Detail View: Art Collection:

UNIQUE ID: 
1.2011.496_2
Work Type: 
paintings (visual works)
Title: 
PH-116
Title Notes: 
preferred
Title: 
no title
Creation Date: 
1948
Work Creator Name: 
Still, Clyfford
Work Display Measurement: 
61 1/2 x 49 1/2 inches (156.2 x 125.7 cm)
Work Material Name: 
oil paint (paint)
Work Material Support Name: 
canvas
Work Technique Name: 
palette knives (painting equipment)
Work Style Period: 
Abstract Expressionist
Current Work Location Name: 
Clyfford Still Museum
Creation Location: 
San Francisco, California
Work Inscription: 
Clyfford 1948
Work Inscription: 
Clyfford 1948 San Francisco / Fall 1948
Work Inscription: 
PH-116 BW 2 / Clyfford 1948
Work Inscription Author: 
Still, Clyfford
Work Inscription Author: 
Still, Clyfford
Work Inscription Author: 
Still, Clyfford
Work Description: 
An ominous black field rises from the bottom right edge into a flat white abyss, flickering as it tapers near to the top right corner. A dark maroon form rises about halfway up the composition in front of the black field from the bottom right edge. A related form rendered in the same maroon pigment sits at the top right corner and has a bright red passage painted within its bottom half at the top right edge.Three distinct lifelines exist in the composition. One yellow line and one red line extend from the bottom right quadrant vertically up in front of the larger maroon form and end near the top right quadrant where a small golden brown form hovers near the apex of the black field. Another lifeline, painted in a deep crimson pigment, shoots horizontally across the white space from the left upper edge and ends in a sharp point immediately before piercing the black field at the work's top center quadrant.
Citation: 
Clyfford Still, PH-116, 1948. Oil on canvas, 61 1/2 x 49 1/2 inches (156.2 x 125.7 cm). Clyfford Still Museum, Denver, CO.
Work Rights Statement: 
© City and County of Denver / ARS, NY
Image Holding Institution: 
Clyfford Still Museum
Image Collection Name: 
CSM Art Collection: Objects
Image Rights Statement: 
Photo: Gary Regester, courtesy the Clyfford Still Museum