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Paul Maxwell Paintings

Paul Maxwell was born in Frost Prairie, Arkansas, in 1925. When Maxwell was nine, the family moved to Bastrop, Louisiana, where he completed high school. Maxwell went on to graduate from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, in 1950 with a BA in art, followed by graduate work at Claremont College in California. Maxwell was a modern artist and sculptor who developed a technique for using stencils to create thickly textured and layered surfaces, as well as objects he patented as “stencil casting” but that later became known as “Maxwell Pochoir.” He was also known for creating the “Max Wall” in the West Atrium of the Dallas Apparel Mart; although demolished in 2006, it can be seen as a backdrop in the science-fiction movie Logan’s Run. His work is highly abstract and often consists of some kind of grid — a form that is non-hierarchical and illustrates a major theme of his work. Maxwell died in 2015.

(Biography provided by Reeves Antiques)
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Artist: Paul Maxwell
Large Modern Abstract Cast Stencil Painting Paul Maxwell Mod Constructivist Neon
By Paul Maxwell
Located in Surfside, FL
Paul E. Maxwell (1925–2015) This is a unique painting on either paper or canvas. It is framed. Framed 46 X 34 sheet 41 X 29 inches Hand signed and dated. This can be hung either horizontally or vertically. Paul Maxwell was a modern artist and sculptor (known as both a Texas and a California artist) who developed a technique for using stencils to create thickly textured and layered surfaces, as well as objects he patented as “stencil casting” but that later became known as “Maxwell Pochoir.” He worked in numerous styles including Abstract Constructivist, Contemporary Modern and Abstract Expressionism. He was also known for creating the “Max Wall” in the West Atrium of the Dallas Apparel Mart; though demolished in 2006, it can be seen as a backdrop in the science-fiction movie Logan’s Run. His work is highly abstract and often consists of some kind of grid—a form that is non-hierarchical and illustrates a major theme of both his sculpture and his painting works. This piece is influenced by the Light and Space movement, a loosely affiliated art movement related to op art, minimalism and geometric abstraction originating in Southern California in the 1960s and influenced by John McLaughlin. Famous proponents included Peter Alexander, Larry Bell, Robert Irwin, Bruce Nauman, Eric Orr and James Turrell. Paul Maxwell was born in Frost Prairie (Ashley County) on September 17, 1925, to the farm family of Willie F. and Robert M. Maxwell. The sixth of seven children, Maxwell considered himself an artist from an early age and recalled the landscape of Frost Prairie as “pure form—wide unbroken fields of tall grass which the slightest breeze could shape into waves and ripples of golden light.” He said that drawing in the exposed clay soil there may have been an early inspiration for the kind of textured, expressionist, surfaces he would later create. When Maxwell was nine, the family moved to Bastrop, Louisiana, where he completed high school. Maxwell went on to graduate from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, in 1950 with a BA in art, followed by graduate work at Claremont College in California. While at Claremont, Maxwell had his first museum show in Stockton, California. In 1951, Maxwell exhibited his work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in a show that included such artists as Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, and Roberto Matta; also that year, he had his first commercial gallery exhibition. From 1955 to 1958, Maxwell taught at the Houston Museum of Art and at the University of Houston. From 1959 to 1961, he lectured and exhibited his work in Europe under the sponsorship of the U.S. Information Agency while maintaining a gallery in Switzerland. During the rest of the 1960s and into the 1970s and 1980s, Maxwell lived and worked in Texas and Oklahoma, receiving commissions for works in public spaces such as a mid century mod wall hanging relief sculpture in the Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and the free-standing sculpture for the lobby of the Stark County Library in Canton, Ohio. It was also during the 1970s that Maxwell developed and created pieces using his stencil-casting technique. similar in style to American Modernist Robert Natkin, In 1985, a twelve-minute documentary that dealt with Maxwell’s work was produced by Carol Schroeder and broadcast by PBS. The documentary, titled Paul Maxwell: Lines/Horizons, won the American Film Festival Red Ribbon Award for Best Short Documentary and the Mitchell Wilder Gold Medal Award given by the Texas Association of Museums, both in 1986. Maxwell was also the subject of the 2007 short film Through a Veil of Knowledge: The Legacy of Paul Maxwell, directed by Richard Balin. Maxwell had exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States and in England, Switzerland, France, Canada, and Australia. The permanent collection at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock (Pulaski County) includes the Modernism masterpiece Regimenta (1980), an acrylic painting on paper. Paul Maxwell was born in 1925 in Frost Prairie, Arkansas. After earning his bachelor’s degree in art from Principia College, he studied under Millard Sheets at Claremont Graduate School in California. While in Houston, Maxwell taught art and exhibited regularly and successfully in statewide competitions. He holds the patent for his own printmaking medium, a process he calls “stencil-casting". His work bears a style and color affinity to 1980's modernist art movements such as Memphis Milano, (Ettore Sottsass, Peter Shire, etc.) with the bold colors and geometric shapes that characterized the era. His earlier work was also associated with the Pop Art era artists. Selected Exhibitions: 1948 10th Texas General Exhibition 1948–1949, circulated: Witte Museum, San Antonio; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas 1950 Scripps College, Claremont, California 1951 Solo, Pioneer Museum, Stockton, California 1951 Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California 1952 Solo, De Cordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts 1953 Solo, James Bute Gallery, Houston, Texas Texas; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas 1959 Solo, Galerie du Colisée, Paris, France 1959 34th Annual Houston Artists Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas 1959 Made in Texas by Texans, Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art 1959 21st Annual Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Witte Museum, San Antonio; Beaumont Art Museum, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (purchase prize) 1959 Solo, Oklahoma Art...
Category

