Light Fan

Sam Gilliam, Light Fan, 1966, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Woodward Foundation, 1977.48.2
Sam Gilliam, Light Fan, 1966, acrylic on canvas, 36 1436 in. (92.191.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Woodward Foundation, 1977.48.2

Artwork Details

Title
Light Fan
Artist
Date
1966
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
36 1436 in. (92.191.4 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Woodward Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
acrylic on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
1977.48.2

Artwork Description

Light Fan has the feel of an image seen from space – a sunrise observed from an orbiting capsule through a window struck by a ray of light or the blue and green depths of an ocean giving way to sunwarmed shallows. The effect is diaphanous; color has bled in irregular pools as the tidal pull of capillary action moved wet pigment around a field of color on a finely woven fabric. Edges freely shift in a way that is both accidental and controlled.


African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012

Works by this artist (1036 items)

William H. Johnson, Young Pastry Cook, ca. 1928-1930, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.693
Young Pastry Cook
Dateca. 1928-1930
oil on canvas
On view
William H. Johnson, Portrait of a Man, ca. 1935-1938, oil on burlap, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.814
Portrait of a Man
Dateca. 1935-1938
oil on burlap
On view
William H. Johnson, Breakdown with Flat Tire, ca. 1940-1941, oil on plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.587
Breakdown with Flat Tire
Dateca. 1940-1941
oil on plywood
On view
William H. Johnson, For India and China, ca. 1944-1945, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.662
For India and China
Dateca. 1944-1945
oil on paperboard
On view

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      An interview with the artist Sam Gilliam. Sam Gilliam grew up in Tupelo, Mississippi, and studied art in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1962 he moved to Washington, D.C., and created abstract paintings inspired by the Washington Color School artists Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland. These artists, among others, broke the rules of abstract expressionism by pouring thinned paint directly onto unprimed canvas instead of applying thick, vigorous brushstrokes. Gilliam pushed this method even further by folding and draping the canvas before it dried, creating unusual "tie-dye" effects. He started working with very large canvases in the late 1960s, hanging vast pieces of painted cloth across walls and ceilings to emphasize the relationship between the work and its environment.