Thomas Sills
Encyclopedia
Thomas Sills was a painter
and collagist and a participant in the New York Abstract Expressionist movement.
in Raleigh, North Carolina
, where the color around him made a strong impression on him. Once in New York, he worked on the docks, as a janitor, and as a deliveryman.
Others in the NY circle gave him advice. At the time of his first solo show, Barnett Newman sent him a letter of congratulations. His friendships with Newman and Mark Rothko
placed him at the intellectual center of the Abstract Expressionist movement, but like de Kooning, Arshile Gorky
and Franz Kline
, Sills believed that it was not necessary to explain his art; he painted what he felt and it came from within.
Sills began his work as a fine art
ist when he was in his mid-thirties, about the time he married the mosaicist Jeanne Reynal. Essentially self-taught and inspired by Reynal’s collection of abstract art
, he began working with the materials he found in her mosaic studio, but soon branched out to oil on wood as well as canvas.
Through his exploratory approach to materials, Sills was able to release phantasmical abstract paintings. Intrigued by the light quality of mosaic
s, a similar luminosity emerged in Sill’s bright oil compositions. His provocative handling of color and innovative use of media attracted the attention of the New York avant-garde.
Sills's regular presence in the art world of the 1950s through the early 1970s as an African American painter situated him as an integral element of the main stream and African American art. Thomas Sills perceived his art to be beyond the political. He found in Art a form of expression for the dynamism that escapes any formal constraints. Sills’ work was highly intuitive and he too sought inspiration from primitive art—in the 1950s he made frequent trips to Mexico to study the sculptures, frescos and architecture of Chiapas
and the Yucatan
.
At the peak of his career in the 1960s and 1970s, his work was widely shown in museums. He had four solo shows at Betty Parsons Gallery, was regularly featured in art journals and is in museum collections. Today, there is a renaissance of the popularity of his works. He is being exhibited in many shows, most recently African American Abstract Masters at Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York and Abstraction Plus Abstraction at Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba, and Encore, Five Abstract Expressionists at Sidney Mishkin Gallery of Baruch College, The City University of New York in 2006.
His work has been acquired by over 30 museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art
, The Whitney Museum of American Art
, the Museum of Modern Art
, The Los Angeles County Museum
, the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art
, the Studio Museum in Harlem
, and the Newark Museum
.
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and collagist and a participant in the New York Abstract Expressionist movement.
Early years
Thomas Sills was born and raised in Castalia, North Carolina. Before he got involved with painting, he worked in a greenhouseGreenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
in Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, where the color around him made a strong impression on him. Once in New York, he worked on the docks, as a janitor, and as a deliveryman.
Career
Sills spent most of his creative life in New York City, deeply rooted in the artistic trends as well as cultural issues from the early 1950s to 1970’s. He knew William DeKooning who visited his studio and told him not throw anything away before anyone had seen it.Others in the NY circle gave him advice. At the time of his first solo show, Barnett Newman sent him a letter of congratulations. His friendships with Newman and Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz , was a Russian-born American painter. He is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label, and even resisted classification as an "abstract painter".- Childhood :Mark Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk Province, Russian...
placed him at the intellectual center of the Abstract Expressionist movement, but like de Kooning, Arshile Gorky
Arshile Gorky
Arshile Gorky was an Armenian-born American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. As such, his works were often speculated to have been informed by the suffering and loss he experienced of the Armenian genocide.-Early life:...
and Franz Kline
Franz Kline
Franz Jozef Kline was an American painter mainly associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement centered around New York in the 1940s and 1950s. He was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and attended Girard College, an academy in Philadelphia for fatherless boys...
, Sills believed that it was not necessary to explain his art; he painted what he felt and it came from within.
Sills began his work as a fine art
Fine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
ist when he was in his mid-thirties, about the time he married the mosaicist Jeanne Reynal. Essentially self-taught and inspired by Reynal’s collection of abstract art
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
, he began working with the materials he found in her mosaic studio, but soon branched out to oil on wood as well as canvas.
Through his exploratory approach to materials, Sills was able to release phantasmical abstract paintings. Intrigued by the light quality of mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
s, a similar luminosity emerged in Sill’s bright oil compositions. His provocative handling of color and innovative use of media attracted the attention of the New York avant-garde.
Sills's regular presence in the art world of the 1950s through the early 1970s as an African American painter situated him as an integral element of the main stream and African American art. Thomas Sills perceived his art to be beyond the political. He found in Art a form of expression for the dynamism that escapes any formal constraints. Sills’ work was highly intuitive and he too sought inspiration from primitive art—in the 1950s he made frequent trips to Mexico to study the sculptures, frescos and architecture of Chiapas
Chiapas
Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...
and the Yucatan
Yucatán
Yucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....
.
