Green Web

Sam Gilliam, Green Web, 1967, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Woodward Foundation, 1977.48.3
Copied Sam Gilliam, Green Web, 1967, acrylic on canvas, 90 1⁄2 x 39 3⁄4 in. (230.0 x 101.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Woodward Foundation, 1977.48.3

Artwork Details

Title
Green Web
Artist
Date
1967
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
90 1⁄2 x 39 3⁄4 in. (230.0 x 101.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Woodward Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
acrylic on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
1977.48.3
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1977.48.3

Artwork Description

Gilliam achieved the diffuse colors in Green Web by saturating an unprimed canvas in layers of thinned paint and allowing it to dry folded in on itself. Rather than mounting the result on a conventional stretcher, Gilliam here uses one constructed with wide, gently beveled edges. In some of his beveled works, the artist turns the sloped edges toward the wall, making the painted image appear to hover in space. Here, the chamfered edges face out, so the painting seems to rise out of the wall. With either technique, these beveled canvases direct the viewer's attention to the transition between the wall and the surface even as the brilliant stained colors trick the eye with spatial effects.