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Sam GilliamAbstract painting, Ex-Museum of Modern Art Collection (MoMA label) Signed Framed1968
1968
About the Item
Sam Gilliam
Untitled Abstract Expressionist mixed media painting, Ex-Museum of Modern Art Collection, 1968
Watercolor and Aluminum Paint on Fiberglass Paper. (Framed with Museum of Modern Art Collection Label Verso and Exhibition brochure from the American Embassy Exhibition in Moscow)
18 × 23 1/2 in 45.7 × 59.7 cm
This is a unique work
In a fascinating December, 2024 New York Times feature, art critic Walker Mimms reminds us that in the mid 1960s, the United States government used modern art as an instrument of the Cold War. He writes, "the C.I.A., with the help of institutions like MoMA in New York, deployed modern art as Cold War-era agitprop by financing exhibitions of artists like Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko that traveled extensively abroad and promoted their subjects as icons of American individualism."
This 1968 Abstract Expressionist painting on paper by pioneering African American artist Sam Gilliam, from the collection of MoMA in New York, was one of them. In fact, it was even exhibited at the American Embassy in Moscow, under the auspices of the Museum of Modern Art and its curator.
Historic late 1960s painting created with watercolor and aluminum paint on fiberglass paper. Hand signed by the artist lower right front, with label from The Museum of Modern Art, NY. , including the museum collection number. Sam Gilliam's works from this era are coveted in the marketplace; especially the present work with such extraordinary provenance and fascinating history: As noted above, this painting was also featured in the exhibition "American Contemporary Art" at the American Embassy in Moscow, curated by Margaret Patter, Associate Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art. Accompanying this work is an undated xerox copy of the exhibition brochure, in both English and Russian. The curator describes this Gilliam work from MOMA's Collection: "One of the consistent themes of Abstract Expressionism was the dual nature of a painting; its existence as symbolic expression and as a physical object made of flat canvas and fluid paint. In granting a dominant role to the artist's intuition, the Abstract Expressionists made a virtue of the accidental splashes and drips of paint which resulted from spontaneous use of paint and accepted these as integral elements of the total expression. Subsequently, a number of painters and sculptors have pursued further one aspect of this duality by concentrating on the physical attributes of their media. Rejecting a preconceived image or one which evolves during the process of painting, these artists have permitted the nature of the medium itself to determine the image. In his untitled watercolor of 1968, Sam Gilliam, a young Negro [sic] artist from Washington, D.C. soaked color in an especially absorbent paper and then folded it several times. The interaction of the materials and the process, rather than the artist's touch and decision, brought about the random blots of color. To contrast with the textural softness and depth, the artist has covered parts of the surface with aluminum paint whose stuff glitter and deliberate lack of formal structure further stress the intrinsic qualities of the paint and paper rather than the artist's participation. This frank emphasis on the physical aspects of the artist's means and activity reflect a diffidence toward self-revelation and the assignment of symbolic values to art, a trend which has become increasingly common in recent American art." (Text also translated into Russian.)
In 2017, this work was featured in the exhibition "The Anxiety of Influence" at Chapter New York Gallery in Manhattan. See attached Installation photos.
Measurements:
18 x 23 1/2 in. (Artwork);
26 x 31 in. (frame).
Exhibition History:
"American Contemporary Art", American Embassy, Moscow, Catalogue Essay by Margaret Patter, Associate Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (ca. 1970), with reproductions and essay about this work.
"The Anxiety of Influence", curated by Alex Glauber, November 10 – December 22, 2017
In 2017, this work was featured in the exhibition "The Anxiety of Influence" at Chapter New York Gallery in Manhattan. See attached Installation photos.
Exhibition History:
"American Contemporary Art", American Embassy, Moscow, Catalogue Essay by Margaret Patter, Associate Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (ca. 1970), with reproductions and essay about this work.
"The Anxiety of Influence", curated by Alex Glauber, November 10 – December 22, 2017
- Creator:Sam Gilliam (1933, American)
- Creation Year:1968
- Dimensions:Height: 26 in (66.04 cm)Width: 31 in (78.74 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Held in original vintage 1960s frame with the original label Age toning to the original matting and frame vintage. Work itself is in excellent condition.
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1745211089962
Sam Gilliam
Postwar American artist Sam Gilliam was an innovative Color Field painter and lyrical abstractionist perhaps best known for working directly on draped, unprimed canvases freed from their stretcher bars in as early as the mid-1960s.
Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Gilliam studied art at the University of Louisville, earning both undergraduate and graduate degrees in fine art. He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1962, where he became associated with the Washington Color School. Inspired by the vibrant hues of German Expressionism, Gilliam pushed the limits of his medium by eliminating the use of easels and stretchers. Instead, he painted on draped canvases suspended from the walls and the ceiling of his studio.
Overlooked at first, the resulting works, radiant and rippling with energy, would become universally recognized as a hallmark of Gilliam’s oeuvre. Later in his career, he would draw inspiration from jazz and textile artistry, creating improvisational collage-style “quilted” paintings on nylon or canvas that recall quilt patterns.
In 1972, Gilliam became the first Black artist to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale; he also exhibited at the 2017 Venice Biennale. His works can be found in more than 50 public collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art (now the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design) in Washington, D.C., the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Paris Museum of Modern Art, among many others. Gilliam’s awards include the United States State Department Medal of Arts, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and more.
Find original Sam Gilliam prints and other art on 1stDibs.
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