall skeletal wooden form covered with a chainlink fence, topped with a massive gold shackle.[112]

In 2017, he staged a forty-year retrospective of more than thirty works at London's Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, his first solo show at a nonprofit institution in the United Kingdom.[113][114]

Puryear represented the United States at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019 with an exhibition commissioned by Brooke Kamin Rapaport, senior curator of Madison Square Park's public art program.[115][116] His exhibition Liberty/Libertà in the American pavilion featured eight abstract sculptural works exploring themes of slavery and freedom, including a work dedicated to Sally Hemings, the enslaved woman whom American president Thomas Jefferson owned and is alleged to have fathered several children with.[117][118]

2020–present

In 2021, Puryear staged another solo show at Matthew Marks Gallery, exhibiting five sculptures from his Venice exhibition along with one new work, a large bronze basket sculpture that he had previously made in wood in several iterations.[119][120][121]

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston[h] opened a traveling survey of Puryear's career in 2025 titled Martin Puryear: Nexus, highlighting the variety of materials used in his sculptures.[122][123]

Also in 2025, Puryear was included in the exhibition Monuments at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles exploring the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials. He exhibited an abstract work titled Tabernacle, which was visually similar to hats worn by soldiers in the Civil War.[124]

On April 9, 2026, the Obama Foundation announced that it had commissioned Puryear to create a work for the Obama Presidential Center.  Puryear’s work Bending the Arc is a monumental sculpture that pays homage to John Lewis.[125]

Artwork

The artwork of Martin Puryear is a product of visibly complex craft construction and manipulation of pure material; its forms are combinations of the organic and the geometric. His process can be described as reductive, seeking to bring work and material close to its original state and creating rationality in each work derived from the maker and act of making. This is what Puryear calls "inevitability", or a "fullness of being within limits" that defines function.[126]

Often associated with both Minimalism and Formalist sculpture, Puryear rejects that his work is ever non-referential or objective. The pure and direct imagistic forms born from his use of traditional craft are allusive and poetic, as well as deeply personal. Visually, they encounter the history of objects and the history of their making, suggesting public and private narratives including those of the artist, race, ritual, and identity.[127] His work is widely exhibited and collected both in the United States and internationally.

For close to fifty years, Puryear has created works that transpose his distinctive abstract sculptural language to a monumental scale. From his earliest outdoor work at Artpark, in Lewistown, New York, in 1977 to his newly inaugurated 2023 permanent commission for Storm King Art Center, Puryear's public and site-specific sculptures originate with the artist's hand, whether through drawings or with models that the artist carves or fashions from pieces of wood.[128]

Lookout (2023)

In 2023, Puryear completed Lookout, his first large-scale sculpture made of brick, at Storm King Art Center in New York's Hudson Valley. The artwork is a compound-curved domed shell, pierced by 90 circular apertures of various sizes. Visitors can walk around and into the sculpture, enjoying the views of the surrounding area.[129][130]

This project had been a structural puzzle until a meeting in 2019 between the artist and MIT professor and structural engineer John Ochsendorf unlocked a solution. Ochesendorf has extensively researched ancient and traditional architectural technologies, particularly masonry vaults and domes. Their meeting resulted in a near-instantaneous collaborative scheme that incorporated the principle of Nubian vaulting, an ancient building method with which Ochsendorf and Puryear were both familiar. Engineering services were provided by Silman Associates, Structural Engineers.[130]

