Oral history interview with Sam Gilliam
name: label: Interviewee
content: Gilliam, Sam, Jr. (1933-2022)
label: Interviewer
content: Forgey, Benjamin
label: Names
content: Coalition of Washington Artists
label: Names
content: Corcoran Gallery of Art
label: Names
content: District of Columbia Arts Center, Inc.
label: Names
content: Jefferson Place Gallery
label: Names
content: Washington Gallery of Modern Art (Washington, D.C.)
label: Names
content: Washington Project for the Arts (D.C.)
label: Names
content: Downing, Thomas, 1928-1985
label: Names
content: Hopps, Walter
label: Names
content: Krebs, Rockne, 1938-2011
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Topic
content: Art -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Topic
content: Art -- Technique
label: Topic
content: Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Topic
content: African American artists
label: Topic
content: African American painters
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Gilliam, Sam, Jr. (1933-2022)
label: Interviewer
content: Forgey, Benjamin
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Sam Gilliam (1933-2022) was a painter in Washington, D.C.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4 Items (Sound recording, sound cassettes)
label: Extent
content: 54 Pages (Transcript)
label: Extent
content: 4 Items (Sound recording, sound cassettes)
label: Extent
content: 54 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1989 Nov. 4-11
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.gillia89
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Sam Gilliam conducted 1989 Nov. 4-11, by Ben Forgey for the Archives of American Art. Gilliam speaks of his decision to come to Washington, D.C., from Louisville, Ky.; his shift from figurative painting to abstract painting; meeting Washington painters Robert Gates and Tom Downing; the "stature" of Tom Downing in the Washington art scene in the 1960s and Walter Hopps' role; influential exhibitions at the Jefferson Place Gallery and the Washington Gallery of Modern Art; being a Washington artist and a black artist; artist/teachers at American University; the Johnson Avenue Workshop grant; his relationship with Rockne Krebs; the history of the Washington Coalition of Artists; the Corcoran Gallery and the Washington Project for the Arts' relationship to Washington artists; his involvement with the District of Columbia Art Center; teaching; and his working methods. Gilliam also discusses various paintings, processes, materials, ideas and experiments at length. He recalls Gene Davis, Howard Mehring, Ken Noland, Morris Louis, Nesta Dorrance, Alma Thomas, Lou Stovall, Al Nodal, Jock Reynolds, Michael Botwinick, Willem de Looper, Paul Reed, and others.