Denver, CO – February 1, 2021 – The Clyfford Still Museum (CSM) recently reimagined and reinstalled half of its archival display cases in the Museum’s lower level and will complete the remaining cases in March. Once complete, this will be the first comprehensive overhaul of the cases since the Museum opened in 2011. Along with a new and improved aesthetic, the displays feature updated content, new perspectives, and bilingual text in Spanish and English.
“We’ve had eight years to explore the Clyfford Still Archives, in conversation with our community,” said Nicole Cromartie, CSM director of education and programs. “The interests and questions of our visitors guided this redesign to enhance the display cases’ accessibility and provide more points of connection to Clyfford Still. There’s no one prescribed path through the rich holdings of the Archives and this reimagining of the display cases shows that.”
The reimagined cases begin with a listening station that serves as an introduction to the Clyfford Still Archives and the objects on display. Visitors may listen to a greeting by Still and examples of him playing music using a COVID-safe, no-touch speaker system.
Several cases are dedicated to Clyfford Still’s biography and the abstract expressionist movement. In addition to broadening the narrative of Still’s life, archival objects on display highlight world events from the time when Still created his artworks to give additional context. Other cases relay the key roles that several formidable women played in Still’s career, in the launching of the abstract expressionist movement, and in the advancement of 20th century American art as a whole. “The established view of abstract expressionism is also reconsidered to acknowledge women artists and artists of color working in abstract expressionist idioms during Still’s lifetime who are often overlooked,” said Cromartie.
Two display cases about the CSM collection, which will be installed next month, will feature objects that illustrate Still’s overarching vision—his belief that every artwork leads to another, that they are all interconnected and together form one grand life statement. Objects tell the story about how this idea ultimately led to Denver becoming the home for the Clyfford Still Museum.
Visitors will be invited to dive deeper into conservation, the multidisciplinary field that seeks to balance preservation of the Museum’s collections and public access to them once the remaining cases near CSM’s Conservation Lab are installed in March. These cases will display select tools used by conservators, cross sections of a Clyfford Still painting, and additional information about the preservation and restoration of Still’s works.
For more information, please visit the Clyfford Still Museum’s website at clyffordstillmuseum.org.
About the Clyfford Still Museum
Designed by Allied Works Architecture to display the revolutionary art of one of the 20th century’s greatest artists, the Clyfford Still Museum opened in November 2011 in Denver’s Golden Triangle Creative District. Considered one of the most important and mysterious painters of the 20th century, Clyfford Still (1904-1980) was among the first generation of abstract expressionist artists who developed a new and powerful approach to painting in the years during and immediately after World War II. The Museum’s collection represents 95% of the artist’s lifetime output. As the steward of Still’s art and legacy, the Museum’s mission is to preserve, exhibit, study, and foster engagement with its unique collections; generate outstanding exhibitions, scholarly research, educational and other cross-disciplinary programs that broaden the definition of a “single-artist” museum; and be a gathering place for the exploration of innovation and individual artistic endeavor. Connect with the Clyfford Still Museum on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or at clyffordstillmuseum.org.
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