Clyfford Still

Clyfford Still (November 30, 1904 – June 23, 1980) was an American painter. He was one of the leading figures in the first generation of abstract expressionists. These artists developed a new, powerful way of painting in the years right after World War II. Still is known as one of the pioneers of this movement.

Still began his journey from painting things you could recognize to creating abstract paintings between 1938 and 1942. This happened earlier than some of his friends, like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, who kept painting in more figurative and surrealist styles even into the 1940s. His work helped shape the way people thought about art during a very important time in history.

Biography

Clyfford Still was born in 1904 in Grandin, North Dakota and grew up in Spokane, Washington, Bow Island in southern Alberta, Canada, and other places. He studied art in New York and at Spokane University, and later taught at Washington State College, now Washington State University.

In 1941, Still moved to the San Francisco Bay area, where he worked and painted. He had his first solo exhibition in 1943. He taught at schools and influenced many young artists. In 1950, he moved to New York City, where abstract expressionist art was becoming popular. Later, he moved to a farm in Maryland and lived there until he passed away.

Family life

Clyfford Still married Lillian August Battan around 1930. They had two daughters, born in 1939 and 1942. The couple separated in the late 1940s and divorced in 1954. In 1957, Still married Patricia Alice Garske, who had been one of his students at Washington State and was sixteen years younger than him.

Paintings

Clyfford Still created powerful paintings that used color in new ways. He taught in San Francisco from 1946 to 1950 and developed his own style there. His paintings are called "Color Field" because they focus on showing different colors and surfaces in many ways. Unlike some other artists, Still’s color arrangements are less neat and more mixed.

Still also used a method called "Gestural" or "Action Painting," which means he put paint on in bold, quick strokes. His paintings often look like layers of color have been torn off to show what’s underneath. He used thick paint, making the colors shimmer and change in the light. His big paintings remind people of natural things like caves and trees, giving his work a deep and mysterious feel. One of his famous works, 1957-D No. 1, uses mainly black, yellow, white, and a bit of red. These colors, along with dark blues and purples, are common in many of his paintings.

Exhibitions

Clyfford Still had his first solo show in 1943 at the San Francisco Museum of Art. In 1947, he had another show at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. He did not show his work publicly again until 1959, when a big show of his paintings happened at the Albright–Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. After that, his paintings were shown at the Institute of Contemporary Art of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1963, and at the Marlborough-Gerson gallery in New York from 1969 to 1970. In 1975, some of his paintings were put on permanent display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. In 1979, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York held the biggest show of Still's art at that time, and it was the largest show the museum had ever given to a living artist.

Awards

Clyfford Still received the Award of Merit for Painting in 1972 from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He became a member of this group in 1978 and also received the Skowhegan Medal for Painting in 1975.

Estate and museum

After painter Clyfford Still passed away in 1980, his collection of about 2,400 artworks was kept private for over twenty years. In 2004, the city of Denver, Colorado was chosen to receive these artworks. The Clyfford Still Museum opened in November 2011, showing many of Still's paintings and drawings, along with his personal items like sketchbooks and journals.

The museum building was designed by an architecture company led by Brad Cloepfil and is known for its modern style. In 2011, some of Still’s artworks were sold to help support the museum. The museum also started a research center in 2013 to learn more about the time when Still created his art.

Other collections

Clyfford Still's artwork can be found in many famous museums around the world. Some of these places include the Buffalo AKG Art Museum in Buffalo, New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Other museums that have his paintings are the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Tate collection in London, among many others.

Quotes

From Still

Clyfford Still talked about his art in a deep way. He said he wanted colors, textures, and images to come together like a living spirit, not just stay separate. He also felt it was hard when a painting was held back by the edge of a frame.

He didn’t want to just show what was happening in his time. He believed that the world was full of science, power, and sad things, and he didn’t want to add more of that to his art. He wondered how people could live and die without really knowing the difference.

From others

People who knew his work spoke highly of him. Jackson Pollock said Still made the rest of them seem less original. Robert Motherwell talked about Still’s show in 1946, saying it was very new and different from others at the time. Art critic Clement Greenberg was very impressed when he first saw Still’s painting in 1948.

Art historian John Golding said Still became a very creative artist in the mid-1940s. Another art historian, Stephen Polcari, described Still’s paintings as very strong and powerful. Robert Hughes, a former art critic for Time magazine, called Still a special talent.