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

  1. ^ After closing in New York, Afro-American Abstraction traveled to the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York,[131] the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery,[132] the Oakland Museum in Oakland, California,[133] the Brooks Memorial Art Gallery in Memphis, Tennessee,[134] the South Bend Art Center in South Bend, Indiana,[135] the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio,[136] the Bellevue Arts Museum in Bellevue, Washington,[137] the Laguna Gloria Art Museum in Austin, Texas,[138] and the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, Mississippi.[139]
  2. ^ After closing in Amherst, the exhibition traveled to the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts,[140] the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Roxbury, Massachusetts,[141] the New Museum in New York,[142] and the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego.[143] The exhibition received reviews in The Berkshire Eagle,[140] The Boston Globe,[141] The New York Times,[142] Artforum,[144] the Los Angeles Times,[145] and The Blade-Tribune.[146]
  3. ^ After closing in Chicago, the retrospective traveled to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.,[147] the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles,[148] and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.[149] The show received reviews in the Chicago Tribune,[68] The New York Times,[150][151] The Washington Post,[147] The Baltimore Sun,[152] Artforum,[153] the Los Angeles Times,[154] LA Weekly,[155] Newsweek,[156] the Chicago Reader,[157] Time magazine,[158] The Nation,[159] The Philadelphia Inquirer,[149] The Times of Northwest Indiana,[160] the Asbury Park Press,[161] and the San Francisco Chronicle.[162]
  4. ^ After closing in Richmond, the exhibition traveled to the Miami Art Museum,[163] the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, California,[164] and the Des Moines Art Center in Des Moines, Iowa.[165] It was originally scheduled to travel to the Seattle Art Museum but that tour stop was canceled.[166] The show received reviews in The Washington Post,[90] the Miami Herald,[167] the San Francisco Chronicle,[164] The Kansas City Star,[165] and the International Review of African American Art.[168]
  5. ^ After closing in New York, the retrospective traveled to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Fort Worth, Texas,[169] the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.,[170] and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.[171] The show received reviews in Artforum,[169] The Washington Post,[170] the San Francisco Chronicle,[171] The Sacramento Bee,[172] The Boston Globe,[99] The New York Times,[98] The New Yorker,[173] Time magazine,[174] The Nation,[175] The New Criterion,[176] Art in America,[177] Sculpture magazine,[178] The Burlington Magazine,[179] Modern Painters,[180] ArtUS,[181] and art press.[182]
  6. ^ After closing in New York, the exhibition traveled to the Art Institute of Chicago (the organizing institution),[183] and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.[184] The exhibition received reviews in The Wall Street Journal,[108] The New York Times,[109] The Brooklyn Rail,[183] The Washington Post,[184] ARTnews,[185] Hyperallergic,[186] and Art in Print.[187]
  7. ^ After going off view in New York, the sculpture was subsequently temporarily reinstalled in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia,[188] and at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, Massachusetts.[189]
  8. ^ After closing in Boston, the retrospective is scheduled to travel to the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.[190] The show received reviews in The New York Times,[123] The Boston Globe,[122] The Wall Street Journal,[191] The New Yorker,[192] The Washington Post,[190] ARTnews,[193] and Sculpture magazine.[194]

