American artist Sam Gilliam (November 30, 1933 – June 25, 2022) produced thousands of paintings, sculptures, prints, and works of art in various mediums throughout his career. Below are chronological, though incomplete, lists of works by Gilliam.
Gilliam's artistic practice encompassed and often blurred the lines between painting, sculpture, printmaking, and installation art. Many of Gilliam's key artistic achievements and styles are premised on combining elements of painting and sculpture in particular, including his Drape paintings on canvas that are often installed like free-hanging fabric sculptures, his Slice paintings on canvas displayed on sculptured stretcher bars that extend the paintings several inches off the wall, and his extensive series of painted wood and metal constructions. As such, it can be difficult to neatly categorize works by Gilliam into these distinct branches of visual art; these lists do not attempt to divide Gilliam's practice between sculpture and painting, instead sorting painted and sculptural works into categories according to the base material of the work (e.g., painted canvas, painted metal, etc.), along with the installation method (e.g., stretched, mounted, etc.). Works primarily created with printmaking techniques are listed separately. Non-extant works or works presumed to be destroyed - including several of Gilliam's site-responsive Drape installations - are also listed in a separate section at the end of these lists. Maquettes are listed directly below the work they were modeled for, regardless of medium.
Descriptions of mediums and work dimensions are primarily sourced from the print or digital museum and gallery catalogues of Gilliam's exhibitions and public collection databases of museums and galleries that own his works. When discrepancies exist between a collection's description of an individual work's materials or size and a published catalogue's description of the materials or size, this article defers to the collection's description. Public collections are listed where known; works in unknown or private collections are listed without collections and may be owned by the artist's estate.
Painting and painted sculpture
Unstretched and unmounted painted canvas Includes unstretched painted canvas and canvas alternatives (e.g., nylon, fabric, etc.), and unstretched canvas installed with physical objects, including sawhorses, metal beams, and stones.
1960s Bow Form Construction (1968); Acrylic and enamel on draped canvas; Overall: 119 7/16 × 332 5/16 in (303.4 × 844.1 cm) [irreg.]; Whitney Museum, New York Carousel State (1968); Acrylic and aluminum powder on canvas; Overall: 119.13 × 846.22 in (302.6 × 2149.4 cm), 157 × 264 in (398.8 × 670.6 cm) [irreg.]; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Double Merge (Carousel I and Carousel II) (1968); Acrylic on canvas; Left panel: 122 × 800 1/2 in (309.9 × 2033.3 cm), right panel: 118 5/8 × 862 1/2 in (301.3 × 2190.8 cm); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Dia Art Foundation, New York (jointly owned) Niagara (1968); Acrylic on canvas; 120 × 528 in (304.8 × 1341.1 cm) Relative (1968); Acrylic on canvas; Overall: 120 × 528 in (304.8 × 1341.1 cm), installed: 120 × 162 in (304.8 × 411.48 cm) [irreg.]; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Swing Sketch (1968); Acrylic on canvas with leather cord; 73 3/4 × 89 3/4 × 9 in (187.3 × 228 × 22.9 cm), dimensions vary with installation 10/27/69 (1969); Acrylic on canvas; 140 × 185 × 16 in (355.6 × 469.9 × 40.6 cm); Museum of Modern Art, New York Carousel Form II (1969); Acrylic on canvas; 120 × 900 in (303.8 × 720.1 cm); Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky Combustion (1969); Acrylic on canvas; 133 1/2 × 151 1/4 × 15 in (339.1 × 384.2 × 38.1 cm), dimensions vary with installation Cut (1969); Acrylic on raw canvas with rawhide; 68 × 97.5 × 6 in (172.7 × 247.7 × 15.2 cm) Dakar I (1969); Acrylic on canvas; 113 × 59 × 14 in (287 × 149.9 × 35.6 cm); Philadelphia Museum of Art Genghis (1969); Acrylic on raw canvas, rawhide, acrylic on wood ball; 62 × 120 × 9 in (157.5 × 304.8 × 22.9 cm) Light Depth (1969); Acrylic on canvas; 120 × 900 in (304.8 × 2286 cm); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Swing (1969); Acrylic and aluminum on canvas; 119 5/8 × 283 1/2 in (303.8 × 720.1 cm); Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
