CANADIAN AND AMERICAN ABSTRACT PAINTING:...

ARTH 648B-2 Envisioning Digital and Virtual Forms of Exhibitions: The Curatorial Translation of Theory into Practice, 2012

CANADIAN AND AMERICAN ABSTRACT PAINTING: INTERSECTIONS IN THE WORK OF CLYFFORD STILL AND KENNETH LOCHHEAD Katherine Meredith Clyfford Still is at once a legendary figure in the history of modern art, and an unknown painter

whose oeuvre has been tightly restricted from public access. Those who do know his work are

familiar with Still as a leader of the Abstract Expressionist movement, and associate the artist

with his immense and colourful abstract canvases. Although these represent his most significant

and influential works, what is constantly overlooked when discussing Still’s career is the fact

that he spent most of his youth in rural Alberta, where he began to paint. Born in North Dakota

in 1904, Still’s family moved to Bow Island, just outside of Edmonton, in 1911. He lived there

until he attended college in Washington State, although he returned to Canada during the

summers as well as regularly throughout the rest of his life. Little is known of this part of Still’s

career. This is partly because Still was a very private person who hid from the public, and who

usually refused to comment on any of his art, as well as the strict conditions on his estate, left by

the artist following his death in 1980. At Still’s wishes, his estate remained hidden from public

access until an American city was willing to build a museum dedicated to his art and archives.

Consequently, for a very well-known artist of the twentieth century, there is little known of him,

particularly during his early years as a figurative painter. In 2011, the Clyfford Still Museum in

Denver, Colorado opened its doors to house and present this large collection. The museum

contains over 94% of the artist’s work.

Kenneth Lochhead was born in Ottawa in 1926. Lochhead studied at Queen’s University, the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. His extensive


study of art was complemented by trips to Europe and western Canada.1 He moved to Regina in

1950 to teach art at the University of Saskatchewan. Known for his colourful, geometric abstract

works of the 1960s and 1970s, he has inspired generations of artists across Canada in the second

half of the twentieth century. Because of his artwork, teaching, as well as his active role in the

contemporary art world, he helped to give the Regina arts scene national status.

This exhibition will compare the careers of Clyfford Still and Kenneth Lochhead, as two abstract

artists active during the same time period, both of whom had strong ties with the Canadian

Prairies. While the two artists are most renowned for their colourful, non-representational

paintings, Still and Lochhead began with figurative paintings of landscapes and portraiture. The

development of their styles will be compared and contrasted in the context of Post-War art, while

noting Still and Lochhead’s relation to dominant art movements of the time in the United States.

Since Clyfford Still is only ever considered alongside other American artists, this exhibition aims

to expose the Canadian side of the painter, and show how Still’s work is not similar to American

artists exclusively.


The Formative Years: Arriving at Abstraction with the Influence of Cézanne

Clyfford Still PH-619-5 1920 Oil on canvas Clyfford Still Museum


Paul Cézanne The Bay of Marseilles, view from L'Estaque 1885 31 5/8 x 39 5/8 in. (80.2 x 100.6 cm) Oil on canvas Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago Accession Number: 1933.1116 http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/16487

Paul Cézanne is considered one of the most influential artists of the nineteenth century and a

major pioneer of modern painting. He is credited with bridging the gap between late nineteenth

century Impressionism and early twentieth century Cubism.2 Generations of modern artists have

affirmed their admiration of the painter; Matisse once proclaimed: “Cézanne, you see, is a sort of

God of painting.”3 He often inspired artists during their early careers, as they were developing


their own style. His influence continues for twentieth century artists around the world, including

Clyfford Still in the United States and Kenneth Lochhead in Canada.

Clyfford Still, who began painting in 1920 at age sixteen in Bow Island, Alberta, shows

influences of Cézanne in several ways. Because Still was a self-taught artist, he did not study

Cézanne in studio art courses like many painters have. Rather, Still studied his work on his own

time and in his art history classes, which led to him write his Master’s thesis in Art History on

the artist in 1935, entitled “Cézanne: A Study in Evaluation.” In his thesis Still mentions what he

admired about Cézanne, particularly how his forms were used for aesthetic function rather than

as representational tools, and for his liberated use of colour. He praises Cézanne just as the early

modern artists did, for being the founder of modern art: “For almost a third of a century Paul

