A Not So Still Life

Still of the Night-Oil on Canvas-16x16

"I never wanted color to be color. I never wanted texture to be texture, or images to become shapes. I wanted them all to fuse together into a living spirit."  Clyfford Still

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Last Friday marked the long-awaited opening of the Clyfford Still Museum. As some of you may know, Still was an American Abstract Expressionist whose contemporaries included Pollock, Motherwell, and DeKooning.

Clyfford Still Museum-Denver, CO

Still is also classified as a “color field” painter as many of his works contain impasto (thickly painted) bold shapes of blacks, yellows, reds, and whites. Whether you are fan of this movement or not, I think it would be hard to ignore its influence on many contemporary American artists and collectors.

When Still died in 1980 he left over 2,400 works (many of which were never seen in public) to a city willing to create a museum dedicated solely to the artist. In 2004, Denver won the bid for the museum. Like many art lovers in town, I’ve been looking forward to the museum unveiling ever since. I hope to have time this holiday week to visit the collection. In the meantime I’m posting an oil abstract that I painted in honor of such an important part of American art history taking place right in my backyard.  

Finally, big congratulations to my students who were juried into some of our local fall art exhibits--One of whom won not only their first show ribbon but the Commissioner's Choice for a lovely landscape. I’m so proud!  Also, there's still time to win a free fine art print (see previous posting for details)--just comment on any post to be entered until November 30. (I've only got 2 entrants so far, so your odds of winning are pretty good!)