1970s Arc II (1970); Acrylic on unstretched canvas; 47 × 90 in (119.4 × 228.6 cm); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Balance (1970); Acrylic on canvas with cowhide strips; 69 × 72 × 12 in (175.3 × 182.9 × 30.5 cm); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Basque 1 Range (1970); Acrylic and aluminum on canvas; 67 × 118 in (170.2 × 299.7 cm); Pérez Art Museum Miami Carousel (1970); Acrylic on unstretched canvas; 118 × 805 in (199.72 × 2044.7 cm); Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, Wisconsin Carousel Change (1970); Acrylic on canvas and leather; Installed: 140.1 × 283.4 in (356 × 720 cm); Tate, London Change (1970); Acrylic on canvas; 75.98 × 118.11 in (193 × 300 cm); Mumok, Vienna, Austria Cloud Kilimanjaro (1970); Acrylic on canvas; 65 × 65 × 16 in (165.1 × 165.1 × 40.6 cm); High Museum of Art, Atlanta Dakar (1970); Acrylic on canvas; 109 × 98 in (276.86 × 248.92 cm) [full canvas] Drape (1970); Acrylic on canvas; 90 × 68 × 14 in (228.6 × 172.72 × 35.56 cm) Drape Work (formerly Untitled) (1970); Acrylic on canvas; 108 × 108 in; Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans Half Circle, Green (1970); Acrylic on canvas; 30 × 66 × 7 1/2 in (76.2 × 167.64 × 19 cm) Idylls (1970); Acrylic, metallic paint, traces of crayon, and rawhide on canvas; 76 × 61 in (193 × 154.9 cm) Leaf (1970); Acrylic on canvas; 121 3/4 × 186 × 12 1/2 in (309.25 × 472.44 × 31.75 cm); Dallas Museum of Art Mazda (1970); Acrylic on canvas; Installed: 135 × 90 in (342.9 × 228.6 cm); Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas One (1970); Acrylic on unstretched canvas; Installed: 92 × 67 in (233.7 × 170.2 cm), unfolded: 116 1/4 × 67 1/4 in (295.3 × 170.8 cm); Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Evanston, Illinois One On (1970); Acrylic on canvas; 123 × 93 × 13 in (312.4 × 236.2 × 33 cm), dimensions vary with installation Quadrille (1970); Acrylic on cutout canvas with leather tongs; 86 × 86 in (218.44 × 218.44 cm) Red Register (1970); Acrylic on canvas; 89 × 37 × 6 in (226.1 × 94 × 15.3 cm) Rio (1970); Acrylic on canvas; Dimensions variable; Honolulu Museum of Art Rite (1970); Acrylic on canvas; 100 × 74 × 20 in (254 × 188 × 50.8 cm), dimensions vary with installation Simmering (1970); Acrylic on canvas and leather string; 85 × 53.27 in (215.9 × 135.3 cm); Tate, London Street (1970); Acrylic on canvas; 104 × 73 × 16 in (264.2 × 185.4 × 40.6 cm); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Three Point (1970); Acrylic on canvas; 296 × 118 in (751.8 × 299.7 cm); Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio Untitled (1970); Acrylic on canvas; 125 1/2 × 123 1/2 × 14 in (318.8 × 313.7 × 35.6 cm), dimensions vary with installation Arch (1971); Acrylic with fabric dyes on canvas; When flat: 108 × 108 in (274.3 × 274.3 cm); Cincinnati Art Museum Carousel Merge (1971); Acrylic on canvas; Installed: 120 × 900 in (304.8 × 2286 cm); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Carousel Merge 2 (1971); Acrylic on canvas; 186 × 102 in (472.44 × 259.08 cm); Milwaukee Art Museum Little Dude (1971); Acrylic on draped canvas; Flat: 66 × 66 in (167.6 × 167.6 cm), Installed: 57 × 55 in (144.5 × 139.7 cm) [variable] Maya (1971); Acrylic on canvas; 92 × 50 × 9 in (233.68 × 127 × 22.86 cm) Rondo (1971); Acrylic on canvas with oak beams; 103 × 144 × 78 in (261.6 × 365.8 × 198.1); Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland Whisk (1971); 96 × 36 × 10 in (243.8 × 91.4 × 25.4 cm), dimensions vary with installation Situation VI - Pisces 4 (c 1972); Synthetic polymer paint on polypropylene fabric; Unfolded: 185 3/4 × 496 1/4 in (471.8 × 1260.5 