1972
Postwar American artist Sam Gilliam was an innovative Color Field painter and lyrical abstractionist perhaps best known for working directly on draped, unprimed canvases freed from their stretcher bars in as early as the mid-1960s.
Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Gilliam studied art at the University of Louisville, earning both undergraduate and graduate degrees in fine art. He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1962, where he became associated with the Washington Color School. Inspired by the vibrant hues of German Expressionism, Gilliam pushed the limits of his medium by eliminating the use of easels and stretchers. Instead, he painted on draped canvases suspended from the walls and the ceiling of his studio.
Overlooked at first, the resulting works, radiant and rippling with energy, would become universally recognized as a hallmark of Gilliam’s oeuvre. Later in his career, he would draw inspiration from jazz and textile artistry, creating improvisational collage-style “quilted” paintings on nylon or canvas that recall quilt patterns.
In 1972, Gilliam became the first Black artist to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale; he also exhibited at the 2017 Venice Biennale. His works can be found in more than 50 public collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art (now the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design) in Washington, D.C., the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Paris Museum of Modern Art, among many others. Gilliam’s awards include the United States State Department Medal of Arts, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and more.
Find original Sam Gilliam prints and other art on 1stDibs.
Dance '72
By Sam Gilliam
Located in New York, NY
Color screenprint, 1972. Signed by the artist and dated in pencil, lower right margin. Numbered 24/60 in pencil lower left,. Printed and published by Workshop, Inc., Washington, DC...
Screen
Canto Pisan
By Zao Wou-Ki
Located in New York, NY
A superb, richly-inked impression of this very scarce, early proof color aquatint on Arches. Artist's proof, aside from the edition of 180. Signed, dated and inscribed "H II fer pass...
Color, Aquatint
Concord
By James Brooks
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this color screenprint on white wove paper. Signed, dated and numbered 83/200 in pencil. Printed by Styria Studio, Inc., New York, with the blind stamp lowe...
Color, Screen
Blue Bones
By Sam Francis
Located in New York, NY
Color lithograph on BFK Rives, 1964. Signed by the artist in pencil, lower right. This work is from an edition of 101. Printed by Emil Matthieu Atelier, Zurich. Publish by William...
Color, Lithograph
Untitled (SF-346)
By Sam Francis
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this color lithograph on Waterleaf white wove paper. One of 25 Roman numeral impressions, aside from the Arabic numeral edition of 100. Signed and numbered ...
Color, Lithograph
Flashback I
By John Chamberlain
Located in New York, NY
Color screenprint on Rives BFK with full margins. Signed and numbered by the artist in pencil.
Color, Screen
Dogon V
By Sam Gilliam
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Sam Gilliam (1933–2022) is beloved as one of the 20th century's most important abstract artists. He was a true innovator in the evolution of American abstraction. Gilliam is credited...
Intaglio, Lithograph
Sam Gilliam 1998 Signed Mixed Media Lithograph Edition of 60
By Sam Gilliam
Located in Minneapolis, MN
Artist: Sam Gilliam Title: Untitled (1998) Year: 1998 Medium: Mixed Media Lithograph Size: 21.5" x 22" Frame: 28" x 29" x 3" Edition: 29/60 Inscription: Signed, dated, and numbered o...
Paper, Lithograph
"Recitals, Signed Mixed Media Print, Abstract Color Collage Design, 38x20"
By Sam Gilliam
Located in Union City, NJ
RECITALS is mixed media limited edition print by the renowned African American artist Sam Gilliam, created using Archival Inkjet, Relief, and Stencil techniques. This vertical, rainb...
Mixed Media
Sam Gilliam -Buoy Landscape IV Mixed media signed/n Abstract Expressionist print
By Sam Gilliam
Located in New York, NY
Sam Gilliam Buoy Landscape IV, 1982 Color relief print, etching, screenprint, drypoint, aquatint and roulette all from deeply etched copper plates, on handmade wove paper 31 1/2 × 24...
Mixed Media, Drypoint, Etching, Aquatint, Screen
Sam Gilliam Untitled (Purple) 1996 Signed Mixed Media on Paper
By Sam Gilliam
Located in Minneapolis, MN
Artist: Sam Gilliam Title: Untitled (Purple) Year:1996 Medium: Original Mixed Media on Paper Size: 11" × 14" Inscription Front: Signed and dated lower left edge, "Sam Gilliam 96" Ins...
Paper, Mixed Media
Jules Olitski - Mozart Night, color field silkscreen for Lincoln Center Signed/N
By Jules Olitski
Located in New York, NY
Jules Olitski Mozart Night, 1992 Silkscreen on wove paper Signed, dated, titled and numbered 71/108 in graphite pencil on the front Edition 71/108 47 × 36 inches Unframed Silkscreen ...
Screen
