Max Karp
MAX KARP
American Artist Max Karp is internationally acclaimed as the “father of modern enameling.” His enormous talent and perfection of the unique enameling process assured his place in art history. A self-taught artist, Karp was born in Ohio in 1916 and raised in Southern California. Karp began painting in oils as he recorded various species of birds and insects for his ornithologist/entomologist father. In the mid-1960's, Karp became interested in the enamel process. Beginning on a small scale, he mastered the miniature enamel technique and later perfected the large-scale painting for which he is best known. Karps’ deft hands manipulated the powderized colored glass into detailed images on thick copper plates. His use of color and line would have been accomplished for even a painter working in traditional materials. In 1970 The Hamilton Mint commissioned Karp to produce the “Four Seasons” paintings, which were then issued as a limited edition of plates on precious metal. In 1980 Karp's enamel portrait of Beverly Sills was presented to the American Queen of Opera following her final opera performance. Numerous benefactors of the arts, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Happy Rockefeller and Sarah Churchill, were avid collectors of Max Karps’ work
American Artist Max Karp is internationally acclaimed as the “father of modern enameling.” His enormous talent and perfection of the unique enameling process assured his place in art history. A self-taught artist, Karp was born in Ohio in 1916 and raised in Southern California. Karp began painting in oils as he recorded various species of birds and insects for his ornithologist/entomologist father. In the mid-1960's, Karp became interested in the enamel process. Beginning on a small scale, he mastered the miniature enamel technique and later perfected the large-scale painting for which he is best known. Karps’ deft hands manipulated the powderized colored glass into detailed images on thick copper plates. His use of color and line would have been accomplished for even a painter working in traditional materials. In 1970 The Hamilton Mint commissioned Karp to produce the “Four Seasons” paintings, which were then issued as a limited edition of plates on precious metal. In 1980 Karp's enamel portrait of Beverly Sills was presented to the American Queen of Opera following her final opera performance. Numerous benefactors of the arts, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Happy Rockefeller and Sarah Churchill, were avid collectors of Max Karps’ work
