Sam Gilliam (1933-2022) Millenium in Blue, 2000 Mixed media collage on paper 35-1/2 x 38-3/4 inches (90.2 x 98.4 cm) (sheet) Signed and dated lower right: Sam Gilliam / 2000 Signed, dated, titled, and inscribed on the reverse: For Necia / Millenium in Blue, 2000 / Sam PROVENANCE: Dr. Necia D Harkless, Lexington, Kentucky; Private collection, Indiana. