The exhibition represents the culmination of nearly 10 years of inventory, research, and conservation work.
Denver, CO – September 9, 2020 – Opening September 18 to Clyfford Still Museum (CSM) members and September 19 to the public, The Late Works: Clyfford Still in Maryland investigates the artist’s later works, both in painting and in drawing, made after his move to rural Maryland in 1961.
This marked a particularly fertile period for Still; he made over 375 works on canvas and over 1,100 works on paper, nearly all in pastel, in Maryland before his death in 1980 at the age of 75. The exhibition will include approximately 40 paintings and 30 works on paper. According to exhibition curator and CSM Director Dean Sobel, the fact that few late works were distributed or shown during Still’s lifetime and given the artist’s especially reclusive posture later in life, a full-scale presentation of these works is especially meaningful. The Late Works will also be Sobel’s final exhibition as founding director of the Museum.
Still’s art evolved in a number of significant ways in the early 1960s. Perhaps most notable was a general broadening of his palette and an increasing economy of imagery. Implied movement also became more vivid, as if his painted forms were being set in motion by invisible forces. Still also developed new processes, such as roller brushes, and formats during this period.
This exhibition also represents the culmination of a nearly 10-year inventory, research, and conservation project in which CSM unrolled, catalogued, and stretched many late works, most for the first time, so they could be studied and made accessible as part of this exhibition.
To ensure the Museum provides a safe environment for all, in July CSM successfully implemented new safety and cleaning protocols. Tickets are sold in 15-minute intervals and only four tickets will be sold for each interval to prevent crowding and enhance visitors’ safety. All visitors must have a pre-purchased ticket, including those receiving free admission, such as children ages 17 and under. Tickets are on sale now at clyffordstillmuseum.org or by calling 720-354-4880. The exhibition will remain on view until February 21, 2021.
To kick off the exhibition, CSM will host a free virtual lecture at 6 p.m. on September 17. During the lecture, Sobel will discuss the unseen masterworks and “roads not taken” including insightful experimental works in this show and the shifts in Still’s creative practice at the end of his career. Immediately following the lecture, the Museum will host a short virtual reception to honor Sobel’s countless contributions during his tenure at CSM with toasts from several of his colleagues and fans. Register online in advance at clyffordstillmuseum.org. Live captioning will be provided.
To accompany the exhibition, Rizzoli Electa recently released Clyfford Still: The Late Works catalog, which investigates Still’s late works in painting and drawing. With essays by Dean Sobel and David Anfam, along with forewords by artists Alex Katz and Dorothea Rockburne on the notion of late work, Clyfford Still: The Late Works offers a thoughtful look at one the most influential and enigmatic painters of his time. The catalog is now available at the Clyfford Still Museum Shop.
“This publication represents a significant milestone in the understanding of an artist who, over the course of the last 20 years of his life, shrouded his production in mystery,” said Sobel. “Presented in depth for the first time, Still’s late paintings and drawings reveal a body of work that is far richer and more complex than previously understood.”
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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