Clyfford Still Museum

I finally visited the Clyfford Still Museum today. Amy got me a membership several months ago and I still needed to activate it. And every time I thought about going down there, either something came up or it was a Monday when it’s closed. Today I had an early meeting at the Denver Federal Center and was done at 10:30 so I cruised downtown and looked at some amazing Abstract Expressionism art.

The story about how Denver got the museum and his entire collection is pretty interesting in itself. He sold very little of his work and avoided the commercialization of art so his estate had 95% of his works when he died. His will stated that all his art would go to the American city that agreed to build a dedicated museum to his art. Somehow his widow chose Denver. Now over 850 of his works are at the museum. Of course only a fraction of the art is displayed at any one time, but new pieces are frequently rotated in so having a membership and visiting often should be great.

My favorite piece from his early work is PH-77. I love the guy’s red shirt. The colors are so brilliant. His later works are impressive in their own right. I’ll leave it up to you to search the internet to see some of them. But to see them in person is almost required. These are huge paintings. We’re talking 12 by 20 FEET!  They are huge. I’ll be honest. Seeing these have inspired me to try painting some day. I’ve always wanted to give it a try. I guess I’ll just add it to my list of projects for down the road.