PAUL MAXWELL (b. 1925) Paul E. 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; 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 his work.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 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 Picasso, Miro, and 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 wall 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. In 1985, a twelve-minute documentary that dealt with Maxwell’s work was produced by Carol Shroeder 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 Maxwell piece Regimenta, an acrylic painting on paper.Maxwell died on July 10, 2015. Selected Biographical and Career Highlights1925 Born in Frost Prairie, Arkansas1950 BA, Art, Principia College, Elsha, Illinois1951 Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, California1955–58 Art Instructor, University of Houston and the Museum School, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TexasResides in San Diego, CaliforniaSelected Prizes, Awards· Houston Annual: Purchase Prize 1949, 1954; Cash Prize 1955 (March), 1956 (December), 19581949 Purchase Prize, The Newborn, casein1954 Purchase Prize, Dual Aspect, watercolor1955 (Mar) Cash Prize, Early Snow, casein-collage1955 (Dec) Cash Award, Dark Uprising, casein1958 Materials Award, Edge of Winter, tempera· Texas General/Annual: Purchase Prize 19591959 Purchase Prize, Timberline Pine, tempera· Texas Watercolor Society: Prize 19541954 Prize· Other Exhibitions: First Prize 1948 Alton, Illinois; Prize 1956 Philbrook1948 First Prize, Alton, Illinois1956 Prize, PhilbrookSelected Exhibitions· 1948 Spring Annual, Alton, Illinois (1st prize)· 1948 23rd Annual Exhibition of Work by Houston Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas· 1948 10th Texas General Exhibition 1948–1949, circulated: Witte Museum, San Antonio; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas· 1949 11th Annual Texas Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture 1949–1950, circulated: Witte Museum, San Antonio; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas· 1949 24th Annual Exhibition of Work by Houston Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (purchase prize)· 1950 Scripps College, Claremont, California· 1950 25th Annual Exhibition of Work by Houston Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas· 1950 12th Annual Exhibition of Texas Painting and Sculpture, 1950–1951, circulated: Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Witte Museum, San Antonio; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas· 1951 Solo, Pioneer Museum, Stockton, California· 1951 Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California· 1952 Solo, De Cordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts· 1953 28th Annual Exhibition of Work by Houston Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas· 1953 Solo, James Bute Gallery, Houston, Texas· 1954 29th Annual Exhibition of Works by Houston Artist, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (purchase prize)· 1954 Solo, Principia College, Elsah, Illinois· 1954 Texas Watercolor Society 5th Annual Exhibition, Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas (prize)· 1955 Solo, Beaumont Art Museum, Beaumont, Texas· 1955 (March) 30th Annual Exhibition of Works by Houston Artist, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (cash prize)· 1955 (December) 31st Annual Exhibition of Houston Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (cash prize)· 1956 Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma (prize)· 1956 Solo, Corpus Christi Museum, Corpus Christi, Texas· 1957 Survey of Painting in Texas, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, circulated by American Federation of Arts (catalogue)· 1957 7th Annual Houston Post Easter Art Exhibit, Houston Art League Building, Houston, Texas· 1957 Contemporary Religious Arts in Texas, Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas· 1957 Solo, 5207 Gallery, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma· 1958 Paintings by Paul Maxwell, Cushman Gallery, Houston, Texas· 1958 Solo, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas· 1958 The Premiere Paris Exhibition, Galerie du Colisee, Paris, France (catalogue)· 1958 Solo, Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma· 1958 33rd Annual Houston Artists Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas· 1959 Texas Watercolor Society 10th Annual Exhibition, Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas· 1959 Solo, Galerie du Colisee, 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, Sheraton-Dallas Hotel, Dallas, Texas (catalogue)· 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 Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma· 1960 Solo, Galerie Capitol, Lausanne, Switzerland· 1961 Solo, Hightower, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma· 1963 Solo, The Alley Gallery, Houston, Texas· 1962 Solo, Elms Gallery, Midland, Texas· 1964 Solo, Findlay Galleries, New York, New York· 1964 Solo, L. A. Arts Gallery, Shreveport, Louisiana· 1965 Solo, Atelier Chapman Kelley, Dallas, Texas· 1965 Solo, World’s Fair, New York, New York· 1966 Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition 1966, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas· 2006 Houston Art in Houston Collections: Works from 1900 to 1965, Heritage Society Museum, Houston, Texas· 2010 Three Artists Remembered: Bill Condon, Paul Maxwell, Herb Mears, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas· 2010 The Presence of Light: Sky and Light in the Texas Landscape, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas· 2011 Lone Star Modernism: A Celebration of Mid-Century Texas Art, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas· 2012 A Survey of Texas Modernists, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas· 2013 Rhythms of Modernism, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas· 2013 Summer Encore Exhibition, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas· 2014 Houston Founders at City Hall Art Exhibition, City Hall, Houston, Texas· 2015 Bayou City Chic: Progressive Streams of Modern Art in Houston, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas (catalogue)Selected Public CollectionsArkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, ArkansasCanton Art Institute, Canton, OhioDallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TexasDenver Art Museum, Denver, ColoradoFirst National Bank, Dallas, TexasMcNey Museum, San Antonio, TexasMuseum of Fine Arts, Houston, TexasOklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, OklahomaPhilbrook Art Center, Tulsa, OklahomaSmith College Museum, Northampton, MassachusettsTacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WashingtonWitte Museum, San Antonio, Texas