Sam Gilliam, Groundbreaking Abstractionist, Dies at 88
Painter Sam Gilliam, Celebrated for His Boldly Colored Draped Canvases, Has Died at 88
The abstract painter died at his home in Washington, D.C.
Sam Gilliam – November 30, 1933 – June 25, 2022
(Dogon V, 2005 – Intaglio Lithograph)
(Sam Gilliam’s work Yves Klein Blue at the Venice Biennale in 2017.)
Sam Gilliam loved Yves Klein.
I first encountered Yves Klein while stationed with the army in Japan. There was a Klein exhibition in Tokyo. The Gutai group was being born, and I was in the army, and I thought nothing about whether I would be an artist or not. In fact, I probably thought that I would never be an artist. But Klein had an effect on me, and I thought about making art beyond the interiors that it is usually presented in, about making art more in the outside world.