Max Robinson is a respected visual designer and artist, having begun his career and practice in design.
When asked about Max Robinson, your first thought may be his design of the Australian $10 note. While this is his most notable design, Robinson’s ouvre is much broader. He loved art from an early age, and studied arts at both RMIT and VCA during the 1950s. Whilst holding a job washing brushes at Clemengers, an advertising company where he was apprenticed by then well-known graphic designer Max Forbes, Robinson paved the way for what was to be his very successful design career.
Robinson viewed design and art as two very separate things. Jane Schou-Clarke, Max Robinson’s lifelong partner, said: “For him, design was a visual solution to a client’s needs (not necessarily wants, as he used to say) while painting was his own desire to capture visually the extraordinary landscape in a way the satisfied him, and only him.”
Within this curated offering of paintings by Max Robinson within The Thursday Auction on October 29, we explore the abstract as influenced by many places in the world.
Max Robinson created his artworks surrounded by a group of like-minded creatives. They would travel around Australia and make base. These trips inspired Robinson to create some of the paintings within this auction. ‘Bushfire Burning’, a piece within the curated selection on offer, was created and inspired by one of these trips in Mungo. The harsh, warm reds embody the deep, soft landscape. Viewers will note that Robinson never used canvas and most always painted on masonite or paper laid on board, as he found canvas to be too pliable for painting purposes.
We are delighted to present this collection of abstracts by Australian artist Max Robinson.
Hannah Ryan, Art Salon Manager
October 2020