Explore the Era

Delve into the postwar Los Angeles art world in this online archive, which provides additional material related to the exhibitions on view at the Getty Center. Learn about hipsters and happenings, and the venues across the city where all the action took place through images from the archives and first-hand accounts with the artists.

Norman Zammitt
Artist

Norman Zammit in his studio

Norman Zammitt working in his studio in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, 1965. Photo by Frank J. Thomas. Courtesy of the Frank J. Thomas Archives

Norman Zammitt (1931–2007) was born in Toronto, Canada, raised on an American Indian reservation in New York State, and moved to California with his family in 1945. He studied at Pasadena City College and went on to earn his MFA at Otis Art Institute in 1961, where he created collages and abstract paintings inspired by the landscape. In 1964 Zammitt turned from oil paint to acrylic plastic resin, producing box-like sculptures that explored color and transparency. By the early 1970s, he returned to painting, continuing his investigations of color relationships through precisely rendered striped paintings. Zammitt’s nearly mathematical color combinations produce the illusion of deep dimensionality and dramatic optical effects.

Historic Map Locations

Works of Art

  • North Wall

    Norman Zammitt executing his painting North Wall, 1976. Acrylic on canvas. 96 x 168 in. Collection of Leon Gazarian & Monique Powell. © Norman Zammitt Estate

Explore the Archive

  • Norman Zammitt's studio

    Norman Zammitt's painting materials in his studio in Pasadena, California, 1978. Image courtesy of and © Norman Zammitt Estate

  • Norman Zammitt in his studio

    Norman Zammitt working in his studio in Pasadena, California, 1976. Image courtesy of and © Norman Zammitt Estate