The Clyfford Still Museum opens today, painting the master into Denver's art scene

Master abstract expressionist Clyfford Still had no connection to Colorado during his life, but in death, the museum that is dedicated to him will have a daily connection to Denver. The Clyfford Still Museum opens today at 10 a.m. at 1250 Bannock Street, and it promises to bring a whole...

By Jonathan Shikes

November 18, 2011

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Master abstract expressionist Clyfford Still had no connection to Colorado during his life, but in death, the museum that is dedicated to him will have a daily connection to Denver. The Clyfford Still Museum opens today at 10 a.m. at 1250 Bannock Street, and it promises to bring a whole new element to the local art world. As Westword art critic Michael Paglia, who got a sneak peak at the museum, wrote about museum director Dean Sobel:

All of the selections from the permanent collection are on view in the Inaugural Exhibition, displayed on the second floor in a series of nine galleries that have been subdivided into ten discrete spaces. Sobel has used these spaces to tell Still's story in chronological order, revealing the origins of his sensibility in the 1920s, leading up to his abstract-expressionist breakthrough in the '40s, and following him right up to his last paintings from the 1970s. The tale unfolds in sequential increments, revealing many things about Still and the development of abstract expressionism in general.

Though Sobel worked with models of the spaces and miniature versions of the pieces, he's a hands-on exhibition designer and hung some of it instinctually, making a few major changes in his selections after the works arrived. The results are so magical, and so informative that it's impossible to quibble with any of his calls.

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