Cézanne has been the most influential figure in modern painting. His letters alone have formed

the technical basis of one great modern school. He casually mentions geometric figures and

another school is born.”4

While it is a known fact that Still greatly admired Cézanne, saying that Cézanne directly

influenced Still’s work is a much more subjective claim. Still was ethically opposed to the idea

of artists having influences, and claimed that he had none, stating, “My work is not influenced by

anybody.”5 As well, Still’s artwork is highly original and often shows an assimilation of several

artistic styles, therefore references to Cézanne are very subtle. This attitude of rejecting tradition

and recognizing the artist as an autonomous figure belonged to the two artists. Still admired

Cézanne’s character. Cézanne spoke on this topic, stating “the modern artist must forget

everything that came before.”6


In one of Still’s first landscapes of rural Alberta, PH-619-5 (1920), we see a grain elevator on an

empty, flat plain. Thick brushstrokes suggest movement in the empty blue sky. The brushstrokes,

palette and simplified geometric forms show similarities to Cézanne’s Impressionist period

(1883-1885), such as his landscapes in l’Estaque, including The Bay of Marseilles, view from

L'Estaque (1885). Both artists painted rural scenes with varied and thick brushstrokes, and

yellow buildings with rigid, squared contours.


Clyfford Still Untitled 1935 26 3/4 x 20 3/4 in. (67.9 x 52.7 cm) Oil on canvas

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Joseph H. Hirshhorn Purchase Fund, 2001

Accession Number: 01.12

http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/hirshhorn-past-exhibitions/ - detail=http%3A//www.hirshhorn.si.edu/search-results/search-result-details/%3Fedan_search_value=01.12&collection=hirshhorn-past-exhibitionshttp://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/hirshhorn


Paul Cézanne

The Boy with a Skull (Jeune homme à la tête de mort)

1896-1898 130.2 x 97.3 cm Oil on canvas The Barnes Foundation http://www.barnesfoundation.org/collections/art-collection/object/5209/young-man-and-skull-jeune-homme-a-la-tete-de-mort

One major element that Clyfford Still admired of Cézanne and adopted himself was the recurring

theme of distortion.7 Whereas Cézanne used distortion in a geometric, proto-Cubist fashion, Still

painted elongated, misshaped figures in his path to abstraction through a regionalist style.

Regionalism is a term applied to a group of American artists during the 1930s and early 1940s

who depicted realistic scenes of life in the rural Midwest and the Deep South in the United


States.8 Several of Still’s early works of rural Alberta bear resemblances to the Regionalists’

nostalgic paintings of small-town America. As Still’s work evolved, however, the figures in his

scenes of farms and farm-workers become emaciated, tired and hunger-stricken, his characters

usually placed in a dark and eerie setting. envisioning the people Still had witnessed in Alberta

and Washington State during the Great Depression. This aspect of Still’s painting of the 1930s

steer his work closer to that of the Social Realists. Popular in the United States and Canada

during the 1920s and 30s, these were artists who drew attention to the everyday conditions of the

working class and the poor, while criticizing the social structures that maintained these

conditions.9

Still’s Untitled (1935), shows a face typical of Still’s work of the 1930s. The eyes consist of

empty, black sockets, there is no nose, and the cheeks are bony and hollow with a straight black

line for a mouth. The skull, resting on a limp hand, floats in front of a grey, hilly landscape. The

figure, an overworked and starved labourer, references the Social-Realist aspect of Still’s work,

while the distorted forms and dark, eerie landscape evokes a Surrealist style. Surrealism, a

movement in literature and the visual arts during the 1920s and 30s, drew upon the subconscious

to produce unexpected imagery of the imagination, free from reason and societal limitations.10

Still’s Untitled, 1930, also evokes the often dream-like images of the Surrealist painters, with his

unearthly scene of a figure in a landscape.

Cézanne also went through a phase of painting skulls, although for him it was a reflection of his

resignation to death at the end of his career, from 1898-1905. The Boy with a Skull (1896-1898)

was one of the first paintings of Cézanne’s to contain a skull. As well, Still’s painting is similar


to this work. The young man sits at a table with a skull, resting his head against his hand in a

melancholic pose, in the same way as Still’s skull rests on its own hand. Distortion is present in

Cézanne’s painting, in the face, the fractured surfaces of the curtain and in the room’s

perspective.

