Mary Corse
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Painter
Norman Zammitt
Norman Zammitt was a Canadian-born American Light and Space painter known for acrylic color-band canvases mixed to mathematical progressions of light.
Norman Zammitt quick facts
Zammitt mixed calculated acrylic shades and arranged them into gradual bands, using color ratios and geometry to create luminous canvas paintings.
| Born | 1931 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
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| Died | 2007 · Pasadena, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | Canadian-born American |
| Movements | Light and Space · Color field painting |
| Paint types | Acrylic paint · Oil paint · transparent and opaque pigments on glass and acrylic sheets (earlier work) |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas (large-scale band paintings) · Acrylic plastic sheets · glass (early transparent constructions) |
| Painting methods | Weighing five base colors into mathematically graduated mixes, then applying sequential hard-edge bands and seamless color transitions |
| Common subjects | Chromatic light, abstract gradients, horizon-like band arrangements, visual perception, and mathematically ordered color relationships |
| Color process | Computer-assisted logarithmic color calculations used to prepare 48 distinct shades from five source colors for selected works |
| Notable works | Search for the Elysian Field (1976) · Untitled (The Elusive Eureka) (1977–78) · Untitled (1984) |
Sources: LACMA: Untitled (1984), calculated 48 acrylic shades on canvas, LACMA: Untitled (The Elusive Eureka), acrylic on canvas, Palm Springs Art Museum: acrylic sheet sculptures and logarithmic color painting, Norton Simon Museum: paint on acrylic and glass, Light and Space context, Louis Stern Fine Arts: artist biography and Search for the Elysian Field, SFMOMA: Blue Burning and color-field painting, and Los Angeles Times: Toronto birthplace, U.S. citizenship, Pasadena death.
Paint types used by Norman Zammitt
LACMA records acrylic on canvas in Zammitt's color-band paintings, including Untitled (The Elusive Eureka) (1977–78) and Untitled (1984), built in layers.
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Acrylic paint
Zammitt built precisely graduated bands of color with acrylic on canvas. LACMA identifies the medium in Untitled (The Elusive Eureka) (1977–78), and MoMA records it in Untitled (1984). The clear, even transitions create apparent depth across a flat support; his early transparent-sheet constructions are a distinct body of work.
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Oil paint
The Norton Simon Museum records Geological Landscape II as oil and collage on canvas, documenting Zammitt’s use of oil apart from his better-known acrylic color-band paintings. The collage elements share the canvas with the paint, bringing a constructed surface into a practice often associated with smooth optical gradients.
Sources: LACMA: Untitled (The Elusive Eureka), acrylic on canvas; LACMA: Untitled (1984), acrylic on canvas; National Gallery of Art: The Hard White Edge, acrylic on canvas; Norton Simon Museum: Geological Landscape II, oil and collage on canvas.
Painting surfaces used by Norman Zammitt
Norman Zammitt's documented works use canvas, plexiglass, glass; examples distinguish the painted surface from its support or object in each cited work.
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Canvas
Zammitt’s large color-band paintings, including Untitled (1984), are documented on canvas. He applied graduated acrylic color to create a precise optical effect across a flat flexible surface; his earlier clear-sheet constructions used a different transparent support. The object record confirms this flexible support.
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Plexiglass
Zammitt used acrylic plastic sheets for transparent constructions and sculptural works. The see-through panels allow light and surrounding space to remain visible through the composition, unlike the opaque color bands on canvas. This support belongs to his early experiments with visual transparency.
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Glass
Glass appears in Zammitt’s early transparent constructions, where light passes through the painted structure. The rigid transparent material lets the work interact with its surroundings, distinguishing these objects from the opaque canvas paintings of the 1970s and 1980s. The early works use glass as a transparent ground.
Sources: LACMA: Untitled (1984), calculated 48 acrylic shades on canvas, LACMA: Untitled (The Elusive Eureka), acrylic on canvas, Palm Springs Art Museum: acrylic sheet sculptures and logarithmic color painting, Norton Simon Museum: paint on acrylic and glass, Light and Space context, Louis Stern Fine Arts: artist biography and Search for the Elysian Field.
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