Citations

  1. ^ Francis, Jacqueline (10 June 2024). "Puryear, Martin". Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T2090828
  2. ^ Brenson, Michael (1 November 1987). "Maverick Sculptor Makes Good; Martin Puryear - a major artist, stubbornly going his own way". The New York Times Magazine. pp. 84, 88, 90, 92–93. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  3. ^ Richard, Paul (25 March 1988). "The Sculpture of Longing: Martin Puryear, a Master Of Woodwork, Making A Triumphal Return Home". The Washington Post. Sec. D, pp. 1–2. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  4. ^ Owen & Tormollan (1991), p. 138.
  5. ^ Field (2007), p. 168.
  6. ^ Field (2007), pp. 168–169.
  7. ^ Field (2007), p. 170.
  8. ^ Field (2007), p. 171.
  9. ^ Elderfield, John, and Michael Auping, Martin Puryear. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2007
  10. ^ Richard, Paul (29 January 1972). "Art Notes; A Test in Connoisseurship". The Washington Post. Sec. C, p. 8.
  11. ^ Forgey, Benjamin (12 January 1972). "Martin Puryear's Show; An Artist Comes Home". The Evening Star. Sec. B, p. 11.
  12. ^ Richard, Paul (5 October 1973). "Between 2-D And 3-D". The Washington Post. Sec. B, pp. 1, 13.
  13. ^ Forgey, Benjamin (19 September 1973). "Gallery Roundup; A Young Artist Arrives". Washington Star-News. Sec. B, p. 2.
  14. ^ Field (2007), p. 172.
  15. ^ Swenson, Kirsten (Summer 2025). "Reclamations: Land Art Between Extraction and Ecofeminism". American Art. 39 (2). Smithsonian American Art Museum / University of Chicago Press. doi:10.1086/736582
  16. ^ Forgey, Benjamin (14 August 1977). "The Corcoran Has Become the Summer Place". The Washington Star. Sec. H, p. 20.
  17. ^ Richard, Paul (30 July 1977). "Art; A Shrine Of Cedar And Hide". The Washington Post. Sec. B, pp. 1–2.
  18. ^ Crary, Jonathan (October 1979). "Martin Puryear's Sculpture". Artforum. Vol. 18, no. 2. pp. 28–31. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  19. ^ Forgey, Benjamin (7 December 1979). "Puryear's Circles: Subtle, Brooding Presence". The Washington Star. Sec. C, p. 3.
  20. ^ Lewis, Jo Ann (24 November 1979). "Shards and Epistles; Galleries". The Washington Post. Sec. D, p. 3.
  21. ^ Catlin, Roger (24 August 1980). "Joslyn Opens Small Show". Omaha World-Herald. Sec. "Sunday World-Herald Magazine", p. 27. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  22. ^ Russell, John (14 March 1980). "Art: Abstractions From Afro-America". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
  23. ^ Forgey, Benjamin (15 March 1981). "Amid a Welter of Art, One Image Stands Out". The Washington Star. Sec. F, p. 2.
  24. ^ Forgey, Benjamin (25 February 1982). "Galleries; Craft Comes Full Circle To Art". The Washington Post. Sec. B, p. 7. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  25. ^ Field (2007), p. 176.
  26. ^ Newkirk, Jim (24 October 1982). "Modernistic Sculpture Draws Mixed Reviews". The Patriot-News. Sec. B, p. 5. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  27. ^ Maldonado Lopez, Merlyn I. & Egan, Shannon (2021). Martin Puryear: 40 Years Since Sentinel. Schmucker Catalogs, no. 38. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: Schmucker Art Gallery, Gettysburg College. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  28. ^ Sipkoff, Martin (25 October 1982). "Puryear completes sculpture at college". The Gettysburg Times. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  29. ^ Roth, Jeff (1 November 1982). "Gettysburg College holds homecoming". The Evening Sun. p. 2. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  30. ^ Artner, Alan G. (1 February 1987). "A sculptor's 2 sides; Martin Puryear on his public and private art". Chicago Tribune. Sec. 13, pp. 14, 15. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  31. ^ Johnson, Jory (February 1992). "Formal Objects: Public Visions". Landscape Architecture Magazine. Vol. 82, no. 2. pp. 50–53. JSTOR 44667114
  32. ^ Swift, Barbara & Wilkinson, Rob (September–October 1988). "The NOAA Program: Public Art on a Shoreline Site". Landscape Architecture Magazine. Vol. 78, no. 6. pp. 98–100, 102–103. JSTOR 44676719
  33. ^ Potter, Jessica (23 February 1984). "Art; An artist's journey recorded". The Republican. Sec. W, p. 2. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  34. ^ Richard, Paul (30 September 1984). "Magical Affinities; Linking Tribal and Western At the Museum of Modern Art". The Washington Post. Sec. H, pp. 8.
  35. ^ Field (2007), p. 177.
