Clyfford Still Museum

Museums, Historical Sites, and ZoosUnited States51-200 Employees

Home to one of the world’s most intact public collection of any major artist, the Clyfford Still Museum offers nine beautiful galleries of Still’s art, historic photos, objects and letters from the Clyfford Still Archives, interactive features, a pair of tranquil outdoor terraces, views into storage and conservation areas, a hands-on art creation studio, shopping, exciting programs and events, and more. The Museum opened in 2011 adjacent to the Denver Art Museum in Denver’s Golden Triangle Creative District. The two-story, 28,500-square-foot building was designed specifically to display Clyfford Still’s work.

The Museum allows visitors the unique experience to understand the legacy of Clyfford Still, an artist whose life has been shrouded in mystery and the bulk of whose work has been hidden from public view for decades.  Considered one of the most important painters of the 20th century, Clyfford Still (1904–1980) was among the first generation of Abstract Expressionist artists who developed a new and powerful approach to painting in the years immediately following World War II. He had a unique artistic vision and was unwilling to compromise it for money or recognition. As he evolved as an artist, Still’s works transitioned from outdoor scenes, people, and machinery to more abstract shapes, colors, and lines to express an idea or feeling. He painted on huge canvases to invite viewers to experience and be absorbed by them. Still did not name his works because he wanted people to make their own interpretations.

Still thought the best way to experience his art was by seeing it all in one place and his will stipulated that his estate be given in its entirety to an American city willing to establish a permanent museum dedicated solely to his work, ensuring its survival for exhibition and study. The Clyfford Still Museum collection, which represents 93 percent of the artist’s lifetime output, includes approximately 3,125 works created between 1920 and 1980.

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