Sam Gilliam

American, b. 1933 - d. 2022

BiographyRecognized as the foremost contemporary African American Color Field painter, Sam Gilliam is most known for his large, stained canvases draped and suspended from walls and ceilings. Born in Tupelo, MS, Gilliam spent his childhood in Louisville, KY, and obtained a BA in fine arts at the University of Louisville. He served in the US Army from 1956 to 1958 before completing his MA in 1961. In 1962, he moved to Washington, DC, where he remained an active member of the arts community throughout his life. Shortly after his arrival in DC, Gilliam met Thomas Downing and was exposed to the work of other Washington Color School artists. He subsequently shifted from figural abstractions to large, clean edged paintings with flatly applied areas of color. He moved on to diagonal stripes and began folding his canvases before abandoning the frame and stretcher altogether, hanging and draping unsupported canvases. His style and technique have continued to evolve as he has produced more textural and sculptural work, often incorporating wood or aluminum. He has also created large scale public artworks across the country.

Gilliam taught for nearly a decade in the Washington, DC, public schools, as well as at the Maryland Institute College of Art, the University of Maryland, and Carnegie Mellon University. He received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, as well as an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Louisville. His work is included in many prestigious collections, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; and the Tate Modern, London.

Person TypeArtist