Clyfford Still 1937-8-A Oil on canvas 49 1/2 x 36 1/4 x 2 3/4 inches (125.73 x 92.08 x 6.99 cm) Gift of the artist, 1964 1964:5.1 Albright Knox Art Gallery http://www.albrightknox.org/collection/search/piece:1829/


Clyfford Still took the idea of distortion further and further, making only distant references to

figuration, until eventually his paintings became non-representational. His long, bony figures

became steadily more exaggerated and abstract. Still’s painting 1937-8-A, (1937) shows his work

just before a complete breakthrough into abstraction. The black and brown vertical shapes,

rounded at the top, evoke bodies clustered together. The small yellow line in the tallest form

gives the viewer a sense that it is a peering face. The shapes are fluid and loose, blending into

one another. Figure and ground become increasingly difficult to distinguish. This painting marks

a leap into abstraction; after a final large step in that direction, Still breaks through to non-

representational works.


Kenneth Lochhead Piazza Michelangelo 1959 59.7 x 99.7 cm Oil on canvas http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/work_detail.html?languagePref=en&mkey=8516&title=Piazza+Michaelangelo&artist=Lochhead,+Kenneth&link_id=23


Paul Cézanne Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from Les Lauves 1902-1906 65 x 81 cm

Oil on canvas

Private collection

http://www.sai.msu.su/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/st-victoire/799/lauves-799.jpg

Since Kenneth Lochhead was educated in the visual arts, he studied Cézanne’s works

extensively. At the Barnes Foundation he mentions his admiration for Cézanne during his student

years: “I loved Cézanne paintings. Our lecturer and head of the education programme [...] would

spend up to three hours analyzing one Cézanne of the collection. Wow, was that ever an eye

opener.”11


From 1958 to 1959, Lochhead and his family spent eight months in Rome and another four

months traveling in Europe, where he saw Cézanne’s work in museums and galleries. Several

paintings, such as Piazza Michelangelo (1959) were conceived in Rome but completed in

Regina. This painting, typical of Lochhead’s figurative work in the 1950s, shows an Italian city,

emphasizing architecture and the monuments in a flattened, cubist way. The artist had a

fascination for monuments, which he depicted here in simplified, geometric shapes, rather than

in their original classical modeling. Just as Cézanne had done, Lochhead rejected the traditional

rules of single-point perspective.12 Lochhead creates a fragmented surface, using tilted planes

and flattened volumes, resembling a mosaic. Lochhead emphasizes structure in his analytical

approach to the scene, rather than an idealized or naturalistic method, similar to Cézanne’s idea

of breaking down everything he saw into basic forms. In Cézanne’s Le Mont Sainte-Victoire

Seen from Les Lauves (1902-04), the landscape is broken down into small squares with flattened

volumes, also resembling a mosaic.


Kenneth Lochhead Minotaur 1961 182.2 x 122 cm Gesso on Masonite National Gallery of Canada http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/image.html?languagePref=en&url=/c/images/big/l/lochhead/loc197.jpg&cright=Kenneth+Lochhead&mkey=8522&link_id=23


In the following years, Kenneth Lochhead pursued this cubist style further, continuing to

deconstruct his subject with only distant references to figuration. Minotaur (1961) is one of

Lochhead’s last “figurative” works, where a representational subject has all but dissolved. Wide,

uneven strokes of white and grey paint are layered on top of a black base. The black form that is

created protrudes on the top and in two narrow shapes off the bottom, referencing a minotaur;

however, had the painting not contained this title, the viewer would not necessarily recognize the

animal it depicts, or any figurative subject matter at all.


Embracing Abstraction: Interactions with the New York School

Clyfford Still PH-1071 1951 300 x 270 cm (approx.) Oil on canvas Clyfford Still Museum Still’s distorted figures gradually became replaced by similar gestural, abstract forms. Once the

artist finally embraced abstraction, his palette became brighter and more colourful. He also

adopted a larger format for his canvases, for example, PH-1071 (1951) boasts a size of 3 by 2.7


metres, with a large zone of grey, surrounded by black, red and yellow. It is canvases such as this

one for which Still is best known and most acclaimed. Clyfford Still’s work occupies a

significant place in the first generation of Abstract Expressionism, an avant-garde art movement

which emerged in New York following the Second World War. Also referred to as “The New

York School,” this small group of American artists shared some common assumptions but were

never a formal association. This first generation of Abstract Expressionists thrived during the

years 1943 into the mid 1950s. For the first time in history, following World War II, an

American art movement attained international status, thus shifting the centre of the art world

from Paris to New York.

