Catalogue ,2003
The paintings of Max lieberman are in the genre of still life. An art that wants to express the relationship between everyday objects of different shape and texture. Bowls, bottles, fruits, even a mobile telephone, all become part of his cast in painterly dramas of exquisite tone and colour.
His work also gains an indefinable quality from his annual visits to India. We see the introduction of Indian objects as subject matter and at times, a drastic reduction in scale. Some works so intimate, the smallest able to fit in the pocket of a shirt.
His feeling for colour is informed by a tendency to work with backgrounds in rich greys varying in temperature from warm to cool. Such restraint is often complicated by the introduction of purer hues which take their cue from reality – an orange, a red box or a vivid green kiwifruit. Finally what is so striking about Max Lieberman’s paintings is his exuberant brushwork which effortlessly captures the necessary details of his specific subject matter.
Stuart Watters, June 2003