  36. ^ Wilson, William (18 January 1985). "The Galleries; La Cienega Area". Los Angeles Times. Part VI, pp. 16, 17. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  37. ^ Kirshner, Judith Russi (Summer 1985). "Martin Puryear, Margo Leavin Gallery". Artforum. Vol. 23, no. 10. p. 115. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  38. ^ Muchnic, Suzanne (15 January 1985). "The Abstract Shapes of Familiar Mysteries". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  39. ^ Shere, Charles (12 August 1985). "Absorbing schools of thought exhibited in Berkeley". Oakland Tribune. Sec. C, p. 1. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  40. ^ Baker, Kenneth (22 August 1985). "Two Artists' Pieces of Mind". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 67. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  41. ^ Artner, Alan G. (25 October 1985). "Art-Antiques; Perfection is hallmark of Puryear sculpture". Chicago Tribune. Sec. 7, pp. 51, 52. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  42. ^ Shipp, E. R. (16 June 1984). "Art for Those on the Go in Chicago". The New York Times. Sec. L, p. 9. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  43. ^ Brenson, Michael (8 April 1988). "Review/Art; Works for Urban College Raise Hard Questions". The New York Times. Sec. C, p. 32. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  44. ^ Owen & Tormollan (1991), p. 139.
  45. ^ Stokes, Charlotte (May 1987). "Martin Puryear". Artforum. Vol. 25, no. 9. p. 154. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  46. ^ Miller, Donald (18 April 1987). "Related shows center on subway art". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 12. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  47. ^ Lowry, Patricia (24 April 1987). "Pittsburgh artists show 'Unlimited Horizons' in subway fantasies". The Pittsburgh Press. Sec. C, pp. 1, 6. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  48. ^ Artner, Alan G. (17 September 1987). "Massive work a visual odyssey". Chicago Tribune. Sec. 5, p. 10. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  49. ^ Brenson, Michael (22 November 1987). "Gallery View; Shaping the Dialogue of Mind and Matter". The New York Times. Sec. H, p. 39. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  50. ^ Richard, Paul (18 October 1988). "At the Corcoran, A Four–Star Show: Four Artists". The Washington Post. Sec. D, pp. 1, 3. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  51. ^ Kimmelman, Michael (2 December 1988). "Review/Art; The Romance of Ruins". The New York Times. Sec. C, p. 24. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  52. ^ Field (2007), p. 182.
  53. ^ Brenson, Michael (19 June 1988). "Art View; Coming to Grips With Contemporary Sculpture". The New York Times. Sec. H, pp. 33, 41. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
  54. ^ Degener, Patricia (29 May 1988). "Young American Artists Presented Indoors, Outdoors; Show serves as a prelude to new sculpture garden". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Sec. H, pp. 4, 9. Retrieved 22 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  55. ^ Donohue, Marlena (21 April 1989). "The Galleries; La Cienega Area". Los Angeles Times. Part VI, p. 23. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  56. ^ Raczka, Robert (5–11 May 1989). "Art; Pick of the Week; Martin Puryear". LA Weekly. p. 126. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  57. ^ Artner, Alan G. (13 April 1989). "Art Notes; Whitney's 6th biennial exhibit to feature 2 Chicagoans among 76 artists". Chicago Tribune. Sec. 5, p. 9. Retrieved 15 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  58. ^ Lewis, Jo Ann (29 April 1989). "The Culture Compass; In New York, the Whitney Biennial Points to a New Direction". The Washington Post. Sec. C, p. 1.
  59. ^ Wilson, William (29 April 1989). "Art Review; Deja Vu-ing at the Whitney". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  60. ^ Davis, Robert (18 July 1989). "$355,000 grant lets teacher know she's really worth it". Chicago Tribune. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved 15 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  61. ^ Brenson, Michael (16 October 1989). "Critic's Notebook; Doors of Art Opening (Ignore the Squeaks)". The New York Times. Sec. C, pp. 15, 18. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  62. ^ Artner, Alan G. (1 October 1989). "Shaping up; Sculptor Puryear lets his works do all the talking". Chicago Tribune. Sec. 13, pp. 12, 13. Retrieved 16 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  63. ^ Brenson, Michael (29 October 1989). "A Sculptor's Struggle to Fuse Culture and Art". The New York Times. Sec. H, pp. 37, 39. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  64. ^ House, Richard (19 October 1989). "Puryear Wins Grand Prize at Sao Paulo". The Washington Post. Sec. C, p. 2. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  65. ^ Kaufman, Jason Edward (January–February 1990). "XXth São Paulo Bienal". Art Papers. Vol. 14, no. 1. pp. 69–70.
  66. ^ Temin, Christine (25 March 1990). "Art; The time of Martin Puryear". The Boston Globe. Sec. B, pp. 25, 28, 29. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  67. ^ Phillips, Patricia C. (October 1990). "Martin Puryear; Museum of Fine Arts". Artforum. Vol. 29, no. 2. pp. 172–173. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  68. ^ Artner, Alan G. (3 November 1991). "On form and function; The finely sculpted thoughts of Martin Puryear". Chicago Tribune. Sec. 13, pp. 10, 12. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  69. ^ Nichols, Peter M. (1 December 1991). "Dance: Three 'Storytellers' Paint One Portrait Of the New York Scene". The New York Times. Sec. H, p. 22. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  70. ^ Kriegsman, Alan M. (11 June 1992). "Fagan's Shining Apple; In 'Griot,' He Choreographs His Love for N.Y.". The Washington Post. Sec. B, p. 2.