As Abstract Expressionism developed as an art movement, two distinct directions evolved in the

late 1940s: gestural painting known as Action Painting, and Colour-Field painting. It is the latter

group to which Clyfford Still belongs. Still developed this new type of painting based on

immense canvases of simplified areas or “fields” of saturated colour. The intention of the

Colour-Field painters was visionary; they aimed to create an abstract art suggestive of the

sublime.


Letter to Clement Greenberg, from Clyfford E. Still (page 1 of 3)

April 12, 1955

Archives of American Art

http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/images/detail/clyfford-e-still-letter-to-clement-greenberg-9430


A factor that likely made Still so recognized, specifically for his abstract paintings of the 1950s,

is the coincidence of his abstract work with the rise of art criticism as a discipline. Art critics

frequented the exhibitions and galleries and commented on contemporary artists’ work during

the 1950s and 60s, when Still was at the height of his career. The most influential art critic of the

twentieth century and the champion of modern art criticism is Clement Greenberg.13 In one of

Greenberg’s highly significant essays, “American Type Painting,” written in 1955, the critic

writes that unlike the other Abstract Expressionists, Still arrived at his mature style with almost

no allusion to Cubism.14 Following this essay, Still wrote Greenberg an angry letter, asking him

not to comment on his work and stating that many of his comments were false, and he did not

want any praise from the critic because other artists were becoming jealous. In the opening

paragraph, the artist wrote to Greenberg: “After taking the venom of Barnett Newman’s jealousy

for over two hours yesterday afternoon, it required some considerable control to see your last

effort in an objective relationship.”15 Still had strong disdain for art critics and art institutions,

denying most exhibition requests and disagreeing with critics’ statements. In an attempt to

restrict interpretation of his work, Still removed all titles from his paintings in 1947 and never

used another title again.16


Barnett Newman

Joshua

1950

Oil on canvas

36 x 25 in. (91.4 x 63.5 cm)

Private Collection, Chicago

http://xgfk10ggr.wordpress.com/m7-2/


Mark Rothko

No. 5/No. 22

1950 (dated on reverse 1949)

Oil on canvas

9' 9" x 8' 11 1/8" (297 x 272 cm)

Museum of Modern Art, New York

Gift of the artist

1108.1969

http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A5047&page_number=9&template_id=1&sort_order=1 Greenberg named Still “one of the most original painters of our time,” and in his essay “After

Abstract Expressionism” (1962) the critic credited Still, along with fellow artists Barnett


Newman and Mark Rothko, as a major influence on the emergence of the new movement in

American painting known as Colour-Field painting or Post-Painterly Abstraction. 17 Although

Greenberg and other art critics frequently praised the artist, Still consistently refuted their

comments and embarked on a life-long campaign to restrict any interpretation of his work.18

Kenneth Lochhead Blue Extension 1963 203.2 x 248.9 cm Acrylic on canvas Department of Foreign Affairs, Ottawa http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/image.html?languagePref=en&url=/c/images/big/l/lochhead/loc04

4.jpg&cright=Kenneth+Lochhead&mkey=8532&link_id=23


Arthur McKay Impenetrable Image 1963 Oil on canvas University of Regina Collection http://www.sknac.ca/index.php?page=ArtistDetail&id=39


Ronald Bloore

Green Painting

1960

Oil on hardboard

122 x 122 cm

Robert MacLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario

http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/work_detail.html?languagePref=en&mkey=56098&title=Green+Painting&artist=Bloore%2C+Ronald&link_id=175


Kenneth Lochhead’s more cubist process to abstract art resulted in a geometric abstract style,

with cleaner, straighter lines and shapes than Still’s gestural paintings, but maintaining a large

scale, such as Blue Extension (1963). Just as Still was associated with a group of similar artists,

Lochhead was a member of the Regina Five painters, a group of abstract artists from Ontario and

Saskatchewan who took their name from the title of their exhibition at the National Gallery of

Canada in 1961, “Five Painters from Regina.”19 These five men, Kenneth Lochhead, Arthur

