Clyfford Still: A Legacy for Buffalo

Thursday, August 3, 2023–Monday, March 11, 2024

Clyfford Still (American, 1904–1980) PH-48 (1957-D-No. 1), 1957. Oil on canvas. 113 x 159 inches (287 x 403.9 cm). Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum; Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1959 (K1959:26) © City and County of Denver / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Ground Floor
Jeffrey E. Gundlach Building

Black and white photograph of man in black jacket sitting with elbows resting on his knees, a painting behind him

Portrait of Clyfford Still, 1952, by Hans Namuth (American, born Germany, 1915–1990). Gelatin silver print, 13 x 10 1/2 inches (33 x 26.7 cm). Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum; Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1976 (K1976:4.41)

Clyfford Still, the iconic and enigmatic painter, once avowed of his abstractions: “These are not paintings in the usual sense; they are life and death merging in fearful union.” In 1957, the Albright Art Gallery (now the Buffalo AKG Art Museum) acquired its first painting by Still (American, 1904–1980). In the years that followed, then-Director Gordon Smith and Chairman of the Board, Seymour H. Knox, Jr. developed a unique relationship with the visionary artist whose early innovations in abstraction had helped pave the way for the Abstract Expressionist movement. Smith invited Still to select the works and oversee the installation of his first museum survey exhibition, Paintings by Clyfford Still, which opened two years later in 1959. Through the artist’s correspondence with Smith and numerous visits to Buffalo, Still became convinced that the museum should permanently house a major group of his works, and in 1964 he donated thirty-one canvases dating from 1937 to 1963, which span experimental early abstractions influenced by surrealism to examples of his increasingly spare late style.

Still’s trust in Buffalo made it the preeminent place in which to experience his works as a group rather than singly, illustrating the evolution of his career. (This honor the Buffalo AKG now shares with Denver's Clyfford Still Museum, founded in 2011.) The inaugural installation of the new Buffalo AKG Art Museum is a time to recognize the extraordinary debt the museum and its community owe to the artists in the Collection who have entrusted or have allowed their work to be entrusted to our care. This exhibition includes all thirty-three of the museum’s paintings by Still alongside documentation of Still’s relationship with Buffalo from the museum’s archives. After this exhibition, a smaller selection of Still’s works will always be found in the context of the museum’s permanent collection in a dedicated gallery.

Clyfford Still (American, 1904–1980), PH-165 (*1937-8-A*), 1937–38. Oil on canvas, 47 x 33 1/2 inches (119.4 x 85.1 cm). Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum. Gift of the artist, 1964 (1964:5.1) © City and County of Denver / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Clyfford Still (American, 1904–1980), PH-154 (*1941-2-C*), 1941–42. Oil on canvas, 42 3/4 x 32 1/2 inches (108.6 x 82.6 cm). Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum. Gift of the artist, 1964 (1964:5.2) © City and County of Denver / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Clyfford Still (American, 1904–1980), PH-199 (*1946-L*), 1946. Oil on canvas, 71 x 45 1/2 inches (180.3 x 115.6 cm). Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum. Gift of the artist, 1964 (1964:5.6) © City and County of Denver / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Clyfford Still (American, 1904–1980), PH-59 (*November 1950*), 1946. Oil on canvas, 80 x 68 inches (203.2 x 172.7 cm). Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum. Gift of the artist, 1964 (1964:5.22) © City and County of Denver / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Clyfford Still (American, 1904–1980), PH-47 (*November 1953*), 1946. Oil on canvas, 114 x 81 1/2 inches (289.6 x 207 cm). Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum. Gift of the artist, 1964 (1964:5.29) © City and County of Denver / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Bank of America - Museums on Us
Bank of America’s Museums on Us provides free admission to all Bank of America cardholders on the first full weekend of each month (Saturday and Sunday only). Visitors to the Buffalo AKG are eligible to participate in Museums on Us for the duration of Clyfford Still: A Legacy for Buffalo (through February 19, 2024).

Cardholders must present a picture ID and a valid Bank of America, Merrill, or Bank of America Private Bank credit or debit card. Admission is non-transferable and good for one free general admission for the cardholder only. Offer does not include ticketed exhibitions or events. Discount is available in person only. Bank of America associates are also eligible for free general admission on designated “Museums on Us” weekends. Present current proof of employment and photo ID.

This exhibition was curated by Cathleen Chaffee, Charles Balbach Chief Curator. It was realized with assistance by Gabrielle Carlo, Archivist, and with scholarly contributions by Bailey H. Placzek, Curator of Collections, Catalogue Raisonné Research and Project Manager, Clyfford Still Museum.