Maxwell Harold Gimblett, (born 5 December 1935) is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and American artist. His work synthesizes postwar American and Japanese art using

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

, spiritual abstraction, and

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

. Gimblett’s work was included in the exhibition ''The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1869-1989'' at the Guggenheim Museum and is represented in that museum's collection as well as the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of Art,

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

(Washington, D.C.), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand ...

, and the

Auckland Art Gallery Toi O Tamaki Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

, among others. Throughout the year Gimblett leads

sumi ink Sumi may refer to: People ;;Names: * Sumi Haru (1939–2014), American film and television actress * Sumi Hakim (born 1944), Indonesian fashion designer and former model * Sumi Helal, is a computer scientist * Sumi Hwang (born 1986), South Kor ...

workshops all over the world. In 2006 he was appointed Inaugural Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries,

Auckland University The University of Auckland (; Māori language, Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public university, public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the Unive ...

. Gimblett has received honorary doctorates from Waikato University and the Auckland University of Technology and was awarded the Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM). He lives and works in New York and has returned to New Zealand over 65 times.

Life and work

Gimblett was born and raised in Grafton,

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, a second-generation New Zealander. Gimblett attended King's School and

Auckland Grammar School Auckland Grammar School (often simplified to Auckland Grammar, or Grammar), established in 1869, is a State school, state, Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding secondary school for Single-sex education, boys in Auckland, New Zealand. ...

, and from 1951-1953 studied at and received his Associate in New Zealand Institute of Management from the Seddon Memorial College. Gimblett left New Zealand in 1956 to travel throughout Europe until 1961, with a brief return to Auckland for a year in 1958–59. Traveling to the Americas in 1962, Gimblett apprenticed with master potter Roman Bartkiw in Toronto, Canada, and then worked with master ceramist Merton Chambers from 1962 to 1964. In 1964 he married Barbara Kirshenblatt, now the Ronald S. Lauder Chief Curator of the Core Exhibition at Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews and University Professor Emirita at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. That same year he studied drawing at the Ontario College of Art, Toronto. It was in Toronto where Gimblett and Kirshenblatt were sitting together one night and Gimblett showed a conte crayon self portrait he had just completed to which Kirshenblatt declared, "you're a painter, Max!" and their fates were sealed. The pair began traveling the states in 1965 as Kirshenblatt attended various schools. They lived in San Francisco where Kirshenblatt studied at University of California, Berkeley and Gimblett briefly studied at the San Francisco Art Institute. He had his first one person exhibition with Richard Capper, San Francisco, in 1966. From 1967 to 1970 Gimblett had a studio in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...

where

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (born September 30, 1942, in Toronto, Ontario) is a scholar of Performance and Jewish Studies and a museum professional. Professor Emerita of Performance Studies at New York University, she is best known for her int ...

was completing her PhD in Folklore Studies. In 1970-1972 they lived in Austin, Texas, where Barbara was an associate professor in the English department at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, Austin and Gimblett had an important one-person exhibition at Dave Hickey's legendary A Clean Well-Lighted Space. In 1972 Gimblett and Kirshenblatt moved to New York—a place they would call home for the rest of their lives. In 1974 Gimblett formed an affinity and enduring friendship with the experimental filmmaker and kinetic sculptor

Len Lye Leonard Charles Huia Lye (; 5 July 1901 – 15 May 1980) was a New Zealand artist known primarily for his experimental films and kinetic sculpture. His films are held in archives including the New Zealand Film Archive, British Film Institute, ...

, a fellow New Zealander. Gimblett continued to support Lye's work after his death and in 1990 he became a trustee of the Len Lye Foundation based in New Plymouth, New Zealand. In 1979 Gimblett and Kirshenblatt became American

Citizens Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality; ...

. In 1975 he joined the Cuningham Ward Gallery, New York where he exhibited with

Ross Bleckner Ross Bleckner (born May 12, 1949) is an American artist. He currently lives and works in New York City. His artistic focus is on painting, and he held his first solo exhibition in 1975. Some of his art work reflected on the AIDS epidemic. Early ...

, John Walker, David Reed,

John Elderfield John Elderfield (born 25 April 1943) was Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, from 2003 to 2008.''Who’s Who 2011'', A&C Black, 2011 He served as the Allen R. Adler, Class of 1967, Distinguished Curator ...

, and Lynton Wells. In 1989 he was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts Painting Fellowship. In 1990 Gimblett joined the Haines Gallery, San Francisco and the

Gow Langsford Gallery Gow Langsford Gallery is a commercial art gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. The gallery was established in 1987 by John Gow and Gary Langsford. Gow Langsford represents many significant New Zealand and international artists, including Max Gim ...

, Auckland. Both of these galleries continue to represent him today. In 1991 he participated in a residency at The Rockefeller Foundation, Study and Conference Center, Bellagio, Lake Como, Italy. Gimblett was a J. Paul Getty associate at the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities, Santa Monica, in 1991–1992. Craig Potton Publishing published his first monograph in 2002 in association with Gow Langsford Gallery (Auckland), which includes essays by John Yau and Wystan Curnow. "Max Gimblett: The Brush of All Things", a major survey of his work, opened at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi O Tamaki, Auckland, New Zealand in 2004 and traveled to the City Gallery, Wellington. Thomas McEvilley and Wystan Curnow contributed essays to the catalog, which also contained an interview with Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. "Here is how it happened. Gimblett stepped up to the 80-inch circular canvas and while that murderous train bore down on him, he painted The Wheel in less than one minute. This is no exaggeration, in on rapturous, fearless moment, which left him with time to spare." Wystan Curnow describes Gimblett painting The Wheel, an Enso, in his essay An Exhilaration of the Spirit, in Max Gimblett, monograph, 2002, published by Craig Potton Publishing in association with Gow Langsford Gallery, also including an essay by

John Yau John Yau (born June 5, 1950) is an American poet and critic who lives in New York City. He received his B.A. from Bard College in 1972 and his M.F.A. from Brooklyn College in 1978. He has published over 50 books of poetry, artists' books, ficti ...

