Who was Clyfford Still and why is his work getting the royal treatment in Denver?
Born in 1904, Still was a leading figure in the development of Abstract Expressionism, a post-World War II artistic movement that many consider to be the United States’ greatest contribution to world art. His like-minded peers included Jackson Pollock, William de Kooning and Mark Rothko – all rule-breaking artists who were interested in abstract forms, monumental scale and intensely expressive brushwork. Still’s bold, angular paintings juxtapose colors and shapes in eye-opening and highly emotional ways – his work is challenging, but it is sure to strike a singular chord in the viewer. “These are not paintings in the usual sense,” Still claimed. “They are life and death merging in a fearful union.” Unlike so many renowned artists, Still’s genius was recognized during his own lifetime; in 1979, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art organized a massive survey of Still’s art, the largest presentation afforded by this museum to the work of a living artist. The New York Times called him “on
