Early work (until 1923)

Max Gubler originated from a family dedicated to art. His father Heinrich Eduard Gubler (1865-1948) was a decorator and also his two older brothers, Eduard (1891-1971) and Ernst (1895-1958) were recognized artists. During the first world war the Gubler brothers were strongly influenced by Expressionism. The "blue paintings" of Max Gubler after the war are marked by the Objective Reality as well as Cubism.

The Lipari Period (1924-1828)

Max Gubler's first important paintings originated in Lipari - an island north of Sicily. The "Procession" is now in the Fine Art Museum of Zuerich, Switzerland (Kunstmuseum) while the "Actors in Sicily" are in the "Max Gubler Collection" of the Fine Art Museum of Solothurn (Switzerland).

The First Zuerich Period (1928-1930)

The first Zuerich years were dominated by "simplification". He reduced his palette to black and some colored gray levels using blue and red only in some distinctly chosen spots. "Boys in White Dresses" and "Pierrots" were often chosen as subjects.

The Paris Period (1930-1937)

Initially Max Gubler continued his Sicily-style: Sitting and standing boys, young people playing music, pierrots. Then his paintings became more colorful. The influence of the "peinture francaise" was significant. His spontaneous style which marks his mature paintings got developped.

The Second Zuerich Period (1937-1950)

In 1937 Max Gubler moved into his own atelier-house in Unterengstringen near Zuerich. He found his main motives just in front of his house. He had the power to paint these landscapes at the outskirt of the town of Zuerich in a monumental way. He very often used very large formats such as 130 x 162 cm. In addition the representation of figures became important again as well as self-portraits.

Late Work (1950-1957)

A gradual transition lead to "Max Gubler's late work". Still lifes, self-portraits and landscapes were frequent. Most important were his large series of night-landscapes. The concept of the "dark" must be associated with his state of mind. The motives - dead fishes, pheasants, and thistles - were indicators. Gubler's paintings of the 50's gained in spontaneity and display his true genius. In the late paintings of 1957 some of the characteristical structuring of Gubler is lost and the paintings after 1957 show a clear indication of mental confusion. Max Gubler stopped painting after the death of his wife in 1961. He died on July 29, 1973 after having spent his last years in a hospital.