Detail View: Art Collection:
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UNIQUE ID:
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1.2011.879_2
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Work Type:
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paintings (visual works)
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Title:
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PH-618
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Title Notes:
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preferred
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Title:
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no title
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Creation Date:
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1942
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Work Creator Name:
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Still, Clyfford
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Work Display Measurement:
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42 x 33 inches (106.7 x 83.8 cm)
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Work Material Name:
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oil paint (paint)
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Work Material Support Name:
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canvas
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Work Technique Name:
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palette knives (painting equipment)
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Work Style Period:
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Abstract
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Work Style Period:
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Regionalist (American Scene)
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Current Work Location Name:
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Clyfford Still Museum
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Creation Location:
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San Francisco, California
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Work Description:
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In this strange composition, Still has depicted clearly recognizable machinery and mechanistic objects from the ship yards in which he was working. However, the objects are transformed into enigmatic presences which seem to hover, suspended in space from crane cables all over the canvas. A yellow ship hull hovers in the top left, and a rectangular plow-shaped object looms in the top right. Pulleys dot the composition from top to bottom, and dark crane silhouettes line the horizon near the bottom edge. Still's use of color is also notable in this work. He sets deep blues and purples for the swirling sky in the background against glowing yellows, golds, and rust tones found in the floating foreground objects. This complimentary color contrast of the background and foreground emphasizes Still's unique handling of space. By placing the bright mechanistic objects randomly across a deep blue ground, figure and field become unified and create an all-over composition.
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Citation:
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Clyfford Still, PH-618, 1942. Oil on canvas, 42 x 33 inches (106.7 x 83.8 cm). Clyfford Still Museum, Denver, CO.
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Work Rights Statement:
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© City and County of Denver / ARS, NY
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Image Holding Institution:
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Clyfford Still Museum
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Image Collection Name:
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CSM Art Collection: Objects
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Image Rights Statement:
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Photo: Gary Regester, courtesy the Clyfford Still Museum
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