Max Martin

Max Martin

1889 - 1965

'Max Martin is a painter of genius, possessing a palette of startling force and a vision instilled with drama. His paintings reveal deep knowledge and an authentic handling. Max Martin is a painter of whom Australia should be proud.' Hayter Preston, Sunday Referee

James Patrick Martin was born in the inner city suburb of Fitzroy in 1889.  He took art lessons at Fitzroy School of Arts and later, life drawing, at Victorian Artists Society, where he exhibited his first work in 1912. At 17 he began working at MacRobertson's Steam Confectionery Works in Fitzroy and was a valued employee. On weekends he competed at wrestling, representing the firm and became known in the ring as Mac's Martin, "the one they feared to face."  He travelled to London and studied at St Martins School of Art before taking the 1922 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition by storm with his critically acclaimed ‘Portrait Group,’ now in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.

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