  71. ^ Kisselgoff, Anna (6 December 1991). "Review/Dance; A Heritage Is Affirmed In 'Griot New York'". The New York Times. Sec. C, p. 3. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  72. ^ Kriegsman, Alan M. (13 June 1992). "Dance; Fagan's 'Griot': A Tale Without Time". The Washington Post. Sec. C, pp. 1–2.
  73. ^ Wallach, Amei (5 July 1992). "Copping Out In Germany". Newsday. Sec. "FanFare", pp. 21, 24. Retrieved 22 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  74. ^ Kimmelman, Michael (10 March 1995). "Art in Review; Martin Puryear". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  75. ^ Naves, Mario (May 1995). "'Martin Puryear' at the David McKee Gallery, New York". The New Criterion. Vol. 13. pp. 47–48.
  76. ^ Ash, John (October 1995). "Martin Puryear; McKee Gallery". Artforum. Vol. 34, no. 2. p. 98. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  77. ^ Vogel, Carol (22 January 1996). "Beyond Museum Precincts, the City as Gallery". The New York Times. Sec. C, p. 11. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  78. ^ Small, Zachary (29 December 2021). "As the Mayor Promised Millions for New Monuments, Old Ones Crumbled". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  79. ^ Smee, Sebastian (16 September 2025). "An art critic's pick for a dream Europe trip: Sweden and Denmark". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  80. ^ Castro, Jan Garden (December 1998). "Martin Puryear: The Call of History". Sculpture. Vol. 17, no. 10. pp. 16–21. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  81. ^ "For the New School, a New Courtyard; $2.6 million, 4,500-Square-Foot Minicampus Doubles as a Community Garden". The New York Times. 23 November 1997. Sec. 11, p. 1. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  82. ^ Trescott, Jacqueline (22 June 1996). "Federal Agency Halts Art Project". The Washington Post. Sec. D, pp. 1, 6.
  83. ^ Trescott, Jacqueline (30 July 1996). "Sculptors Put Back to Work; GSA Reverses Federal Triangle Decision". The Washington Post. Sec. E, p. 3.
  84. ^ Vogel, Carol (2 August 1996). "Inside Art". The New York Times. Sec. C, p. 25. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  85. ^ Forgey, Benjamin (25 April 1998). "The Capstone of the Federal Triangle". The Washington Post. Sec. C, pp. 1, 5.
  86. ^ Drohojowska-Philp, Hunter (5 December 1999). "Building a Vision From the Ground Up". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  87. ^ Knight, Christopher (26 November 1999). "Monumental Greeting". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  88. ^ Riding, Alan (7 November 1999). "Music; A Paris Arts Festival That Looks Outward". The New York Times. Sec. AR, pp. 46, 55. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  89. ^ Baker, Kenneth (31 October 2000). "Carving Novel Images Of Black Experience; Sculptor Martin Puryear illustrates classic 'Cane'". San Francisco Chronicle. Sec. B, pp. 1, 8. Retrieved 17 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  90. ^ Richard, Paul (11 March 2001). "The Sculptor's Swell Curves; Martin Puryear, Giving His Alluring Woodworks An Elegant Avian Aura". The Washington Post. Sec. G, pp. 1, 6.
  91. ^ Johnson, Ken (24 May 2002). "Art in Review; Martin Puryear". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  92. ^ Teachout, Terry (2 June 2002). "Thoroughly Modern Masterworks From Diebenkorn, Puryear, and... Ovid? You Bet.". The Washington Post. Sec. G, p. 10.
  93. ^ Kuspit, Donald (October 2002). "Martin Puryear; McKee Gallery". Artforum. Vol. 41, no. 2. p. 154. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  94. ^ Collins, Glenn & Dunlap, David W. (19 January 2004). "The 9/11 Memorial: How Pluribus Became Unum". The New York Times. Sec. A, p. 1. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  95. ^ Dunne, Aidan (6 February 2004). "The essence of things". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  96. ^ Leach, Cristín (8 February 2004). "Art: Martin Puryear". The Times. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  97. ^ Artner, Alan G. (13 January 2006). "Opportunity to see Puryear's refined work is not to be missed". Chicago Tribune. Sec. 7, p. 11. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  98. ^ Smith, Roberta (2 November 2007). "Art Review | Martin Puryear; Humanity's Ascent, in Three Dimensions". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
  99. ^ Cook, Greg (16 December 2007). "From this sculptor, an elegant retrospective in wood, wire". The Boston Globe. Sec. N, p. 4. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  100. ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence (17 May 2007). "Arts, Briefly". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
