Maxwell Hendler

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

2005

• Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

2002

• Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

2000

• Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

1998

• Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

1995

• Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

1993

• Asher/Faure, Los Angeles, CA

1989

• Asher/Faure, Los Angeles, CA

1987

• AsherFaure, Los Angeles, CA

1986

• Selected Paintings 1978-1986, Rio Hondo College, Whittier, CA

1985

• Asher/Faure, Los Angeles, CA

1983

• Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1981

• Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY
• King of Hearts II, Mendocino, CA

1978

• Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY

1976

• Maxwell Hendler: Sandpainting, 1969-1976, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA

1975

• Maxwell Hendler, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

1969

• Eugenia Butler Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1965

• Ceeje Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1962

• Ceeje Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (two-person exhibition with Arlene Goldberg)

1962

• Dickson Art Center, University of California, Los Angeles, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2010

• Groupings, Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2009

• Made in America, Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2008

• Mostly Black & White, Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
• Color Blind: Black, White and Gray in Contemporary Art, Cardwell-Jimmerson Contemporary Art, Culver City, CA
• Fall Selections, Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2007

• Monochrome Paintings: Some Versions from Ad Reinhardt to Present, Cardwell-Jimmerson Contemporary Art, Culver City, CA

2005

• Pink, Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
• Santa Monica Originals, Curated by Bruria Finkel, Arena 1, Santa Monica, CA

2004

• White on White, Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
• Paper, Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

2003

• Hyperrealismees - USA, 1965-1975, Strasbourg, France

2002

• Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
• Fitz Gibbon Exhibition, The Pilot Hill Collection of Contemporary Art, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA

2001

• Simply Complex: Monochrome Paintings from L.A., Curated by Reuben Baron and Joan Baron, Hunsaker/Schlesinger Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
• Group Exhibition, Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
• Conceptual Color: In Albers’ Afterimage, Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco State University, College of Creative Arts, San Francisco, CA
• Cloud 9, Curated by David Pagel, Gensler & Assoc., Santa Monica, CA
• Made, POST, Los Angeles, CA

2000

• Simply Complex: Monochrome Painting from LA, Dorsky Gallery, New York, NY; traveled to Storrs, CT; Boston, MA; Santa Fe, NM
• The Flower Show: An Invitational, Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
• LuminocitA’ Colori Dalla California: Hendler, Huerta, Kaufmann Studio La Citta, Verona, Italy

1999

• Size Matters, Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
• Painting: Fore and Aft, ACME, Los Angeles, CA

1998

• Hendler/Kraal/Thurston, Hunsaker/Schlesinger Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
• Double Trouble: The Patchett Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

1997

• Some Lust, Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
• Painting Beyond the Idea, Curated by Bennett Roberts. Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1996

• Seven Strangers, Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
• Red Painting, Newspace, Los Angeles, CA
• Fifteen Artists, Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

1995

• Murder, Curated by John Yau, Thread Waxing Space, New York, NY and Bergamot Station Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA
• Very Visual Dialogue, Rancho Santiago College, Santa Ana, CA

1994

• Recent Painting, Asher Faure, 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
• Not on Canvas, Asher/Faure, Los Angeles, CA

1990

• Group Show, Asher Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
• Hollywoodland, fiction/nonfiction, New York, NY
• California A-Z and Return, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH

1987

• Reduced Scale, Rio Hondo College, Whittier, CA
• Industrial Icons: Painting, Photography and Sculpture, University Art Gallery, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA.

1986

• A Southern California Collection, Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
• Invitational Drawing Show, Golden West College, Huntington Beach, CA
• American Realism/20th Century Drawings & Watercolors, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA

1985

• Levels of Reality: the realist paintings of Michiel Daniel, Maxwell Hendler and Mark Wethli, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA
• California Art from the Frederick R. Weisman Foundation, Senate Office Building, Washington, DC
• To the Astonishing Horizon, Curated by Peter Frank, Design Center, Los Angeles, CA
• New Work, Asher/Faure, Los Angeles, CA
• Crime and Punishment, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA
• California: Idions of Surrealism, Fisher Art Gallery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

1984

• 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 Meyers, 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
• California Artist, University of Nevada, Reno, NV
• 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

Teaching Experience

1965/66

• UCLA Extension, Part-Time Instructor in Fine Arts

1967/69

• California State University at Northridge, Full-Time Instructor, School of Fine Arts

1969/74

• California State University at Long Beach, Full-Time Associate Professor, School of Fine Arts (Tenured)

1974/76

• Art Center College of Design, Part-Time Instructor of Painting & Drawing
• University of California at Santa Barbara, Part-Time Instructor in Art, College of Creative Studies

Selected Articles and Reviews

2008

• Take Pleasure in Monochrome, David Pagel, Los Angeles Times, April 11

2005

• Art Pick of the Week, Cindy Kolodziejski, LA Weekly, March 18–24

2004

• The Many Colors of White, Explored, Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, March 19

2002

• Hendler Paintings Mesmerized with Intense Hues, Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, June 14
• So Simple, Yet So Difficult to Arrive At, Hunter Drohojowska-Philip, Los Angeles Times, May 19.

