Clyfford Still: The Artist's Materials

by Susan F. Lake, Barbara A. Ramsay, Alan Phenix (Contribution by), Joy Mazurek (Contribution by), Sandra Still Campbell (Preface by)

Overview

This groundbreaking book provides the first detailed account of the materials and techniques of perhaps the most radical—and until now, least studied—major American Abstract Expressionist.
 
Among the most radical of the great American Abstract Expressionist painters, Clyfford Still has also long been among the least studied. Still severed ties with the commercial art world in the early 1950s, and his estate at the time of his death in 1980 comprised some 3,125 artworks—including more than 800 paintings—that were all but unknown to the art world. Susan F. Lake and Barbara A. Ramsay were granted access to this collection by the estate and by the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, which houses this immense corpus today.
 
This volume, based on the authors’ materials research and enriched by their unprecedented access to Still’s artworks, paints, correspondence, studio records, and personal library, provides the first detailed account of his materials, working methods, and techniques. Initial chapters provide an engaging and erudite overview of the artist's life. Subsequent chapters trace the development of his visionary style, offer in-depth materials analysis of selected works from each decade of his career, and suggest new approaches to the care and conservation of his paintings. There is also a series of technical appendices as well as a full bibliography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781606066959
Publisher:	Getty Publications
Publication date:	04/05/2022
Series:	The Artist's Materials
Edition description:	1
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Susan F. Lake recently retired from her position as director of collection management and chief conservator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
 
Barbara A. Ramsay is chief conservator at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. She was the first conservator for the Clyfford Still and Patricia A. Still Estate.

Table of Contents

Foreword Timothy P. Whalen vii

Preface Sandra Still Campbell ix

Introduction 1

1 A Life in Art 7

Early Life and Education 7

The Itinerant Artist and Teacher 12

The Myth and the Man 23

2 Visions and Revisions 25

1940s: The Development of a Visual Vocabulary 26

1950s-1970s: Endless Self-Renewal 38

Replicas 43

3 Painting Materials 48

Auxiliary Supports: Strainers and Stretchers 48

Supports: Fabrics 50

Sizing and Priming 51

Sketches and Underdrawing 51

Paints 53

Pigments 60

Paint Medium 79

Surface Coatings 88

Signatures, Titles, and Other Inscriptions 89

Frames 89

4 Condition and Conservation 90

Fatty Acid Efflorescence 92

Metal Soaps 94

Discoloration and Fading 105

A Question of Gloss 114

Appendix I Analysis of 40 Dry Pigments in Containers from Still's Studio 124

Appendix II Analysis of 15 Tube Paints from Still's Studio 126

Appendix III Analysis of the Pigments in 35 Paintings, 1942-1977 127

Appendix IV Analysis of the Binding Media in 37 Paintings, 1942-1977 132

Appendix V The Clyfford Still Gift, Guidelines, Part I: Handling of the Collection-Conservation 140

Appendix VI Analytical Methods, Instrumentation, and Sample Preparation 141

Notes 143

References 149

Acknowledgments 155

Illustration Credits 157

About the Authors 158

Index 159