Clyfford Still
Born – Grandia, North Dakota, USA 1904
Died – New Windsor, USA 1980
Clyfford Still studied in Washington before moving to San Francisco in 1941. He was an influential teacher at the California School of Fine Arts from 1946 to 1950, and became a leading Abstract Expressionist. Within this disparate movement, his work was most closely associated with the large monochromatic canvases produced by Rothko and Newman. He shared their interest in the single unified shape and the expressive potential of colour. Where Still differed from these artists was in the thick application of his paint. Untitled 1953 has this tactile and sensuous quality. The sheer physicality of the work is overwhelming. A yellow gash and a small smudge of red are the only disturbances to the evenly coloured but richly wrought surface. Having gained a reputation as an artist somewhat prone to pretension and mystification, Still himself wrote of this work that, “the yellow wedge at the top is a reassertion of the human context – a gesture of rejection of any authoritarian rationale or system of politico-dialectical dogma.” Still spent the last twenty years of his life as a virtual recluse in Maryland.
Masterpieces:
- No 1
- Jamais
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Books About clyfford still
Clyfford Still 1904-1980: The Buffalo and San Francisco Collections (Art & Design)
Michael Auping
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Clyfford Still
John P. O'Neill
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Clyfford Still: Paintings, 1944-1960
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