Background
Sam Gilliam was born on November 30, 1933 in Tupelo, Mississippi, United States. He is a son of Sam Gilliam, a railroad worker, and Estery Gilliam. The family left for Louisville, Kentucky, shortly after Sam was born.
1969
Sam Gilliam. Photo by Paul Feinberg.
1969
Jefferson Place Gallery, Washington, D. C., United States
Sam Gilliam sits by one of his canvases, entitled "Swing" at the Jefferson Place Gallery in Washington, D. C. on April 7, 1969. Photo by Frank Johnston.
1980
Sam Gilliam in his Washington D. C. studio. Photo by Anthony Barboza
1980
Sam Gilliam poses in his Washington, D.C. studio.
2016
Sam Gilliam on June 22, 2016, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Marvin Joseph.
Central High School
University of Louisville
Sam Gilliam at work.
Sam Gilliam. Photo by Darrow Montgomery.
Sam Gilliam. Photo by Darrow Montgomery.
Washington, D. C., United States
Sam Gilliam on June 22, 2016, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Marvin Joseph.
Sam Gilliam was born on November 30, 1933 in Tupelo, Mississippi, United States. He is a son of Sam Gilliam, a railroad worker, and Estery Gilliam. The family left for Louisville, Kentucky, shortly after Sam was born.
In 1951, Sam finished Central High School in Louisville. Later, he entered the University of Louisville, graduating with Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1955. Gilliam continued his studies and received Master of Arts degree in 1961 and Doctor of Humane Letters in 1980 at the same university.
In 2006, he was named the University of Louisville Alumnus of the Year.
Throughout his career, Gilliam has been concerned with problems of color, atmosphere and structure. His interest in color staining was inspired, in part, by the work of such artists, as Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland. A strong philosophical influence also came from the sculptor Rockne Krebs, with whom Gilliam shared a studio building.
In 1955, Sam held his first solo exhibition at the University of Louisville. Some time later, after military service during the period from 1956 to 1958, Gilliam moved to Washington, D.C. Approximately in 1965, Gilliam became the first painter to introduce the idea of the unsupported canvas. He was inspired to do this by observing laundry, hanging outside his Washington studio. Gilliam says, that his paintings are based on the fact, that the framework of the painting is in real space. He is attracted to its power and the way it functions.
In 1967, the artist was invited to hold his first solo museum exhibition at The Phillips Collection. Some time later, in 1972, he became the first African-American artist, who represented the United States at the Venice Biennale. In 1975, he stopped producing draped canvases. During that time, he was influenced by jazz musicians, such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and began to create dynamic geometric collages, which he called "Black Paintings". In the 1980's, Sam changed his style and started to make quilted paintings, reminiscent of African patchwork quilts from his childhood.
In 1987, he was commissioned to produce a print to celebrate the opening of the S. Dillon Ripley Center in the National Mall. In 2005, a major retrospective of his work was held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. In 2009, the artist produced a 90-color serigraph, entitled Museum Moment, for Smithsonian Associates. In 2016, Gilliam was commissioned to produce a work for opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The following year, he took part in the Venice Biennale.
Gilliam has also had a life-long commitment to teaching, first at Washington public schools and later at the Maryland Institute College of Art, the University of Maryland and Carnegie Mellon University. The artist continues to live and work in Washington, D.C.
Castle Banner 5
Elegy #2
Remembering Girls Ajar
Aviation 3
Untitled
Manet I
Red April
St. Albans
Untitled
Pink Flutter
Wide
Red Linger
Pretty Boxes
Icon
Manet II
Red Petals
Icon
Fog In The Hollow
Blue Swirl
Abstraction
Rhinoceros 3
Manet III
Bowling
Rainfall
Sea Color
Time Before History
With Orange
Blue Line
Rubiyat
Loon
Fog Light
Restore
Buoy Landscape II
Toward a Red
In Celebration
Stand
River Falls
A Spring Thaw
Untitled
Comet I
Pearlie
Water Surface
Untitled
Newly Little
Horses Upside Down
Lattice
Waking Up
Ibis
This Time
Lot and Square
April 4
Recitals
Light Fan
Bluest
Coffee Thyme
Plow
Tempo
Baptistry
Lady Day II
Wall Forest
A Warmth, A Lightness, A Glow and Then
Quotations: "I am a better artist today in that I am obviously a better teacher. Whether I am teaching or making art, the process is fundamentally the same: I am creating."
Sam Gilliam collects antique toys, especially mechanical banks and pieces of marble from around the world.
In 1962, Gilliam married Dorothy Butler, a columnist at The Washington Post. Their marriage produced three daughters — Stephanie, Melissa and Leah. In the 1980's, the couple divorced. After the divorce, Annie Gawlak, an owner of the G Fine Art Gallery in Washington, D.C., became his life partner.