Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 2: Modern Era (1850–1949)

1949

Composition by Kenneth Martin

Artwork · Europe

Kenneth Martin's Composition (1949) at Tate, the painting that marks his turn towards 'pure invention' and rules-based work.
Kenneth Martin's Composition (1949) at Tate, the painting that marks his turn towards 'pure invention' and rules-based work. Kenneth Martin, Composition, 1949. Tate, London (T01758). © The estate of Kenneth Martin.

This abstract painting in the Tate collection serves as an important example of material (non-digital) generative art. This work marked Martin’s move towards “pure invention” and rules-based work. He was influenced during this period by D’Arcy W Thompson’s On Growth and Form.

Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.

Sources

People

D'Arcy Thompson, Kenneth Martin

Movements

generative art, Geometric Abstraction

Filed under

Ideas
abstraction, generative art, Geometric Abstraction, Material Generative Art, rules, Rules-Based Art
People
D'Arcy Thompson, Kenneth Martin
Works
On Growth and Form
Organisations
Tate, Tate Modern

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