Brice Marden's art in the 1970s continued the minimalist exploration evident in his work from the previous decade, while also beginning to incorporate influences that would lead to significant evolution in his style. During the 1970s, Marden's reputation as a master of the monochrome panel was solidified, and his work began to gain international fame. This period was also marked by his exploration of encaustic, a medium that suspends pigment in oil and beeswax, giving his surfaces a lustrous and diaphanous quality. The subtle, nuanced juxtapositions of tone in his works from this period offered a surprisingly intense comment on color, despite their often monochromatic appearance​ (Encyclopedia Britannica)​. A pivotal moment in the 1970s for Marden was his visit to the Greek island of Hydra in 1971, alongside his wife, Helen Harrington. The couple's annual returns to the island, and their eventual purchase of a home there in 1973, had a profound influence on Marden's work. The light and landscape of Hydra began to permeate his art, inspiring a series of works that included the five Grove Group paintings (1972–1980) and the Souvenir de Grèce works on paper (1974–1996), executed in oil on marble fragments​ (www.wikiart.org)​. In addition to these geographical influences, the 1970s saw Marden producing a series of 25 etchings that referenced Chinese ideograms. This introduction of a network of meandering lines into his paintings represented a departure from his earlier style, with monochrome panels now acting as background color fields. These developments underscored the continued importance of touch, surface, color, and tone in his work, setting the stage for further evolution in the decades to come​ (www.wikiart.org)​. This period of Marden's career, thus, marks a transition from the strict minimalism of his early work to a more expressive, albeit still restrained, exploration of line and color influenced by his interactions with natural landscapes and non-Western art forms. The impact of these experiences would become even more pronounced in his later works, particularly as he moved into the 1980s and beyond.