Still, Clyfford (1904-1980), an American painter, was a leading member of the Abstract Expressionist movement. He was known chiefly for his imaginative use of large expanses of color. His paintings contain large, vertical, jagged-edged, flamelike shapes. He combined thickly applied paint with bright, aggressive, sharply contrasting colors to create works that are dramatic and disturbing. The rough surfaces formed by the paint suggest natural formations, such as canyons and crevices.
Still was born on Nov. 30, 1904, in Grandin, North Dakota. He used large areas of color in nearly all his works, including those of the 1930’s and early 1940’s. During that period, he created paintings of the landscape of the western United States, especially the vast western plateaus. During the late 1940’s, he abandoned the use of recognizable subjects and developed the style associated with his work. He taught in San Francisco from 1946 to 1950, inspiring many young artists to experiment freely. He died on June 23, 1980. The Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, which opened in 2011, displays many of his works.
