Norman Zammitt
About
Norman Zammitt was an American artist from Canadian origin living and working in Los Angeles.
Norman Zammitt was a lead figure in the Light & Space movement considered as the most important one in Los Angeles. His works, especially his « three dimensional » sculptures, were pioneers in the United States. This innovative concept, which explored color and transparency, inspired a whole generation of artists including Dewain Valentine or Peter Alexander, and earned him the Guggenheim Prize in 1968. Artworks from his Band Painting series were, in turn, aligned with those of the American minimalist artists, Ellsworth Kelly and Frank Stella, or the German abstract painter Josef Albers, due to their repetition and exploration into color itself, its nature and its spirituality. Norman Zammitt has been collected by impressive institutions such as the Lacma and the Moma to name but a few.
Collections
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS :
AMON CARTER MUSEUM, FORTH WORTH
HIRSHHORN MUSEUM, WASHINGTON
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON
LONG BEACH MUSEUM, LONG BEACH
LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM, LOS ANGELES
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, SAN DIEGO
MOMA, NEW YORK
MOMA, SAN FRANCISCO
NATIONAL GALLERY, WASHINGTON
NORA ECCLES HARRISON MUSEUM, LOGAN
NORTON SIMON MUSEUM, PASADENA
PALM SPRINGS MUSEUM, PALM SPRINGS
ROWLAND INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE, CAMBRIDGE
SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM, SANTA BARBARA
SEATTLE ART MUSEUM, SEATTLE
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, STANFORD
VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS :
EDWIN LAND, SCIENTIST
ELIZABETH FORSYTHE HAILEY, JOURNALIST
HELEN & PETER BING, NURSE & DOCTOR
JOHN KLUGE, BUSINESSMAN
MARILYN & WILLIAM LASAROW, ARTIST & JUDGE
MAURICE TUCHMAN, CURATOR
NORMAN LEAR, PRODUCER
RICHARD FEYNMAN, PHYSICIST
RUTH & RICHARD ROGERS, CHEF & ARCHITECT
TRUMAN CAPOTE, WRITER
Acquisition
Collection Mahssa Talaï
Acquired in 2019
Hard White Edge, 1976
Acrylic on canvasboard
20 x 26 cm
Unique
Series
Band Painting (1973-1988) is the emblematic series of Norman Zammitt composed of 60 small paintings. The precision and preference of this unclassifiable artist for smooth supports create a parallel with minimalist artists.
Even though these works may suggest landscapes, they especially reflect his ability to capture light. His affinity with scientists allows him to transform his abstract work into mathematical language. He creates logarithms and curves in order to accurately trace the bandwidth and progression of color, not only for aesthetic precision, but also for emotional effect, spiritual and singular. He also discovered that the parabolic graphs created to calculate the exact progression of color gradation follow the same curve as the growth rate of living organisms.