. In January 2006 Max Gimblett took refuge in the precepts of Buddha, under the guidance of Dairyu Michael "Great Dragon" Wenger, at the San Francisco Zen Center. "Gimblett’s absorption in Asian art connects him to three unique figures in American art:

Morris Graves Morris Cole Graves (August 28, 1910 – May 5, 2001) was an American painter. He was one of the earliest Modern artists from the Pacific Northwest to achieve national and international acclaim. His style, referred to by some reviewers as Mysti ...

, John McLaughlin, and

Ad Reinhardt Adolph Friedrich Reinhardt (December 24, 1913 – August 30, 1967) was an American abstract painter and art theorist active in New York City for more than three decades. As a theorist he wrote and lectured extensively on art and was a ...

," writes Yau, "One reason Gimblett shares a deep connection with these three seminal figures is because all of them embarked upon an intense and prolonged study of different schools of Buddhism and Buddhist art." He was appointed to the honorary position of Visiting Professor of Art to the National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries, Auckland University, Auckland, New Zealand in 2003. Gimblett was the Laila Foundation Artist in Residence at HuiPress, Maui, HI in July 2008, making a suite of Enso etchings. His work was included in the Guggenheim Museum's exhibition titled "The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860 to 1989" which was open from 30 January to 19 April 2009. The exhibition was curated by Alexandra Munroe, the museum's first Senior Curator of Asian Art. For

ANZAC The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

's 100th Anniversary, he created the "Art of Remembrance" public art—solid brass quatrefoils to represent each Kiwi soldier that served in WW1, placed in a grid, as if armour, on the exterior of St. David's Church on Khyber Pass Road in Auckland, Gimblett's childhood church. The sales of individual Art of Remembrance quatrefoils raised $1 million towards saving and restoring the church. Quatrefoils from "Art of Remembrance" were installed at Te Papa and the

Auckland War Memorial Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum (), also known as Auckland Museum, is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building constructed in the 1920s and 1950s, stands on Observatory ...

. He was named an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

for services to art in the

2015 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours were awarded as ...

. On 26 October 2017, Gimblett received an honorary doctorate from the University of Waikato and again in 20for his philanthropy and achievements in the artistic world. In 2022 The Getty Research Institute acquired an archive of more than 250 artist’s books as The Max Gimblett Artist's Book Collection. Gimblett's work is rich and inventive. He is known for his great technical and stylistic range: the monochrome, geometric abstraction, the calligraphic and figurative expressionism all find a place in the work. He uses novel shaped supports: ovals, circles, and rings. However the quatrefoil is the shape he has really made his own. "The quatrefoil is defined ..." writes Thomas McEvilley, "as 'a compound leaf or flower consisting of four (usually rounded) leaflets or petals radiating from a common center.' Most of Gimblett’s works in this format are geometrised, meaning that the petals of the flowers are not merely rounded in an organic sense but are composed of four perfect circles that intersect at a single point. It is a format which virtually no other modern artist has emphasized." Gimblett's work is highly affected by

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, classical mythology, alchemy, the writing of Carl Jung, Ernest Hemingway, William Saroyan, DH Lawrence, Dostoyevsky, and the poetry of TS Eliot,

Charles Brasch Charles Orwell Brasch (27 July 1909 – 20 May 1973) was a New Zealand poet, literary editor and arts patron. He was the founding editor of the literary journal ''Landfall'', and through his 20 years of editing the journal, had a significant i ...

, and Robert Creeley. He's influenced by fellow artists Len Lye, Jackson Pollock, William Turner, Henri Matisse, and Elizabeth Murray, and Zen ink painters Sengai Gibon, Yamaoka Tesshū, and Hakuin Ekaku. "The Influence of Zen," writes Thomas McEvilley, "for example, seems natural to Gimblett, and carries with it an echo of Asia’s proximity to New Zealand, but also can be traced partly to American artists with West Coast connections such as Clyfford Still and Mark Tobey. Gimblett has made a harmonious post-war synthesis of America and Japan."McEvilley, Thomas. The Brush of All Things, The Transition from Three to Four, Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tamaki, Auckland, New Zealand. Page 9. Gimblett has collaborated with a number of other artists including Robert Creeley (The Dogs of Auckland),

Lewis Hyde Lewis Hyde (born 1945) is a scholar, essayist, translator, cultural critic and writer whose scholarly work focuses on the nature of imagination, creativity, and property. Early life and education Hyde was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He ...

(Oxherding, numerous works on paper, paintings, and artist books),

(artist books, works on paper, paintings),

Alan Loney Alan Perress Loney is a New Zealand writer, poet, editor, publisher and letterpress printer. His work has been published by University and private presses in New Zealand, Australia and North America. His own presses have printed and published man ...

(Mondrian's Flowers),

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the vocalist, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Martin went to University Colleg ...

(works on paper), Michael Dai Ryu Wenger "Great Dragon" (works on paper, artist books), Matt Jones (works on paper, artist books paintings), Philip Luxton (ceramics), Giovanni Forlino (works on paper, artist books), Kristen Reyes (works on paper, artist books) and Perry Kirker-Mraz (works on paper, artist books, paintings).

Life and work

References

External links