GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In Untitled, thick interjections of olive green, canary yellow, sky blue, and violet punctuate a vertical construction of interlocking, jagged red and black shapes. In this and other works by Clyfford Still, the artist plays with suggestions of deep space behind flatly painted forms. The foreground and background are hypnotically interchangeable.
Still is best known for his non-figurative, non-objective paintings that were largely concerned with juxtaposing different colors and surfaces in various permutations. Alongside Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, Still can be categorized as a color field painter; however, unlike the work of Rothko and Newman, his compositions are less regular and more unpredictable. Still further distinguishes himself from his peers by using a thick impasto, which creates a subtle variety of textures and reflections across the surface of the work. Although his works do not reveal an obvious figure-ground relationship, Untitled does suggest natural forms such as caverns, foliage, and aerial perspectives of bodies of water. However, Still, like many abstract expressionists, rejected all interpretations of his work in such literal terms.
Adapted from
- Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 293.
- From "The Museum is History" (May 24, 2014-November 16,2014 | Hoffman Galleries).
- Anne R. Bromberg, Dallas Museum of Art: Selected Works (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1983), 168.
NOTES
Clyfford Still produced non-figurative paintings that were non-objective and largely concerned with juxtaposing different colors and surfaces in permutations. Alongside Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, Still can be categorized as a color field painter; however, unlike the work of Rothko and Newman, Still’s compositions are less regular and more unpredictable. Still further distinguishes himself from his peers by using a thick impasto, which creates a subtle variety of textures and reflections across the surface of the work. Although his works do not reveal an obvious figure-ground relationship, Untitled does suggest natural forms such as caverns, foliage, and aerial perspectives of bodies of water.
From "The Museum is History" (May 24, 2014-November 16,2014 | Hoffman Galleries)
Where Kline's "Slate Cross: is a vibrant vertical construction, Clyfford Still's work is a complex interplay of jagged red and black shapes, with no marked orientation. Still is austere: if there is emotion in this work, it is much less obvious than with Pollock or Rothko. This is play with paint and painting, to discover its ultimate possibilities, especially the capacity to suggest deep space behind flatly painted forms. Still's distinctive angular, interlocking forms, generally depicted in a few starkly contrasted colors, have a powerful dramatic impact, but one that is formal, rather than emotional. It is the large scale and thick, painterly textures of a work like this, which link Still with Abstract Expressionism.
Anne R. Bromberg, Dallas Museum of Art: Selected Works (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1983), 168.
Born and raised in the Northwest, Still's painting evoke craggy canyons, cascading waterfalls, towering trees, and all-consuming forest fires. The grandeur of Still's conceptions is reminiscent in feeling of 19th century romantic landscape painting. His interlocking jagged shapes which fuse figure and ground into one continuous surface share with Rothko the idea of a painting as an open terrain across which the artist inscribes his presence. Still deals with such metaphysical dualities as night and day, sun and earth, male and female, good and evil, through his dramatic use of value contrasts. In his writings, Still affirms his romantic roots by obsessively referring to "freedom," liberation," and "joy." He also saw the role of the artist as one that stands apart, strives for purity, and rejects all claims of community in favor of an allegiance to individualism.
DMA unpublished material.
Clyfford Still rejected the rigidity of cubist and constructivist art, and during the 1940s he began painting irregular patches of dramatic, contrasting forms that eradicated any distinguishable iamgery from his work. In Untitled, thick interjections of olive green, canary yellow, sky blue, and violet punctuate a vertical construction of interlocking, jagged red and black shapes. Still plays with the possibilities of suggesting deep space behind flatly painted forms. The foreground and background are hypnotically interchangeable. The brushstrokes that create these craggy vertical vistas of color may conjure images of the artist's native Northwest landscape: cliffs, canyons, and stormy, lightning-filled skies. Nonetheless, Still, like many abstract expressionists, rejected all interpretations of his work in such literal terms.
Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 293.
Catalogue essays
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PROVENANCE
Before 1971: Malborough Gallery, New York, NY, from the artist
1971- 1981: Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows, Dallas, Texas
1981: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of the above [1], [2]
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
[2] The main sources for this provenance are multiple supporting documents in the Collections Records Object File 1981.136.