McKay, Douglas Morton, Ted Godwin, and Ronald Bloore, were considered to be at the

forefront of Canada’s modern art movement at that time.20

In 1955, while in Regina, Lochhead initiated the Emma Lake Professional Artists’ Workshops

with some fellow Canadian artists, which brought about a new interest in Saskatchewan art and

helped propel it onto the international scene.21 Held in Emma Lake, a remote location in northern

Saskatchewan, these annual workshops offered practicing artists a means of breaking from the

artistic isolation they felt in the Canadian Prairies.22 By bringing in significant critics and artists

from outside the province, workshop participants felt they could establish stronger contact with

the art world at large, and in this way invigorate their own art.23 The workshops ran from 1955

until 1995. Over eighty artists and critics served as workshop leaders, most notably Abstract

Expressionist Barnett Newman, and critic Clement Greenberg, who gave advice to artists such as

Lochhead on their abstract painting. Lochhead’s non-referential works of the 1960s reflect the

New York aesthetic, and he was included in Greenberg’s 1964 “Post-Painterly Abstraction”

exhibition in New York.24 In an interview, Lochhead mentioned that he was criticized for his

Emma Lake Workshops by some of his colleagues, because many of his Canadian

contemporaries had an anti-American sentiment, but Lochhead always defended these sessions,


stating, “It was the best thing that ever happened in Canadian art- to open the doors to

international concepts and ideas and biases.”25

Kenneth Noland

And Half

1959

Acrylic on canvas

Kenneth Noland Official Website

http://www.kennethnoland.com/works/1950-1960.php


While Clyfford Still’s paintings of the 1950s helped to propel Colour-Field painting as a new art

movement following Abstract Expressionism, Lochhead’s abstract work of the 1960s and 1970s

bear resemblances to Colour-Field painting, which had recently established itself as an important

movement in New York. American artist Kenneth Noland exemplifies Colour-Field painting

with his circles, or “targets.” Noland was also featured in Greenberg’s “Post-Painterly

Abstraction” exhibition with Lochhead, and led an Emma Lake workshop in 1963. Paintings of

the two artists show similarities in line and colour patterns. Lochhead’s multicoloured square in

Blue Extension seems like a square version of Noland’s target. Whereas Lochhead’s shape is

anchored to the bottom edge of the painting, Noland’s circle is floating against a blank canvas.


Kenneth Lochhead Cerulean Break 1972 238.8 x 185.4 cm Acrylic on canvas Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/image.html?languagePref=en&url=/c/images/big/l/lochhead/loc074.jpg&cright=Kenneth+Lochhead&mkey=8681&link_id=23


Jules Olitski Comprehensive Dream 1965 284.5 x 235cm Acrylic on canvas Ameringer Yohe Fine Art http://www.artcritical.com/2003/07/17/gallery-going-this-article-first-appeared-in-the-new-york-sun-july-17-2003/


Around 1970, Lochhead changed his style significantly to very soft, loose, and diffused areas of

colour that thinly cover the enormous canvas. These paintings, such as Cerulean Break (1972),

quite different from Lochhead’s geometric abstract work, closely resembling the work of Colour-

Field American artists such as Jules Olitski. An Emma Lake guest in 1964, Olitski abandoned

heavily textured surfaces and evolved a radically innovative technique of spraying thin layers of

coloured acrylic paint onto the canvas.26


The Mature Work

Clyfford Still Untitled 1971 93 3/4 in. x 155 in. x 2 1/4 in. (238.13 cm x 393.7 cm x 5.72 cm) Oil on canvas Acquired 1975 Collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Gift of the artist 75.39 http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/collection/artwork/315#ixzz2FeP2ramt


Clyfford Still lived in rural Maryland from 1961 until his death in 1980. His mature paintings of

this period are looser, with smaller and more lightly applied brushstrokes. He maintains the large

scale, but often keeps large portions of the canvas bare. Untitled (1971), measuring roughly 2.5

by 4 metres in in size, depicts a near-monochromatic painting of loosely scattered white forms

across an off-white canvas. Throughout his entire career, but especially in large, horizontal

paintings such as this one his paintings have been interpreted as a reference to a vast, sublime

landscape and have sparked large debates about subject matter.27 Untitled (1971) may allude to

clouds, or snow in an empty sky. Despite mentioning his interest in nature during the beginning

of his career, later on Still denied any reference to landscape, claiming “I paint myself, not

nature.”28 Nevertheless, this element of Still’s work is seen as an “American” attribute. It has

been said that Still’s work is distinctly American because it portrays a vast empty landscape,

evocative of the American West where the artist spent a portion of his life.29 However, this type

of nature or topography is evidently not unique to the United States. What is not considered is

the pertinent fact that Still began to paint in the Canadian Prairies, where he first witnessed this

type of sublime landscape, in his paintings of grain elevators, for example, This contradicts the

claim of this “American” characteristic. If his paintings do in fact reference this type of

landscape, it originates in his Canadian upbringing, not only in his life in the United States.