At the peak of his career in the 1960s and 1970s, his work was widely shown in museums. He had four solo shows at Betty Parsons Gallery, was regularly featured in art journals and is in museum collections. Today, there is a renaissance of the popularity of his works. He is being exhibited in many shows, most recently African American Abstract Masters at Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York and Abstraction Plus Abstraction at Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba, and Encore, Five Abstract Expressionists at Sidney Mishkin Gallery of Baruch College, The City University of New York in 2006.
His work has been acquired by over 30 museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, The Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, The Los Angeles County Museum
Los Angeles County Museum
The Los Angeles County Museum may refer to:* Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County* Los Angeles County Museum of Art...
, the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art
High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art , located in Atlanta, is the leading art museum in the Southeastern United States and one of the most-visited art museums in the world. Located on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district, the High is a division of the Woodruff Arts Center.-History:The Museum was...
, the Studio Museum in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, and the Newark Museum
Newark Museum
The Newark Museum is the largest museum in New Jersey, USA. It holds fine collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the ancient world...
.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
- Corcoran Fine Arts, Cleveland, OH, Thomas Sills Retrospective Exhibition, 2005
- Art Association of Newport, Newport, RI, (solo) 1972
- Bodley GalleryBodley GalleryThe Bodley Gallery was a prominent art gallery in New York City, USA, from the late 1940s through the early 1980s. The Bodley specialized in contemporary and modern art. David Mann was director of the gallery during its heyday and Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Braun The Bodley Gallery was a prominent art...
, New York, NY, 1964 (solo), 1967 (solo), 1969 (solo), 1972 (solo), 1974 (solo) - Paul Kantor Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1962 (solo)
- Betty ParsonsBetty ParsonsBetty Parsons, born Betty Bierne Pierson, was an American artist and art dealer known for her early promotion of Abstract Expressionism. She was known as "the den mother of Abstract Expressionism"...
Gallery, New York, NY 1955 (solo), 1957 (solo), 1959 (solo), 1961 (solo)
Selected Group Exhibitions
- Opalka Gallery - The Sage Colleges, Albany, NY, African American Abstract Masters, 2010
- Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York, NY, African American Abstract Masters, 2010
- Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba, New York, NY, Abstraction Plus Abstraction, 2010
- Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York, NY, Potpourri, 2009
- Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York, NY, Art Couple: Work of the 1950's: Mosaics by Jeanne Reynal and paintings by Thomas Sills, 2008
- Diggs Gallery, Winston-Salem State University, Ascension: Works by African American Artists of North Carolina, 2004
- Kenkeleba House, New York, NY, The Search for Freedom: African American Abstract Painting, 1945–1975, 1991
- Van Vechten Gallery, Fisk University, Directions in Afro-American Abstract Art, Nashville, TN, 1982.
- Herbert F. Johnson Museum of ArtHerbert F. Johnson Museum of ArtThe Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art is an art museum located on the northwest corner of the Arts Quad on the main campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is most well known for its distinctive concrete facade, its collection which includes two windows from Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin...
, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Directions in Afro-American Art, 1974 - State Armory, Wilmington, DE 1971
- Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1970
- Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston, MA, Afro-American Artists, 1970.
- Museum of Modern Art, NY 1969
- Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, PA, Afro-American Artists, 1800-1969, 1969.
- Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, Contemporary Black Artists, 1969
- Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, The City University of New York, New York, NY, Encore: Five Abstract Expressionists, 2006
- Student Art Center Gallery Brooklyn College, City University of New York, New York, NY, Afro-American Artists since 1950, 1969.
- Mt. Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, 1969
- Ruder and Finn Fine Arts, NYC, 1969
- Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN, 30 Contemporary Black Artists, 1968.
- Wilson College, Chambersberg, PA 1968
- Creighton University, Omaha, NE, 1967
- Dord Fitz Gallery, Amarilllo, TX
- Farleigh-Dickinson University, NJ, 1964
- University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
- New School for Social Research, NY, NY, Jeanne Reynal and Thomas Sills, 1963
- Wolfson Studio, Salt Point, NY, Painting and Sculpture, 1962.
- Whitney Museum, New York, NY, 1959–1960
- New School for Social Research, NY, NY, 1956
- Camino Gallery, Artists Group, NY 1956
- Stable GalleryStable GalleryThe Stable Gallery, originally located on West 58th Street in New York, was founded in 1953 by Eleanor Ward. The Stable Gallery hosted early solo New York exhibitions for artists including Robert Indiana and Andy Warhol.-History:...
, Artists Annual, NY, NY, 1955
Collections
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
- Los Angeles County Museum, CA
- Museum of Modern Art, NY
Links
- Jeanne Reynal and Thomas Sills, Art Couple: Work of the 1950's. http://www.anitashapolskygallery.com/past_exhibit_reynal_sills.html