Product Description

Clyfford Still (1904-1980), best known for his compelling abstract works with jagged fields and powerful expanses of color, stands among the giants of post-World War II art. Together with his peers Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Barnett Newman, Still helped shape the new vision of art that came to be called Abstract Expressionism. This vividly illustrated book presents more than thirty of Still's greatest works, paintings that represent the full flowering of his style.

The contributors to this volume explore various aspects of Still's art, his accomplishments, and the Abstract Expressionism movement. David Anfam presents an overview of Still's career from the 1930s through 1950s. Brooks Adams examines Still's artistic legacy and influence on succeeding generations of artists. And Neal Benezra's chapter focuses on a provocative, unexplored element of Still's studio practice: his habit of painting replicas of many of his own works.

This book accompanies an exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., from 21 June through 16 September, 2001. The exhibition will offer an unprecedented opportunity to view outstanding examples of Still's work, many of which have not been on public display for decades.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #176094 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

From Library Journal
This book is published to accompany the first major exhibition of Still's work since his death in 1980. The artist's own monomaniacal control over his work has contributed to its relative obscurity compared with that of his coevals in the Abstract Expressionist school. Adding significantly to the literature on the artist, a general essay by Thomas Kellein (director of the Kuntshalle in Basel) describes the genesis of Still's unique contribution to Abstract Expressionism. Additional essays by Michael Auping, of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, and Susan Landauer, for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, discuss in detail the works in these collections that make up the exhibition. Patricia Still, the artist's widow, contributes a chronology of his life liberally sprinkled with quotes from the artist himself. Of great value are the color reproductions of the 33 works from the Buffalo collection and 30 from San Francisco's. Recommended for art libraries and strong collections of American or contemporary art.-- Martin R. Kalfatovic, Natl. Museum of American Art/Natl. Portrait Gallery Lib., Smithsonian Inst., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher
Published in association with the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution

About the Author
David Anfam, a foremost scholar of Clyfford Still, has published widely on Abstract Expressionism and American art. Brooks Adams is a freelance art critic and scholar who has written extensively on postwar American art. Neal Benezra is deputy director and curator of 20th-century art at the Art Institute of Chicago. James T. Demetrion is director of the Hirshhorn Museum.

Customer Reviews

From a new Clifford Still fan:
I am a painter who has largely avoided Clifford Still but this book has turned me into a great admirer. Particulary influential was the contribution by David Anfam, the art historian who was responsible for the magnificent, award-winning Mark Rothko catalogue raisonne. Anfam's essay is insightful, far-reaching, beautifully written with poetic underpinnings, a pleasure to read. All you'll ever need to know about Clifford Still, his work, and his place in art history is covered in this essay. The color plates are also wonderful and, even as reproductions, offer a great chance to appreciate the paintings.

Clyfford Still
Clyfford Still is one of the giant figures of the art world and this book puts his paintings in a proper perspective. The book contains many color reproductions of his large non-objective canvases. Still himself wrote the book and gives us a very good insight into his life and thinking process. He discusses what went into his paintings and how his unique canvas numbering system worked absent dates and titles to identify his work. It is also a journey through his body of work. His paintings were skillfully balanced with positive and negative spaces and his unparalleled use of color is well documented. This book is a must for any art lover in general and for students of American art in particular. I liked this book not only for the well reproduced paintings in color but also because it let's us into the painter's mind to get a glimps of his true genius.

From a Recent Still Convert
A few of my favorite painters are contemporaries of Still, so I saw it as my duty to see the Hirschhorn exhibition. Well, I picked a dead day and had the show to myself and simply put I am now a fan. The book is great and David Anfam's addition to the book is especially enlightening about the work of Still.