Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada
Maxwell hendler top 8 facts
Maxwell Hendler (born 1938) is a California artist whose paintings were the first by a contemporary artist to hang in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 1975. His work has been characterized by dramatic shifts in style that have encapsulated larger trends in art.
His early work, dating from the 1960s to the mid-1970s was exemplified by a painstakingly precise approach which bore a strong resemblance to the work being produced by artists associated with the Photorealism movement of the time. However, contrary to Photorealist-type paintings, Hendler's work was produced from direct observation, not by working from photographs. His paintings were usually small, most were less than 12 inches square. In addition, Hendler's meticulous attention to detail meant he created relatively few of these works - approximately five paintings between 1965 and 1975.
By the 1980s, Hendler began producing work that featured painted words and textured grounds. Many of these works synthesize idioms of Pop Art, Minimalism and Conceptual Art practices, often all in one work.
In 1990, Hendler produced the first of his poured and polished polyester resin paintings, which he continues to produce. These works feature monochromatic and highly polished surfaces in a range of sizes and proportions.
Chronology
1938
Born in Saint Louis, Missouri
1955
Moved to Los Angeles; currently lives and works in Los Angeles
Education
1960
B.A., University of California, Los Angeles
1962
M.A., University of California, Los Angeles
1962-64
Post-Graduate studies in Painting, University of California, Los Angeles
Solo Exhibitions
2010
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2008
Two Approaches to Monochrome, (two-person exhibition with James Hayward) Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Visual Dialogue: Personal Journeys in Abstract Painting, Rancho Santiago College Art Gallery, Santa Ana, CA
Blue, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Plane/Structures, traveling exhibition, Curated by David Pagel, Otis Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA; Renaissance Society, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA; Center for the Arts, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT; White Columns, New York, NY; University of North Texas Art Gallery, Denton, TX; Nevada Institute for Contemporary Art, Las Vegas, NV.
Painting Perspectives, Jerrold Burchman Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara, CA
California, Jerrold Burchman Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara, CA
1993
From Concept to Realism, Random Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Inad’ Verently, Asher/Faure, Los Angeles, CA
1992
I to Eye 2, Cirrus, Los Angeles, CA
1991
Art-Over-the Sofa, Curated by Jan Butterfield, Boritzer/Gray, Los Angeles, CA
New Work, Paintings 1984, Asher/Faure, Los Angeles, CA
A Focus on California, Ahmanson Gallery, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Ceeje Revisited, Curated by Faith Flam, Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, CA
Frederick Weisman Foundation Collection of Contemporary Art, Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA
1983
Hassam and Speicher Fund Purchase Exhibition, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
California: Idioms of Surrealism, traveling exhibition organized by The Fisher Gallery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; The USC Atelier, Santa Monica, CA; Art Gallery, California State College, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA; Prate Manhattan Center Gallery, New York, NY; Pratt Institute Gallery, Brooklyn, NY.
American Accents, traveling exhibition Curated by Henry Geldzahler, The Gallery Stratford, Stratford, Ontario; College Park, Toronto;Musee du Quebec, Quebec, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia; Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, The Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia; Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta; Musee d’Art Contemporain, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
West Coast Realism, Traveling exhibition, curated by Lynn Gamwell, Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, CA; Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL; Center for Visual Arts, Illinois State University, Normal, IL; Fresno Art Center, Fresno, CA; Louisiana Arts and Science Center, Baron Rouge, LO; Museum of Art, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME; Colorado Springs, Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, CO; Spiva Art Center, Joplin, MO; Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont, TX; Sierra Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV; Edison Community College, Fort Myers, FL.
Limited Palettes, Asher Faure, Los Angeles, CA
1982
Drawings by Painters, The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA; Mandeville Art Gallery, University of California, San Diego, CA; Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
1980
Three Realist Painters, L.A. Louver Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Still Life Today, Curated by Janice Oresman, Goddard-Riverside Community Center, New York, NY
Contemporary Naturalism, Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Nassau, NY
1978
Representations of America, Curated by Henry Geldzahler, The Hermitage, Leningrad, Russia; Pushkin Museum, Moscow, Russia
A Sense of Scale, The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
Painting and Sculpture in California: The Modern Era, Co-curated by Walter Hopps & Henry Hopkins, The National Collection of Fine Arts, Washington, DC; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
1976
Los Angeles Eight: Painting and Sculpture, 1976, Curated by Maurice Tuchman, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
America As Art, The National Collection of Fine Arts, Washington, DC
1975
The Realist Image, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
1973
Separate Realities, Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1971
Eleven Los Angeles Artists, Der Neue Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, West Germany; Palais de Beaux Arts, Brussels, Belgium; The Hayward Gallery, London, England, Curated by Maurice Tuchman & Jane Livingston,
Faculty Exhibition, California State University, Long Beach, CA
1970
22 Realists, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Beyond the Actual: Contemporary California Realist Painters, Pioneer Museum of Art, Stockton, CA
American Painting 1970, Virginia Museum of Art, Richmond, CA
Directly Seen: California Realist Painters, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Balboa, CA
Realist Painters, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; Albright Knox Museum of Art, Buffalo, NY
1969
New Faculty Exhibition, California State College, Long Beach, CA
Third Annual Small Images Exhibition, California State College, Los Angeles, CA
1968
Artists Who Teach, Los Angeles County Museum of Art Rental Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
The Beach Show, San Fernando Valley State College, Northridge, CA
1967
Aspects of Realism, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Rental Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
New Faculty Exhibition, San Fernando Valley State College, Northridge, CA
1966
Faculty Collections Exhibition, San Fernando Valley State College, Northridge, CA
All City Art Festival, Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Annual National Competition, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
1965
Annual Southern California Competition, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
1964
Fifth Annual Festival of the Arts, Whittier College, Whittier, CA
1961
Lake Arrowhead Conference Center, University of California, Lake Arrowhead, CA
Inaugural Exhibition, Art Rental Gallery, Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, CA
Selected Museum Collections
Buck Collection, Laguna Beach, CA Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA Weisman Foundation, Beverly Hills, CA
Honors and Awards
1974/75
National Endowment for the Arts, Fellowship in Painting
1972/73
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship
1962/63
Max Beckmann Memorial Scholarship, Brooklyn Museum of Art School, New York, NY
1961/62
Teaching Assistantship, Art Department, University of California, Los Angeles
