
Collection Online as of August 10, 2022
(American, 1933–2022)
Acrylic on canvas with collage, enamel on aluminum
Unframed: 185.4 x 75 x 5.1 cm (73 x 29 1/2 x 2 in.)
Gift of Ted and Idarose Luntz 2010.284
© Sam Gilliam / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
224A Contemporary Corridor
A member of the Washington Color School in the 1960s, Gilliam marked a radical shift in painting whose vigorous influence remains evident today. He introduced eccentric elements borrowed from sculpture and explored the interplay of form and process. This painting belongs to the "D paintings" series characterized by narrow, vertical strips of canvas, beveled edges, and a metal element in the form of the letter D. Inspired by a commission for the Davis Square subway station near Boston, they are hybrids of painting and decorative object.