  101. ^ "National Medal of Arts Honors Will Barnet, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, and Martin Puryear". Artforum. 13 February 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  102. ^ Johnson, Ken (7 June 2012). "Art in Review; Martin Puryear: 'New Sculpture'". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  103. ^ Frankel, David (October 2012). "Martin Puryear; McKee Gallery". Artforum. Vol. 51, no. 2. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  104. ^ Ebony, David (October 2012). "Martin Puryear". Art in America. Vol. 100, no. 9. pp. 166–167. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  105. ^ Cotter, Holland (11 December 2014). "Art in Review; Martin Puryear". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  106. ^ Considine, Austin (27 February 2015). "Martin Puryear". Art in America. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  107. ^ Van Siclen, Bill (20 September 2014). "In iron and stone, Brown University acknowledges slave ties". The Providence Journal. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
  108. ^ Esplund, Lance (23 November 2015). "'Martin Puryear: Multiple Dimensions' Review". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  109. ^ Farago, Jason (24 December 2015). "Art Review; In 'Martin Puryear: Multiple Dimensions', Glimpsing an Artist's Process". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  110. ^ Lynch, Scott (14 May 2016). "Say Hello To 'Big Bling,' Martin Puryear's Colossal Sculpture In Madison Square Park". Gothamist. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  111. ^ Johnson, Ken (21 July 2016). "Outdoor Art Across the City: 4 Things New Under the Sun". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  112. ^ Rosenfeld, Jason (July–August 2016). "Martin Puryear Big Bling". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  113. ^ Nayeri, Farah (15 October 2017). "Martin Puryear's Works Mine African-American History". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  114. ^ Estorick, Alex (January–February 2018). "Martin Puryear". frieze. No. 192. pp. 156–157. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  115. ^ Pogrebin, Robin (15 August 2018). "Artist Martin Puryear Chosen for U.S. Pavilion at Venice Biennale". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  116. ^ Cotter, Holland (3 May 2019). "Martin Puryear, Citizen-Sculptor". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  117. ^ Kennicott, Philip (16 May 2019). "Review: America picked artist Martin Puryear's work for the Venice Biennale — and he's everything America is not". The Washington Post. Archived 15 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  118. ^ Plagens, Peter (28 May 2019). "'Liberty/Libertà' Review: Grappling With America's Past in Venice". The Wall Street Journal. Archived 11 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  119. ^ Smith, Roberta et al. (6 January 2021). "3 Art Gallery Shows to See Right Now". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  120. ^ D'Souza, Aruna (29 January 2021). "Martin Puryear". 4Columns. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  121. ^ Yau, John (23 January 2021). "Martin Puryear's Open Questions". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  122. ^ Whyte, Murray (3 October 2025). "Through the darkness with Martin Puryear at the MFA". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  123. ^ D'Souza, Aruna (30 October 2025). "Martin Puryear Sees Sculpture as a Bodily Encounter". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  124. ^ Lucas, Julian (24 October 2025). "A Daring Show Remixes the Monuments of the Confederacy". The New Yorker. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  125. ^ Foundation, Obama. "Obama Foundation Announces Final Group of Commissioned Artists for Campus". Obama Foundation. Retrieved 2026-04-12.
  126. ^ Puryear, Martin (1978). "Martin Puryear". Young American Artists: 1978 Exxon National Exhibition (Interview). New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. pp. 54–57. ISBN 0892070137. OCLC 4293606. Retrieved 22 February 2026. – via Internet Archive
  127. ^ Golden, Deven K., ed. Martin Puryear: Public and Personal. Chicago: Chicago Public Library Cultural Center, 1987.
  128. ^ "Storm King : Exhibition : Martin Puryear: Process and Scale [EXH.152]". collections.stormking.org. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  129. ^ Loos, Ted (2023-09-14). "Brick by Brick, a Sculpture at Storm King, by Way of Africa". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  130. ^ Dizikes, Peter (27 October 2023). "A marvel in masonry shows the art of the possible". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