cm); Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts Flipping (1972); Acrylic on canvas; 80 × 66 × 6 in (203.2 × 167.64 × 15.24 cm) Idle Twist (1972); Acrylic on canvas; Flat: 67 × 65 in (170.18 × 165.1 cm), installed: 48 × 60 × 12 in (121.92 × 152.4 × 30.48 cm), dimensions variable Ruby Light (1972); Acrylic on canvas; 80 × 57 × 12 in (203.2 × 144.7 × 30.7 cm) [approx.], dimensions vary with installation; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Wall Circle I (1972); Acrylic on draped and folded canvas; 108 × 46 in (274.3 × 116.8 cm); Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, North Carolina "A" and the Carpenter I (1973); Acrylic and canvas draped over wooden sawhorses; Installed: 96 × 132 in (243.84 × 335.28 cm) [floor], dimensions vary with installation; Art Institute of Chicago Crystal (1973); 92 3/4 × 29 3/4 × 7 1/2 in (235.6 × 75.6 × 19.1 cm), dimensions vary with installation Fan Craze (1973); Acrylic on canvas; 61 × 58 5/8 × 9 1/2 in (154.9 × 148.9 × 24.1 cm), dimensions vary with installation Gram (1973); Acrylic on canvas; Diameter: 60 in (152.4 cm), depth: 1/16 in (0.2 cm); Detroit Institute of Arts Length Fanned (1973); Acrylic on canvas; 76 × 72 × 13 in (193 × 182.88 × 33.02 cm) Red Cowl (1973); Acrylic on draped canvas; Flat: 103 3/4 × 43 in (263.5 × 109.2 cm), Installed: 96 × 43 in (243.8 × 109.2 cm) [variable] Softly Still (1973); Acrylic, latex and dyes on polypropylene, ponderosa pine sawhorse; Painting: 182 × 119 in (462.3 × 302.3 cm), sawhorse: 30 1/4 × 36 × 13 in (76.8 × 91.4 × 33 cm); Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, Ohio Stand (1973); Mixed media on canvas; 85 1/2 × 118 1/4 in (217.2 × 300 cm) U.S.A. (1973); Acrylic on canvas; 86 1/2 × 30 × 10 in (219.7 × 76.2 × 25.4 cm), dimensions vary with installation Wall Circle III (1973); Acrylic on canvas with sewn felt and woven fabric swatches; Flat: 113 × 43 1/2 in (287.02 × 110.49 cm), installed: 83 × 24 1/2 × 8 in (210.82 × 62.23 × 20.32 cm), dimensions variable Whole Lot of Shaking (1973); Acrylic on canvas; 59 4/5 × 63 1/10 in (152 × 160.5 cm); Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam Half Circle Red (1975); Acrylic on canvas; 78 × 33 × 6 in (198.1 × 83.8 × 15.2 cm); Saint Louis Art Museum Art Ramp Angle Brown (1978); Acrylic and oil enamel on canvas and nylon; 35 7/8 × 242 1/2 in (91.0 × 616.0 cm); Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. Eiler Blues (1978); Oil on stitched and unstretched awning canvas with grommets and objects; Installed: 300 × 84 × 192 in (118 × 33 × 75.5 cm) [approx.]; Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, Wisconsin Untitled (1978); Acrylic on polypropylene canvas; 3 × 11 1/2 × 11 1/2 in (7.6 × 29.2 × 29.2 cm); Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, Ohio Triple Variants (1979); Acrylic and oil with aluminum powder on canvas, aluminum beam, stones; Dimensions vary with installation; Richard B. Russell Federal Building, Atlanta (collection of General Services Administration) Maquette: Campus Center View (1967-1977); Painted fiber and paper, wood, stone, fabric, and plastic assembled on wood base in plexiglass case; 18 7/8 × 38 1/8 × 29 1/8 in (47.9 × 96.7 × 74.0 cm); Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
1980s
1990s Untitled (c. 1990s); Paint, thread, polypropylene; 18 × 13 x 110 in (46 × 33 × 3 cm) Well III (c. 1990s); Acrylic, thread, fabric; Dimensions variable, approx. 77 × 49 × 12 in (190 × 120 × 31 cm) Chinese (1990); Acrylic on shaped canvas; Dimensions variable; Washington and Lee University Museums, Lexington, Virginia Looking at the Moon (1991); Paint, handmade paper, thread, polypropylene; 27 × 25 × 2 in (69 × 64 × 5 cm) Folded Cottages II (1993); Acrylic, thread, synthetic fabric; 39 × 10 × 1 in (99 × 26 × 3 cm) Ballinglen (1994); Acrylic, thread, fabric; 53 × 26 1/2 × 3 in (134.6 × 67.3 × 7.6 cm) Doonfeeny Lower (1994); Acrylic, thread, fabric; 24 × 53 × 3 in (61 × 134.6 × 7.6 cm) Down Patricks' Head (1994); Acrylic, thread, fabric; 57 1/2 × 28 × 3 in (146 × 71.1 × 7.6 cm)