Phase

Sam Gilliam American
1974
Not on view
Gilliam once stated, "I choreograph the color in terms of the way I want it to be seen." In Phase, a range of vibrant tones and fluid gestures that recall drips, splatters, stains, and strokes work in tandem to transmit an abundance of detail and emotional energy. The print possesses a sense of luminosity reminiscent of stained-glass windows: crisscrossing bands in lush tones of red create a latticelike structure, while shimmering colors with various degrees of translucency are irregularly interspersed across the surface like dappled light. Phase conjures the improvisation and experimentation found in Gilliam’s monumental color-stained canvases known as the drape paintings, yet because it is a screenprint, each color, mark, and gesture had to be carefully planned and a strict order followed in its creation.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Phase
  • Artist: Sam Gilliam (American, born Tupelo, Mississippi, 1933–2022 Washington, D.C.)
  • Date: 1974
  • Medium: Screenprint
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 29 1/2 × 29 5/8 in. (74.9 × 75.2 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Purchase, International Fine Print Dealers Association Gift, 2019
  • Object Number: 2019.97
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Estate of Sam Gilliam
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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