Sam Gilliam | Freeman's
Channel: Freeman's
Date: 2023-02-28

In honor of the last day of Black History Month, we share this magnificent piece by renowned painter Sam Gilliam to be offered in our May 17 Modern and Contemporary Art sale.

Sam Gilliam (American, 1933-2022)
'Untitled'

Innovative abstract colorist Sam Gilliam died last year at the age of 88, leaving an important legacy for Contemporary artists. In the 1960s, Gilliam liberated the canvas from the stretcher, manipulating paint over large swathes of loose canvas, which he then draped from the ceiling, tacked to walls, or even displayed over saw horses. 

His paintings took on a sensual quality as they occupied the space of the viewer in new ways, becoming three dimensional works as they broke through the traditional picture plane. Part of the Color Field School in Washington, D.C., Gilliam was the first Black artist to represent the United States in the Venice Biennale in 1972. 

While he only rarely addressed the Civil Rights movement or systemic racism overtly in his work, he said in a 2018 interview with The Art Newspaper: “The expressive act of making a mark and hanging it in space is always political. My work is as political as it is formal.”

Learn more through the link below!
https://www.freemansauction.com/departments/modern-contemporary-art/