20th Century Abstract Expressionist Paul Maxwell Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Large Modern Abstract Cast Stencil Painting Paul Maxwell Mod Constructivist Neon
By Paul Maxwell
Located in Surfside, FL
Paul E. Maxwell (1925–2015) This is a unique painting on either paper or canvas. It is framed in a gold toned metal frame Framed 46 X 34 sheet 41 X 29 inches Hand signed and dated. This can be hung either horizontally or vertically. Paul Maxwell was a modern artist and sculptor (known as both a Texas and a California artist) who developed a technique for using stencils to create thickly textured and layered surfaces, as well as objects he patented as “stencil casting” but that later became known as “Maxwell Pochoir.” He worked in numerous styles including Abstract Constructivist, Contemporary Modern and Abstract Expressionism. He was also known for creating the “Max Wall” in the West Atrium of the Dallas Apparel Mart; though demolished in 2006, it can be seen as a backdrop in the science-fiction movie Logan’s Run. His work is highly abstract and often consists of some kind of grid—a form that is non-hierarchical and illustrates a major theme of both his sculpture and his painting works. This piece is influenced by the Light and Space movement, a loosely affiliated art movement related to op art, minimalism and geometric abstraction originating in Southern California in the 1960s and influenced by John McLaughlin. Famous proponents included Peter Alexander, Larry Bell, Robert Irwin, Bruce Nauman, Eric Orr and James Turrell. Paul Maxwell was born in Frost Prairie (Ashley County) on September 17, 1925, to the farm family of Willie F. and Robert M. Maxwell. The sixth of seven children, Maxwell considered himself an artist from an early age and recalled the landscape of Frost Prairie as “pure form—wide unbroken fields of tall grass which the slightest breeze could shape into waves and ripples of golden light.” He said that drawing in the exposed clay soil there may have been an early inspiration for the kind of textured, expressionist, surfaces he would later create. When Maxwell was nine, the family moved to Bastrop, Louisiana, where he completed high school. Maxwell went on to graduate from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, in 1950 with a BA in art, followed by graduate work at Claremont College in California. While at Claremont, Maxwell had his first museum show in Stockton, California. In 1951, Maxwell exhibited his work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in a show that included such artists as Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, and Roberto Matta; also that year, he had his first commercial gallery exhibition. From 1955 to 1958, Maxwell taught at the Houston Museum of Art and at the University of Houston. From 1959 to 1961, he lectured and exhibited his work in Europe under the sponsorship of the U.S. Information Agency while maintaining a gallery in Switzerland. During the rest of the 1960s and into the 1970s and 1980s, Maxwell lived and worked in Texas and Oklahoma, receiving commissions for works in public spaces such as a mid century mod wall hanging relief sculpture in the Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and the free-standing sculpture for the lobby of the Stark County Library in Canton, Ohio. It was also during the 1970s that Maxwell developed and created pieces using his stencil-casting technique. similar in style to American Modernist Robert Natkin, In 1985, a twelve-minute documentary that dealt with Maxwell’s work was produced by Carol Schroeder and broadcast by PBS. The documentary, titled Paul Maxwell: Lines/Horizons, won the American Film Festival Red Ribbon Award for Best Short Documentary and the Mitchell Wilder Gold Medal Award given by the Texas Association of Museums, both in 1986. Maxwell was also the subject of the 2007 short film Through a Veil of Knowledge: The Legacy of Paul Maxwell, directed by Richard Balin. Maxwell had exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States and in England, Switzerland, France, Canada, and Australia. The permanent collection at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock (Pulaski County) includes the Modernism masterpiece Regimenta (1980), an acrylic painting on paper. Paul Maxwell was born in 1925 in Frost Prairie, Arkansas. After earning his bachelor’s degree in art from Principia College, he studied under Millard Sheets at Claremont Graduate School in California. While in Houston, Maxwell taught art and exhibited regularly and successfully in statewide competitions. He holds the patent for his own printmaking medium, a process he calls “stencil-casting". His work bears a style and color affinity to 1980's modernist art movements such as Memphis Milano, (Ettore Sottsass, Peter Shire, etc.) with the bold colors and geometric shapes that characterized the era. His earlier work was also associated with the Pop Art era artists. Selected Exhibitions: 1948 10th Texas General Exhibition 1948–1949, circulated: Witte Museum, San Antonio; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas 1950 Scripps College, Claremont, California 1951 Solo, Pioneer Museum, Stockton, California 1951 Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California 1952 Solo, De Cordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts 1953 Solo, James Bute Gallery, Houston, Texas Texas; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas 1959 Solo, Galerie du Colisée, Paris, France 1959 34th Annual Houston Artists Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas 1959 Made in Texas by Texans, Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art 1959 21st Annual Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Witte Museum, San Antonio; Beaumont Art Museum, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (purchase prize) 1959 Solo, Oklahoma Art...
Category

