How to Love the Whole World

A powerful, poetic picture book biography about artist Agnes Martin and how she painted to show her love for the world

In simple, poetic language, How to Love the Whole World tells a story of an artist and answers the question, “How do we love the whole world?” We slow down, pay attention, seek beauty and truth, feel it all, maybe even joy.

Like her contemporary Georgia O’Keeffe, Agnes was deeply inspired by the New Mexican landscape and lived a solitary life there, painting what she loved. And what did Agnes love? She loved an eggshell blue sky at sunrise, and she loved the cotton candy pink sunset. Agnes loved the whole world.

She said, “If I paint the things I love, then my paintings will be about love. And you will feel love when you look at them.” She even painted a painting called I Love the Whole World—twice. But some days, Agnes did not love the whole world. Not everyone understood her art, or her, and she felt it all. Agnes painted solace in pale, barely-there, mercurial hues and painstakingly simple lines and squares.

International art scholar Henry Martin and author/illustrator Shelley Hampe collaborated to create this beautiful and original picture book biography.