Max White - First Impressions Catalogue

MAX WHITE
First Impressions
3rd - 24th July
HIGHGATE CONTEMPORARY ART

Front: 2pm on Piccadilly oil on board 24 x 30” / 61 x 76 cm

MAX WHITE
First Impressions
3rd - 24th July 2022
The exhibition opens on our website at 10am on Sunday 3rd July.
Appointments to see the exhibition in person can be made by using the online booking form on our
website, or by emailing us.
“Max is a plein air artist. A committed painter who gets up at the crack of dawn to travel and paint, always
looking for places to set up an easel - no matter the weather!
I have watched him develop and grow as an artist over the last couple of years and it is clear that he is a
natural and intuitive painter, whose work on show here at the gallery has been admired and sought after.
I am very excited to see what the future holds for Max, and am delighted that he is part of our gallery family.”
Hannah Ivory Baker
Director of Highgate Contemporary Art
*All work in the catalogue is available for sale upon receipt.
www.highgateart.com / info@highgateart.com / 020 8881 9117
Unit B307, The Chocolate Factory, 5 Clarendon Road, London, N22 6XJ
Instagram @highgateart

BACKGROUND PAINTING STUDIO ETC

Highgate Contemporary Art is delighted to present First Impressions which comprises of 14 paintings
done en plein air in and around London, Sussex and Edinburgh. He captures the fleeting moments of
light on the water or the edges of buildings, the sun breaking through clouds as it sets and rises, the
every-day hustle and bustle of city streets.
By his own admission, Max has a tendency to throw himself into difficult situations in his paintings not
only in his use of a limited palette which forces an exceptional understanding of the capabilities of each
colour, but also compositionally, in terms of colour and tone. Paintings such as ‘Queensmere Pond
Shimmer’ in which he captures light reflecting off the water, is a perfect example of a challenging
composition where a multitude of tonal changes and juxtapositions are at play to create depth,
perspective and movement. Similarly, in ‘Daggers of Light on the Edinburgh Skyline’ Max is able to
balance the warm earthy darks of the foreground, and cooler blue-greys of the background with the
sharp light of the sun which becomes more muted as it catches distant rooftops.
Paintings such as 2pm on Piccadilly have a nostalgic, film-like quality to them, reminiscent of old 35mm
photographs, a tool that Max used to develop his practice until now where he almost exclusively paints
outdoors.
Observing his paintings you get a real sense that his mark making is deliberate and his use of colour and
tone is deeply considered. There is a purpose, a function to each scumbled mark, or dab of paint. Not
just in terms of his intention to truly capture the place, the time of day and scene but also in terms of
portraying what had caught his eye in the first place, his first impression.

2pm on Piccadilly
oil on board 24 x 30”

Wimbledon Common Trees
oil on board 30 x 20cm

Wimbledon Village Café, 3pm
oil on board 8 x 12” / 20 x 30cm

The John Soane Museum from Lincoln's Inn Fields
oil on board 24 x 30cm

Crown Passage
oil on board 41 x 30cm

London From Bank
oil on board 16 x 12”

Evening Light on Hammersmith Bridge
oil on board 20 x 30cm

Breaking Sky
oil on board 8 x 10”

Edinburgh Rock
oil on board 16 x 20”

Daggers Of Light on Edinburgh's Skyline
oil on board 16 x 24”

Outside The Apollo, Soho
oil on board 30 x 20cm

Queensmere Pond Shimmer
oil on board 16 x 24”

Sussex Sunset
oil on board 24 x 30cm

The Royal Exchange at Night
oil on board 16 x 24”

