Still

1957-D #1 by Clifford Still (1957)

287.02 cm x 403.86 cm (113 in × 159 in)

Oil on canvas

Abstract Expressionism exploded onto the art scene after World War II and was a dominant style in Western art during the 1950s. A typical example was characterized by large, seemingly arbitrary areas of color, lines, or forms applied with a highly expressive technique on a huge scale. In paintings, these artists used their vigorous application of the medium’s specific traits — paint, canvas, flatness, brushstrokes, etc. — to communicate that part of their individual being that cannot be expressed in the traditional manner while trying to stimulate a viewer’s emotions too. Abstract Expressionism had two major sub-styles. The one most are familiar with, represented by the works of Jackson Pollock, is called gestural painting — a loud, active outburst of emotion. Clifford Still’s work is of the other type: color-field painting.

1957-D #1 is enormous, over 9 by 13 feet, and fills my range of vision. The painting is dominated by this huge field of pitch black. It reminds me of a large hole or void. This is cut through with slashes of yellow, white, and red, interrupting the void and filling the emptiness. This work is meant to be stared at and absorbed by the viewer. Its total abstraction forces me to encounter it on my own terms, without any outside hints or influences, even Still’s. This is also why the title is what it is — 1957-D #1 — as abstract and uninstructive as the painting itself. The painting exists on its own terms. It meant something specific to Still at the time, sure, otherwise he wouldn’t have painted it. However, its lack of defined imagery forces me to encounter it on my own terms with my own impressions, expressions, and emotions, producing a unique and individual experience.

I found 1957-D #1 interesting because, to me, it seemed to contradict itself. Above, I described the blackness as a void. If so, then it should feel weightless to me, but it didn’t. Instead, it was extremely dense and visually “heavy”. It dominated the large work. Standing in front of it, that’s all I saw at first. Then, as I looked around, the yellow slowly invaded the black. The yellow was bright but not vivid. White and splashes of red dull its intensity. Generally, yellow can be a tricky color. It is airy and visually “light”, but very bright. Against a lighter background, it can get lost; against a dark background, it shines. With this reasoning therefore, yellow should dominate here. Instead, yellow struggled against black. Why?

These inconsistencies made me want to think about this work more. Before I knew it, my nose was inches from the canvas (I encourage this for every work of art — but be careful. Security gets understandably nervous when you get too close). Then I saw the brushstrokes, texture, and layers of paint. The black was no longer nothing, but full of something. The void was an illusion; it now had substance. Based on how close or far away I stood to it, the entire nature of this painting transformed. It was a wild experience.

Recently, I had a conversation about this painting with a friend who knows nothing about art but likes sports. He saw it in-person and said it reminded him of the American football team the Pittsburgh Steelers (the team’s colors are also black and yellow). I too enjoy American football (a lot), but this association never occurred to me. Now I can’t unsee it. I thought this was an interesting example of how art can produce diverse and unexpected thoughts in different people based on where they’re coming from.

Clifford Still was one of the early pioneers of Abstract Expressionism, working exclusively in the style almost a full decade before many of the other big names of the movement, such as Pollack or de Kooning. Unlike many artists in this style, Still grew up in the American West with its wide-open spaces and monumental landscapes. Because of this, some scholars think he was trying to replicate the feelings of viewing the awesome wonder of Nature. Still was also one of Abstract Expressionism’s biggest critics. After joining the New York School (as the style was called at the time) for a while in the 1950s, he became disillusioned by the art world of the day and went into a self-imposed exile.

This work is cared for by the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, New York, USA.