Sam Gilliam Untitled (Purple), 1996

Sam Gilliam   Master Artists

Artist: Sam Gilliam Title: Untitled (Purple) Year:1996 Medium: Original Mixed Media on Paper Size: 11" × 14" Inscription Front: Signed and dated lower left edge, "Sam Gilliam 96" Inscription Verso: Signed, dated, and inscribed verso, "for Necia – Sam '96" Documentation: Includes Gallery Certificate of Authenticity This 1996 work by Sam Gilliam is a mixed media composition on paper, executed in a palette dominated by purple tones. Measuring 11 × 14 inches (28 × 36 cm), it bears the artist's signature and date on the lower left edge, with an additional dedication inscribed on the verso (for Necia – Sam '96"). The piece exemplifies Gilliam's continued engagement with abstraction in the 1990s, reflecting his lifelong experimentation with color, surface, and spatial dynamics. Gilliam's oeuvre is characterized by a deep exploration of color relationships and compositional rhythm. In works on paper from this period, he often combined layers of pigment and drawing media, creating a textured, dynamic surface that responds to both light and movement. These pieces extend the vocabulary he developed in his Drape Paintings of the 1960s and 1970s, translating his interest in suspended, unstretched canvases into smaller-scale, intimate formats. The fluidity of his media and the interaction of color and form invite close inspection, revealing subtle variations in tone, density, and gesture across the surface. Gilliam's works, including mixed media pieces such as this, are represented in major international collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Smithsonian American Art Museum; the Tate Modern, London; and the Art Institute of Chicago. These institutions underscore the critical and historical significance of Gilliam's contributions to postwar American abstraction. Sam Gilliam's Untitled (Purple) 1996 Mixed Media comes from the collection of a close personal friend of the artist and is accompanied by a gallery Certificate of Authenticity.