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General Description
In Untitled, thick interjections of olive green, canary yellow, sky blue, and violet punctuate a vertical construction of interlocking, jagged red and black shapes. In this and other works by Clyfford Still, the artist plays with suggestions of deep space behind flatly painted forms. The foreground and background are hypnotically interchangeable.
Still is best known for his non-figurative, non-objective paintings that were largely concerned with juxtaposing different colors and surfaces in various permutations. Alongside Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, Still can be categorized as a color field painter; however, unlike the work of Rothko and Newman, his compositions are less regular and more unpredictable. Still further distinguishes himself from his peers by using a thick impasto, which creates a subtle variety of textures and reflections across the surface of the work. Although his works do not reveal an obvious figure-ground relationship, Untitled does suggest natural forms such as caverns, foliage, and aerial perspectives of bodies of water. However, Still, like many abstract expressionists, rejected all interpretations of his work in such literal terms.
Adapted from
- Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 293.
- From "The Museum is History" (May 24, 2014-November 16,2014 | Hoffman Galleries).
- Anne R. Bromberg, Dallas Museum of Art: Selected Works (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1983), 168.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
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Notes
Clyfford Still produced non-figurative paintings that were non-objective and largely concerned with juxtaposing different colors and surfaces in permutations. Alongside Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, Still can be categorized as a color field painter; however, unlike the work of Rothko and Newman, Still’s compositions are less regular and more unpredictable. Still further distinguishes himself from his peers by using a thick impasto, which creates a subtle variety of textures and reflections across the surface of the work. Although his works do not reveal an obvious figure-ground relationship, Untitled does suggest natural forms such as caverns, foliage, and aerial perspectives of bodies of water.
From "The Museum is History" (May 24, 2014-November 16,2014 | Hoffman Galleries)
Where Kline's "Slate Cross: is a vibrant vertical construction, Clyfford Still's work is a complex interplay of jagged red and black shapes, with no marked orientation. Still is austere: if there is emotion in this work, it is much less obvious than with Pollock or Rothko. This is play with paint and painting, to discover its ultimate possibilities, especially the capacity to suggest deep space behind flatly painted forms. Still's distinctive angular, interlocking forms, generally depicted in a few starkly contrasted colors, have a powerful dramatic impact, but one that is formal, rather than emotional. It is the large scale and thick, painterly textures of a work like this, which link Still with Abstract Expressionism.
Anne R. Bromberg, Dallas Museum of Art: Selected Works (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1983), 168.
Born and raised in the Northwest, Still's painting evoke craggy canyons, cascading waterfalls, towering trees, and all-consuming forest fires. The grandeur of Still's conceptions is reminiscent in feeling of 19th century romantic landscape painting. His interlocking jagged shapes which fuse figure and ground into one continuous surface share with Rothko the idea of a painting as an open terrain across which the artist inscribes his presence. Still deals with such metaphysical dualities as night and day, sun and earth, male and female, good and evil, through his dramatic use of value contrasts. In his writings, Still affirms his romantic roots by obsessively referring to "freedom," liberation," and "joy." He also saw the role of the artist as one that stands apart, strives for purity, and rejects all claims of community in favor of an allegiance to individualism.
DMA unpublished material.
Clyfford Still rejected the rigidity of cubist and constructivist art, and during the 1940s he began painting irregular patches of dramatic, contrasting forms that eradicated any distinguishable iamgery from his work. In Untitled, thick interjections of olive green, canary yellow, sky blue, and violet punctuate a vertical construction of interlocking, jagged red and black shapes. Still plays with the possibilities of suggesting deep space behind flatly painted forms. The foreground and background are hypnotically interchangeable. The brushstrokes that create these craggy vertical vistas of color may conjure images of the artist's native Northwest landscape: cliffs, canyons, and stormy, lightning-filled skies. Nonetheless, Still, like many abstract expressionists, rejected all interpretations of his work in such literal terms.
Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 293.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Before 1971: Malborough Gallery, New York, NY, from the artist
1971- 1981: Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows, Dallas, Texas
1981: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of the above [1], [2]
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
[2] The main sources for this provenance are multiple supporting documents in the Collections Records Object File 1981.136.
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