  131. ^ Muck, Gordon F. (9 March 1981). "Afro-American Exhibit Depicts Black Heritage". Syracuse Post-Standard. p. C-3. Retrieved 20 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  132. ^ "Art tour; Locals exhibit paintings". Daily Breeze/News-Pilot. 9 July 1982. Retrieved 20 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  133. ^ Morch, Al (15 November 1982). "Powerful art of 'Afro-American Abstraction' at Oakland Museum". San Francisco Examiner. p. B12. Retrieved 20 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  134. ^ LaBadie, Donald (2 January 1983). "'Afro-American Abstraction' set for Brooks". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 20 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  135. ^ Derbeck, Jeanne (8 September 1983). "Myths of Africa influence artist". South Bend Tribune. p. 27. Retrieved 20 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  136. ^ Nelson, Boris (22 January 1984). "Black Heritage Is Focus Of Two Distinctive Art Exhibitions". The Blade. sec. E, p. 1. Retrieved 20 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  137. ^ Glowen, Ron (29 March 1984). "Caricaturist's work illumines France in 1800s". The Everett Herald. p. 5C. Retrieved 20 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  138. ^ Carraro, Francine (10 June 1984). "Modern abstract exhibit reflects African heritage". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 20 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  139. ^ "Art museum opens fall shows". Hattiesburg American. 23 September 1984. p. 8D. Retrieved 20 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  140. ^ Bonenti, Charles (28 April 1984). "Art Review; Martin Puryear at the museum". The Berkshire Eagle. p. 10. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  141. ^ Temin, Christine (7 July 1984). "Puryear's 'primitive' sophistication". The Boston Globe. p. 8. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  142. ^ Brenson, Michael (10 August 1984). "Sculpture: Puryear Postminimalism". The New York Times. Sec. C, p. 24. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  143. ^ Kelley, Jeff (29 October 1984). "S.D. Show; Puryear's Sculpture Casts Spell". Los Angeles Times. Part VI, pp. 1, 3. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  144. ^ Silverthorne, Jeanne (December 1984). "Martin Puryear". Artforum. Vol. 23, no. 4. pp. 82–83. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  145. ^ Pincus, Robert L. (5 November 1984). "Art Review; A Transformer Of Minimalism". Los Angeles Times. Part VI, pp. 1, 6. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  146. ^ Arner, Mark (18 October 1984). "Curiosity about making things spurs artist". The Blade-Tribune. p. 25. Retrieved 8 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  147. ^ Richard, Paul (5 February 1992). "Art; He Sawed & Conquered; Sculptor Martin Puryear's Homecoming at the Hirshhorn". The Washington Post. Sec. B, pp. 1, 10. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  148. ^ Muchnic, Suzanne (2 August 1992). "The Handyman: Martin Puryear stays in touch with his sculptures, bending, splitting, molding and joining his materials with a craftsman's skills". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  149. ^ Sozanski, Edward J. (8 November 1992). "Art; Sculptor Martin Puryear carves out his spot at the top". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Sec. H, pp. 1, 5. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  150. ^ Kimmelman, Michael (1 March 1992). "Art View; The Softly Spoken Message of Martin Puryear". The New York Times. Sec. H, p. 35. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  151. ^ Zimmer, William (20 December 1992). "Art; Unity and Diversity in Sculpture". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  152. ^ Dorsey, John (1 March 1992). "Puryear's sculptures are an artistic blend of elegance, ambiguity". The Baltimore Sun. Sec. D, pp. 1, 3. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  153. ^ Homes, A. M. (September 1992). "Martin Puryear; Hirshhorn Museum". Artforum. Vol. 31, no. 1. p. 102. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  154. ^ Knight, Christopher (30 July 1992). "Art Review; Puryear: A Paean to Craftsmen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  155. ^ Rugoff, Ralph (21–27 August 1992). "See Me, Feel Me; Living in a tactile world". LA Weekly. pp. 41, 42. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  156. ^ Plagens, Peter (11 November 1991). "Sculpture like it oughta be". Newsweek. Vol. 118, no. 20. p. 73.
  157. ^ Camper, Fred (5 December 1991). "Ideograms in a New Language; Martin Puryear at the Art Institute". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  158. ^ Hughes, Robert (2 March 1992). "Delight in a shaping hand". Time. Vol. 139, no. 9. pp. 61–63.
  159. ^ Danto, Arthur C. (4–11 January 1993). "Art; Martin Puryear". The Nation. Vol. 256, no. 1. pp. 30–32.
