Max Gimblett

Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1935

Buddha Amida - Gift to CAG with Love, Max

  • 1980-1983
  • Pencil and acrylic polymer on Arches Watercolour 555lb cold-pressed rough paper (France)
  • The Max Gimblett and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett Gift
  • 756 x 1054mm
  • 2011/196

With no beginning and no end, the circle is considered a perfect form in many cultures. Alongside Max’s well-known ensos (rapidly brushed circles) are his more precisely drawn circles within circles, such as we see in this work. The artist would often draw these to provide insight into relationships between colours and diameters. If he was happy with the result, Max would then scale them up into large paintings. Unlike his spontaneously drawn ensos, these circles have been precisely drawn with a compass, carefully painted in and delicately balanced on a clearly defined horizontal line. (Max Gimblett: Ocean Wheel, 1 August – 15 November 2020)