Light Effect from Calton Hill, Edinburgh
oil on board 24 x 30cm

Leigh on Sea, Midday
oil on board 20 x 30cm

Putney, Full of Angry Drivers from the Bridge
oil on board 15 x 30cm

Pall Mall
oil on board 24 x 30cm

BIO
Max White (b 1998) is a contemporary figurative painter based in the south east of England
working primarily in London. Sketching from an early age and taking up oil painting at 14. Max
went on to study architecture in Cardiff whilst exhibiting in Kent based galleries in the
summers between terms.
Having graduated in 2019 Max made the decision to plan for a future career as an artist. Whilst
working part time in his local town of Oxted he focused on developing his technique through
self-study in his home studio painting urban scenes taken from 35mm photographs, and
painting the local Surrey hills en Plein air. This continued through the pandemic of 2020 and
Max's focus shifted almost entirely to plein air painting within the urban environment of
London.
Max White’s influences include the original impressionists, Monet, Boudin etc and their
predecessors, Whistler, Corot, Constable, and the old masters. Max also takes inspiration from
the latest pioneers of British Plein Air painting such as Ken Howard, Fred Cuming, and Peter
Brown.
Max has exhibited with multiple societies within the Federation of British Artists and has
exhibited in various initiatives and group shows in the past few years. He plans to continue
developing his skills and techniques in order to progress his work.

CV
Education
BSC - Architecture - Cardiff University
IB Diploma - Sevenoaks School
Solo Exhibitions
“Inspiration in the time of Covid” – 2020 – (Online) Grierson Galleries
“SOLO SHOW” – 2017 – Grierson Gallery Sevenoaks, Kent
Group Exhibitions
Green & Stone Summer Exhibition 2021 - The gallery at Green and
Stone
“Royal Institute of oil painters exhibition 2021” - Mall Galleries
“Art For Youth London 2021” - Mall Galleries
“New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2021” - Mall Galleries
“Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition 2021” - Mall Galleries
“Ranleigh Arts Summer Show” - 2021 - Duo Show with Svetlana
Cameron
“The Wilderness Exhibition” - 2021 - St Pancras New Church, London
“OUTSIDE EDGE” – 2019 – Grierson Gallery Cranbrook, Kent
“10x10 Drawing the City” - 2019 - The RIBA - london
“Big Three” – 2018 – Grierson Gallery Sevenoaks, Kent
“London” - 2017 - Grierson Gallery Sevenoaks, Kent
Grierson Gallery Grand Opening Exhibition - 2016 - Grierson Gallery -
Sevenoaks, Kent
Awards
Third Prize, Winsor and Newton Young Artist Prize, ROI 2021
Royal Institute of Oil Painters Emerging Artist Prize 2021

PRICELIST
2pm On Piccadilly oil on board 30 x 24” / 76 x 61cm £2050
Daggers Of Light On Edinburgh’s Skyline oil on board 24 x 16” / 61 x 41cm £1250
The Royal Exchange at Night oil on board 24 x 16” / 61 x 41cm £1250
Queensmere Pond Shimmer oil on board 24 x 16” / 61 x 41cm £1250
Edinburgh Rock oil on board 20 x 16” / 51 x 41cm £925
Crown Passage oil on board 16 x 12“ / 41 x 30cm £750
London From Bank oil on board 16 x 12” / 41 x 30cm £750
Sussex Sunset oil on board 9 x 12” / 24 x 30cm £625
John Soane Museum from Lincoln’s Inn Fields oil on board 9 x 12” / 24 x 30cm £625
Wimbledon Village Café at 3pm oil on board 8 x 12” / 20 x 30cm £525
Wimbledon Common Trees oil on board 8 x 12” / 20 x 30cm £525
Outside The Apollo, Soho oil on board 8 x 12” / 20 x 30cm SOLD
Evening Light on Hammersmith Bridge oil on board 8 x 12” / 20 x 30cm £525
Breaking Sky oil on board 8 x 10” / 20 x 25cm SOLD
Light Effect from Calton Hill, Edinburgh oil on board 9 x 12” / 24 x 30cm £600
Leigh on Sea, Midday oil on board 8 x 12” / 20 x 30cm £550
*Putney, Full of Angry Drivers from the Bridge oil on board 6 x 12” / 15 x 30cm £350
Pall Mall oil on board 9 x 12” / 24 x 30cm £600
*Unframed

Reverse: Detail of London From Bank oil on board 16 x 12” / 41 x 30cm

HIGHGATE CONTEMPORARY ART
Unit B307, The Chocolate Factory, 5 Clarendon Road, London, N22 6XJ
www.highgateart.com / info@highgateart.com / 020 8881 9117
Instagram @highgateart