  160. ^ Ligocki, Gordon (8 November 1991). "Written in wood; Artist's creations are poetry in motion". The Times. Sec. E, pp. 1, 7. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  161. ^ LaMar, Doris (31 December 1992). "Sculptor Martin Puryear builds up instead of carving out". Asbury Park Press. Sec. E, p. 3. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  162. ^ Baker, Kenneth (16 November 1991). "Chicago Retrospective for a Rule-Breaker". San Francisco Chronicle. Sec. C, p. 6. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  163. ^ Ocaña, Damarys (6 July 2001). "Wood wins; Martin Puryear's years in shop class seem to have paid off". Miami Herald. Sec. "Street", p. 42. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  164. ^ Baker, Kenneth (26 August 2001). "Pure Puryear; Sculptor's Berkeley survey is an art highlight". San Francisco Chronicle. Sec. "Datebook", p. 63. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  165. ^ Thorson, Alice (3 February 2002). "Art exhibits worth the time and the drive; Des Moines and Omaha galleries have sights to see". The Kansas City Star. Sec. J, p. 3. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  166. ^ Hackett, Regina (27 December 2001). "It was an eye-catching year for visual art despite tough times". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  167. ^ Turner, Elisa (15 July 2001). "Art History; Martin Puryear's abstract sculptures, inspired by diverse traditions from around the world, pay tribute to the humble and the heroic". Miami Herald. Sec. M, pp. 3, 9. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  168. ^ Bruce, Jeffrey (2001). "Matter, Mind and Martin Puryear". International Review of African American Art. Vol. 17, no. 4. pp. 35–37.
  169. ^ Hudson, Suzanne (May 2008). "Martin Puryear; Museum of Modern Art, New York and Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth". Artforum. Vol. 46, no. 9. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  170. ^ Gopnik, Blake (22 June 2008). "The Art Craftsman; Martin Puryear Came Late to Abstraction But Carved a Niche for Himself Nonetheless". The Washington Post. Sec. M, pp. 6–7. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  171. ^ Baker, Kenneth (8 November 2008). "Sculpture in right direction; Puryear's large pieces at SFMOMA orient themselves, and viewers' attitudes, in space". San Francisco Chronicle. Sec. E, pp. 1, 10. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  172. ^ Dalkey, Victoria (21 December 2008). "The wonderful mystery keeps growing; Intriguing art of Martin Puryear is about essence, not appearance". The Sacramento Bee. Sec. "Explore", pp. 10, 11. Retrieved 7 February 2026. – via Newspapers.com
  173. ^ Schjeldahl, Peter (12 November 2007). "Seeing Things". The New Yorker. Vol. 83, no. 35. pp. 94–95.
  174. ^ Lacayo, Richard (12 November 2007). "The Man of Mysteries". Time. Vol. 170, no. 20. pp. 140–141.
  175. ^ Danto, Arthur C. (31 December 2007). "Tilted Ash". The Nation. Vol. 285, no. 22. pp. 27–30.
  176. ^ Wilkin, Karen (January 2008). "Martin Puryear at MOMA". The New Criterion. Vol. 26, no. 5. pp. 43–46.
  177. ^ Princenthal, Nancy (February 2008). "Puryear's Tall Tales". Art in America. Vol. 96, no. 2. pp. 116–121, 165.
  178. ^ Castro, Jan Garden (January–February 2008). "Martin Puryear: Spirit, Personhood, and History". Sculpture. Vol. 27, no. 1. pp. 52–57.
  179. ^ Carrier, David (February 2008). "Martin Puryear; New York and Fort Worth". The Burlington Magazine. Vol. 150, no. 1259 Northern European Art. pp. 138–139. JSTOR 20072993
  180. ^ Gross, Jennifer R. (February 2008). "Martin Puryear: Museum of Modern Art". Modern Painters. Vol. 20, no. 1. pp. 90–91.
  181. ^ Weil, Harry J. (Spring 2008). "Martin Puryear". ArtUS. No. 22. pp. 32–33.
  182. ^ Ottinger, Didier (May 2008). "Les chimères de Martin Puryear" [The Chimeras of Martin Puryear] (in French, en). art press. No. 345. pp. 58–62.
  183. ^ Liebman, Kate (April 2016). "Martin Puryear Multiple Dimensions". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  184. ^ Kennicott, Philip (27 May 2016). "A sculptor's work, seen in two and three dimensions". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  185. ^ Atwood, Roger (27 July 2016). "Face to Face: Martin Puryear at Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.". ARTnews. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  186. ^ Yau, John (6 December 2015). "Martin Puryear Bears Witness". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  187. ^ O'Steen, Danielle (July–August 2017). "Exhibition and Book Review; Martin Puryear at the Smithsonian". Art in Print. Vol. 7, no. 2. pp. 38–40. JSTOR 26408844
  188. ^ Crimmins, Peter (12 September 2017). "The Big Bling has renewed interest in sculptor Martin Puryear’s drawings". WHYY. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  189. ^ Russeth, Andrew (21 December 2017). "Martin Puryear's 'Big Bling' Heads to MASS MoCA". ARTnews. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  190. ^ Smee, Sebastian (29 January 2026). "A great American artist who urges us all to hush down". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  191. ^ Esplund, Lance (22 December 2025). "'Martin Puryear: Nexus' Review: Spare Sculptural Enigmas". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  192. ^ Tallman, Susan (23 October 2025). "Martin Puryear Changes The World Through Wood". The New Yorker. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  193. ^ Greenberger, Alex (5 February 2026). "Is Martin Puryear the Most Influential American Artist Working Today?". ARTnews. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  194. ^ King, Elaine A. (5 February 2026). "Martin Puryear". Sculpture. Retrieved 7 February 2026.

Cited references

Further reading

Exhibition texts

Interviews