20th Century Abstract Expressionist Paul Maxwell Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Sacred Abstract Composition
By Paul Maxwell
Located in Delray Beach, FL
Sacred. Mixed media on board, 48 x 39, signed, dated 86, custom aluminum frame. Paul E. Maxwell (1925-2015), Modern Abstract Expressionist was born in Frost Prairie (Ashley Count...
Category

1980s Abstract Paul Maxwell Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Board

Very Early 1950s Abstract Texas Desert Landscape
By Paul Maxwell
Located in Houston, TX
Early Abstract Paul Maxwell Landscape of the Texas desert done in blue tones. Watercolor on paper from the 1950s. Dimensions Without Frame: H 15 in. x W ...
Category

1950s Modern Paul Maxwell Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Large Framed Abstract Mixed Media Painting, Stencil Casting Maxwell Pochior
By Paul Maxwell
Located in Denver, CO
Original Stencil Casting on textured paper with deckled edges by Paul E Maxwell, numbered 110 of 150. Maxwell developed and patented this unique medium. "Stencil Casting" or "Maxwell...
Category

20th Century Abstract Paul Maxwell Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

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H 21.63 in W 49.63 in D 2.25 in
"Burned Over" Black and White Modern Abstract Oil Painting
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Modern Red, Orange, and Black Abstract Geometric Kitchenware Still Life Painting
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Modern Abstract Expressionist Blue Still Life with Bottles Painting
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Located in Houston, TX
Abstract blue still life painting of bottles on top of a table. Signed and dated by the artist in the bottom left corner and currently displayed in ...
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Canvas, Acrylic

Large Modern Abstract Expressionist Geometric White, Black and Red Painting
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Located in Houston, TX
Large white, black, and red tonal linear abstracting painting that was done in the expressionist style. Within the work is a network of grids, a style that Paul Maxwell was notable f...
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"Saturnian" Large Purple and Blue Modern Abstract Expressionist
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Paul Maxwell paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Paul Maxwell paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Paul Maxwell in paint, acrylic paint, synthetic resin paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Paul Maxwell paintings, so small editions measuring 29 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of D.S. Silver, Arnold Weber, and Don Fink. Paul Maxwell paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $575 and tops out at $7,500, while the average work can sell for $4,500.

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