He was this larger than life figure, like out of a romantic Gothic novel - hell bent on uncovering the tragedy of life. His was a life lived to the extreme. In an attempt to rewrite his own history there was a period when he tried to retrieve his early paintings, pre 1945 still life's, landscapes, figurative things, and destroy them. Such actions had within the engine for self destruction but his dogged determination left him unaffected. Truth is, Art can only live within the spirit of strong individuals like Clifford Still and Jackson Pollock and Vincent Van Gogh.
Today there are a few around.
Meaning that France, after the War, no longer held that title. Indeed it happened that the entire world did turn their attention toward a few elite galleries on 57th Street, in Midtown Manhattan, for contemporary art guidance. And suddenly, in all of art history, the United States became the modern cultural capital of the world. That was the very beginning of our becoming a serious Global Power. The San Francisco School never really got their due reward in the 'School' category because New York wouldn't give it to them.