Max Cole (American, b. 1937) "Soloman's Split"

Provenance Note: Charles E. Balbach (1934-2024) was a respected Western New York civic leader, arts patron, and dedicated collector whose leadership left a lasting mark on the region’s cultural institutions. A graduate of Harvard University, Balbach combined intellectual rigor with a deep commitment to public service and philanthropy. He served for more than two decades on the board of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly the Albright-Knox Art Gallery), including a term as President of the Board. During his tenure, he helped guide long-range planning initiatives and strengthen institutional stewardship at a pivotal moment in the museum’s evolution. A thoughtful and disciplined collector, Balbach believed strongly in public access to art and in the responsibility of collectors to support the institutions that sustain cultural life. His legacy reflects a lifetime of civic engagement, connoisseurship, and enduring dedication to the arts.

Max Cole (American, b. 1937)
Maxine Cole is an American painter celebrated for her meditative, gray-toned canvases that explore infinity through vertical, repetitive lines. Influenced in the late 1950s by Kazimir Malevich and Suprematism, Cole has developed a practice spanning over fifty years in which each mark is a record of intense focus and engagement, aiming to transcend the material and evoke energy beyond the physical. She earned her BFA from Fort Hays State University and her MFA from the University of Arizona, Tucson, and her work, while occasionally compared to Agnes Martin, reflects a singular depth of process and conceptual rigor. Cole’s paintings are held in major collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and she continues to live and work in Somerset, California.