Kenneth Lochhead Mountain Path 1999 76.2 x 101.6 cm Oil on canvas http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/image.html?languagePref=en&url=/c/images/big/l/lochhead/loc14

6.jpg&cright=Kenneth+Lochhead&mkey=8636&link_id=23

In the 1970s Kenneth Lochhead slowly re-introduced figurative subject matter into his painting.

First he added floral motifs to his colour-field canvases, which turned into still lifes and pictures

of gardens, and eventually became scenes of rural Canadian landscapes. Lochhead depicted

fields, farms, mountains, as well as snowy forests, among other Canadian nature scenes, such as


Mountain Path (1999). The painting shows a large amount of sky, evoking the vast and sublime

landscape that is present in numerous forms across the country. Lochhead stayed with figurative

painting until the end of his life, mainly landscapes, and some portraits. Most of these paintings

were completed in Ontario; Lochhead moved to Toronto in 1973 and Ottawa in 1975 where he

retired from teaching in 1990.

In conclusion, Clyfford Still and Kenneth Lochhead were two abstract artists, both with ties to

Prairie Canada, who showed similar developments in their careers. They began as figurative

painters. Both artists admired Cezanne, who influenced Still and Lochhead’s pursuit of

abstraction. Since Still was living in New York at the time he arrived at abstraction, and

exhibited with other abstract artists, he was grouped in with American art groups: Abstract

Expressionism and Colour-Field painting. His work was made even more famous in the art world

due to the New York art critics, who were very active at the time, especially Clement Greenberg

who consistently praised Still’s work.

Lochhead, though removed geographically from the New York art world, had contacts with these

artists and critics, through the Emma Lake Workshops he helped initiate in 1955. Lochhead also

assisted in forming what became known as the Regina Five group of abstract painters, who also

received praise from the usually ethnocentric New York critics. An interesting difference

between the two painters is that while Still strove to prohibit any discourse on his work,

Lochhead sought commentary and advice from art critics like Greenberg. Another notable

distinction is that Still began his career with Canadian landscape painting, but never again

returned to figuration after the late 1940s. Lochhead, in contrast, experimented with abstraction


for approximately two decades but ultimately chose to depict the Canadian landscape in the

majority of his mature work.