2001

• Conceptual Color in Albers’ Afterimage at SFSU, Colin Berry, Artweek, November

2000

• For Hendler, It’s a Bright, Bright World, David Pagel, Los Angeles Times, May 5

1998

• The Best of 1998, Dave Hickey, ArtForum, December
• The Best of 1998, Lisa Liebmann, ArtForum, December
• Maxwell Hendler at Patricia Faure, Jody Zellen, d’Art International, Fall
• Hendler Evokes Simple Yet Complex Joys, David Pagel, Los Angeles Times, June 5
• Style Over Substance in ‘Beyond the idea’, David Pagel, Los Angeles Times, October 12
• Exhibition blurs lines between art and kitsch, Robert Pincus, San Diego Union, July 5

1995

• Maxwell Hendler, Master of the Colorful, David Pagel, Los Angeles Times, May 4
• Plane/Structures Requires Altered Behavior, Graham Shearing, Pittsburgh Review, Feb 10

1994

• Like Gazing Into a Deep Pool at Night, ‘Plane/Structures’ at Otis College of Art and Design, Jan Tumlir, Artweek, Oct 6

1993

• Images Play with Light, Sight at Asher/Faure,” David Pagel, Los Angeles Times, March 4
• Starting with McLaughlin, Hendler, Kraal, Thurston, Art Picks of the Week, Peter Frank, LA Weekly, May 1–7
• Maxwell Hendler, David A. Greene, Art Issues, May/June

1993

• Maxwell Hendler at Asher/Faure, Michael Anderson, Art in America, October
• Looking in on Diversity in Three Acts, William Wilson, Los Angeles Times, May 22.

1990

• X is for MaXwell Hendler, John Fitz Gibbon, The Butler Institute of American Art, June - August

1989

• The Galleries, Los Angeles Times, Marlene Donahue, July 21

1987 Art 9/87, Maxwell Hendler, California Magazine, September

• Los Angeles, Maxwell Hendler, Colin Gardner, ArtForum, October
• The Art Galleries, Los Angeles Times, Sept 4, Cathy Curtis

1985

• Words as Images (ABC NO GAGA), Joan Hugo, Artweek, August
• Art Reviews, Kristine McKenna, Los Angeles Times, August 9
• Maxwell Hendler at Asher/Faure, Merle Shipper, ArtNews, October
• Landscape: The Bus Stops Here, Suzanne Muchnic, Los Angeles Times, January 26
• Reviews,” Colin Gardner, Artforum, December

1975

• Maxwell Hendler at the Metropolitan Museum, Barbara Thomsen, Art in America, Nov/Dec.

1971 “

• 11 L.A. Artists to Open in London, Los Angeles Times, Sunday, September 5

1965

• Hendler’s Form One of Clarity, William Wilson, Los Angeles Times, December 3
• Maxwell Hendler, Ceeje Gallery, E.K., ArtForum, November

Bibliography

22 Realists, Curated by James K. Monte, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1970

Beyond the Actual, Contemporary California Realist Painting, Curated by Donald Brewer, Pioneer Museum and Haggin Galleries, Stockton, CA., 1970

Directly Seen, Curated by Thomas Garver, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Balboa, CA., 1970

American Painting 1970, Curated by Peter Selz, Virginia Museum, Richmond, VA., 1970

11 Los Angeles Artists, Curated by Maurice Tuchman and Jane Livingston, Hayward Gallery, London, 1971

Separate Realities : Development in California Representational Painting and Sculpture, an Exhibition Organized By the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, 1973

LA8: Painting and Sculpture 76, Curated by Maurice Tuchman, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1976

Painting and Sculpture in California: The Modern Era, Curated by Henry T. Hopkins and Walter Hopps, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, 1976

a sense of scale, Curated by George Neubert, The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA., 1977

Contemporary Naturalism, Works of the 1970s, Curated by Phyllis Stigliano and Janice Parente, Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, NY., 1980

The Michael and Dorothy Blankfort Collection, Curated by Maurice Tuchman and Anne Carnegie Edgerton, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1982

Drawings by Painters, Curated by Richard Armstrong, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA., 1982

West Coast Realism, Curated by Lynn Gamwell, The Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, CA., 1983

American Accents, Curated by Henry Geldzahler, Organized by the US Embassy to Canada.

California: Idioms of Surrealism, Curated by Marie de Alcuaz, Fisher Gallery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1983

Frederick R. Weisman Foundation Volume One, Frederick Weisman Foundation, Los Angeles, 1984

Ceeje Revisited, Curated by Josine Ianco-Starrels, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, 1984

Crime and Punishment, Reflections of Violence in Contemporary Art, Curated by Jo Farb Hernandez, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA., 1984

American Realism: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watercolors from the Glenn C. Janss Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, 1986

California A-Z and Return, Curated by John Fitz Gibbon, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH., 1990

Painting Beyond the Idea, Curated by Bennett Roberts, Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1995

Murder, Curated by John Yau, Bergamot Station Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA., 1995

Hendler, Huerta, Kauffman, Curated by David Pagel, Studio la Citta, Verona, Italy, 2000