ARTIST PROFILE

MARTIN PURYEAR

Martin Puryear was born May 23rd, 1941, and has not yet died. He was born in Washington D.C. , to the late Henri Puryear and Bertha Puryear. His dad was in the army for about 18 years, and during the time he was in the army, his mom was an x-ray technician. Martin had no siblings, and was an only child. He went to Yale University, and graduated in 1969. He is married to Martina Puryear and they have one kid together. 5 historical events that happened in Martins life was a huge house fire that destroyed his studio and a lot of his art work, he did lose his wife, he was homeless before college, and he got his best sculpture stolen. His biggest struggle was losing his wife and being homeless. He worked a lot with watercolors and sculptures, and was very famous for his sculptures. He is known for his devotion to traditional craft. Working in wood and bronze, among other media, his reductive technique and meditative approach challenge the physical and poetic boundaries of his materials.