NOTES

1 “Kenneth Lochhead Obituary,” Ottawa Citizen, July 18, 2006, accessed December 20, 2012 http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ottawacitizen/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=18520313#f. 2 Sebastian Smee, “Cézanne's World of Influence,” The Boston Globe, March 8, 2009, accessed December 21, 2012 http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2009/03/08/c233zannes_world_of_influence/?page=full. 3 Jack D. Flam, Matisse on Art (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1995) 80. 4 Clyfford Still, Cézanne: A Study in Evaluation, MA Thesis (Pullman: The State College of Washington, 1935) 18. 5 David Anfam, “Clyfford Still’s Art: Between the Quick and the Dead,” Clyfford Still Paintings 1944-1960, ed. James T. Demetrion (New Haven: Yale University Press) 19. 6 Paul Cézanne, “Letter to Émile Bernard,” October 23, 1905, Cézanne’s Letters, ed. John Rewald (New York: Da Capo Press, 1976) 316. 7 David Anfam, Clyfford Still, Ph.D. Dissertation (Courtault Institute of Art, 1984) 49. 8 “Regionalism,” The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms, Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press, accessed December 20, 2012 http://0-www.oxfordartonline.com.mercury.concordia.ca/subscriber/article/opr/t4/e1431. 9 James G. Todd, “Social Realism,” Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press, accessed December 20, 2012 http://0-www.oxfordartonline.com.mercury.concordia.ca/subscriber/article/grove/art/T079466. 10 James Voorhies, “Surrealism,” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004). 11 Ted Fraser, “Kenneth Lochhead: Garden of Light [1948 to 2002],” (Regina: MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2005) Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art, accessed December 20, 2012 http://ccca.concordia.ca/c/writing/f/fraser/fras001t.html. 12 Fraser. 13 Daniel A. Siedell, “Contemporary Art Criticism and the Legacy of Clement Greenberg: Or, How Artwriting Earned Its Good Name,” Journal of Aesthetic Education 36:4 (Winter 2002): 17. 14 Clement Greenberg, “‘American-Type’ Painting,” 1955, Clement Greenberg: The Collected Essays and Criticism, ed. John O’Brian (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1993) 228. 15 Clyfford E. Still, letter to Clement Greenberg, April 12, 1955, Archives of American Art, accessed December 20, 2012 http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/images/detail/clyfford-e-still-letter-to-clement-greenberg-9430. 16 Neal Benezra, “Clyfford Still’s Replicas,” Clyfford Still Paintings 1944-1960, ed. James T. Demetrion (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001) 88. 17 Greenberg, 129. Clement Greenberg, “After Abstract Expressionism,” 1962, Clement Greenberg: The Collected Essays and Criticism, ed. John O’Brian (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993) 133. 18 David Anfam, “Clyfford Still’s Art: Between the Quick and the Dead,” 18. 19 “Kenneth Lochhead Obituary.” 20 Kenneth Lochhead Biography, Kenneth Lochhead, accessed December 21, 2012 http://www.kennethlochhead.com/index_1.html 21 Kenneth Lochhead Biography. 22 Russell Bingham, “The Emma Lake Artists Workshops,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed December 20, 2012 http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/emma-lake-artists-workshops. 23 Bingham. 24 Norman Zepp, “Kenneth Campbell Lochhead,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed December 20, 2012 http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/kenneth-campbell-lochhead. 25 “Kenneth Lochhead Videoportrait,” Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art, accessed December 20, 2012 http://ccca.concordia.ca/videoportrait/english/lochhead.html. 26 “Jules Olitski,” The Art Story, accessed December 20, 2012 http://www.theartstory.org/artist-olitski-jules.htm. 27 Thomas Kellein, “Clyfford Still and New York: The Buffalo Project,” Clyfford Still 1904-1980 Buffalo and San Francisco Collections, ed. Thomas Kellein (New York: Prestel, 1992) 36. 28 Kellein, 39. 29 “Clyfford Still: Classic American Man of the West,” video, Smithsonian Institution, accessed December 20, 2012 http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/videos/Clyfford-Still-Classic-American-Man-of-the-West.html.


BIBLIOGRAPHY Anfam, David. Clyfford Still. Ph.D. Dissertation. Courtault Institute of Art, 1984. Anfam, David. “Clyfford Still’s Art: Between the Quick and the Dead.” Clyfford Still Paintings 1944-1960. Ed. James T. Demetrion. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. 16-26. Benezra, Neil. “Clyfford Still’s Replicas.” Clyfford Still Paintings 1944-1960. Ed. James T. Demetrion. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. 87-96. Bingham, Russell. “The Emma Lake Artists Workshops.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. Accessed December 20, 2012. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/emma-lake-artists-workshops. Cézanne, Paul. “Letter to Émile Bernard.” October 23, 1905. Cézanne’s Letters. Ed. John Rewald. New York: Da Capo Press, 1976. “Clyfford Still: Classic American Man of the West.” Video. Smithsonian Institution. Accessed December 20, 2012. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/videos/Clyfford-Still-Classic-American-Man-of-the-West.html. Flam, Jack D. Matisse on Art. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1995. Fraser, Ted. “Kenneth Lochhead; Garden of Light”. The MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, January 29-May 23, 2005. Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art. Accessed December 20, 2012. http://ccca.concordia.ca/c/writing/f/fraser/fras001t.html?hiSearch=lochhead. Fry, Roger. Cezanne: A Study of His Development. Kessinger Publishing. 2004. Google Books. Accessed December 20, 2012. http://books.google.ca/books/about/Cezanne_A_Study_Of_His_Development.html?id=eqe4VAGnVUUC&redir_esc=y. Greenberg, Clement. “After Abstract Expressionism.” 1962. Clement Greenberg: The Collected Essays and Criticism. Ed. John O’Brian. Vol. 4. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1993. 121-134. Greenberg, Clement. “‘American-Type’ Painting.’” 1955. Clement Greenberg: The Collected Essays and Criticism. Ed. John O’Brian. Vol. 2. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1993. 217-235. “Clyfford Still: an abstract artist in cowboy country.” Jonathan Jones on Art Blog. November 14, 2011. The Guardian. Accessed December 20, 2012. http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2011/nov/14/clyfford-still-american-abstract-art.


