Any Minute Now
2020
Acrylic on canvas
96 x 96 x 3 3/4"

Member
1967
Acrylic, dye pigments and aluminum powder on canvas with beveled edge
90 x 43 3/4 x 2"

Sam Gilliam (1933–2022) was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and died in Washington, D.C. Internationally recognized as one of the foremost contemporary color field painters, Gilliam moved to Washington, D.C., after receiving his MFA from the University of Louisville in 1961. He joined the Washington Color School and, influenced by abstract expressionism, experimented with methods of applying pigment, often pouring paint, staining canvases and folding them while still wet.

Gilliam’s discovery that painting could be three-dimensional led him to innovate with draping and suspending canvases. He applied paint in ways that added dimensionality and texture to the surface, for example, by employing shaped and beveled stretchers. Gilliam’s work as an artist and teacher, and his bold commitment to creating paintings with sculptural, architectural and textile properties made him an influential presence in modern art.