“Jules Olitski.” The Art Story. Accessed December 20, 2012. http://www.theartstory.org/artist-olitski-jules.htm. Kellein, Thomas. “Clyfford Still and New York: The Buffalo Project.” Clyfford Still 1904-1980 Buffalo and San Francisco Collections. Ed. Thomas Kellein. New York: Prestel, 1992. 23-48. “Kenneth Lochhead Obituary.” Ottawa Citizen. July 18, 2006. Accessed December 20, 2012. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ottawacitizen/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=18520313#f. “Kenneth Lochhead Biography.” Kenneth Lochhead. Accessed December 20, 2012. http://www.kennethlochhead.com/index_1.html. “Kenneth Lochhead Videoportrait.” Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art. Accessed December 20, 2012. http:// ccca.concordia.ca/videoportrait/english/lochhead.html. “Regionalism.” The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Accessed December 20, 2012. http://0-www.oxfordartonline.com.mercury.concordia.ca/subscriber/article/opr/t4/e1431. Siedell, Daniel A. “Contemporary Art Criticism and the Legacy of Clement Greenberg: Or, How Artwriting Earned Its Good Name.” Journal of Aesthetic Education 36:4 (Winter 2002) 15-31. Smee, Sebastian. “Cézanne's World of Influence.” The Boston Globe. March 8, 2009. Accessed December 20, 2012. http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2009/03/08/c233zannes_world_of_influence/?page=full. Still, Clyfford. Cézanne: A Study in Evaluation. MA Thesis. Pullman: The State College of Washington, 1935. Todd, James G. “Social Realism.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Accessed December 20, 2012. http://0-www.oxfordartonline.com.mercury.concordia.ca/subscriber/article/grove/art/T079466. Voorhies, James. “Surrealism.” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004. Zepp, Norman. “Kenneth Campbell Lochhead.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. Accessed December 20, 2012. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/kenneth-campbell-lochhead.


VIRTUAL EXHIBITION DESIGN For this exhibition, I would like the web design to consist of a timeline, comparing Clyfford

Still’s career alongside that of Kenneth Lochhead, in relation to other historical events of the

time. The events will be a combination of world history, art history, as well as American and

Canadian pop culture (sports, music, cinema, science, etc.), in order to appeal to the broadest

possible audience. Because Still and Lochhead’s work was very relevant to 21st century Modern

art practices in Canada and the United States, the timeline will provide a context for the artists’

work in a manner that is easy to understand. The timeline will start in 1904 at Still’s birth, and

end in 2006 at Lochhead’s death.

The web page will consist of a table of three vertical sections or columns, with the timeline in the

center, and the two artists on either side. This will allow viewers to compare the chronology of

Still and Lochhead’s career, which is particularly interesting due to similarities in the artistic

development of the two artists. The center column will contain images and small amounts of

writing in a list of events. The Still and Lochhead columns will contain mostly images and their

captions, with minimal text marking major events in their lives. When the viewer clicks on an

image or text, a new window will open and provide full captions to the image or a description of

a specific event, as well as any comparative works by other artists. This way, the viewer has two

choices to experience the exhibition: in an almost purely visual manner, or he/she may explore it

further into the textual portion if desired.


The concept and layout of the web design is inspired from the interactive timeline at the Clyfford

Still Museum. As an intern in 2011, I chose the four categories and content for this popular

touch-screen timeline at the museum. When a visitor touches one of the “tiles” on the screen, it

opens a new window with a description of the event. Because abstract art is often less-

appreciated by non-art lovers due to its esoteric nature, the timeline is a popular point of interest

at the museum because all visitors can find an event they are interested in that they can compare

to a time in Still’s life. I believe that a similar, simplified version of this timeline would be an

excellent medium to present and compare the careers of two abstract artists, Still and Lochhead.

*Please see joint Excel spreadsheet with timeline template of exhibition.

Interactive Timeline at the Clyfford Still Museum, Denver, Colorado. November 2011.

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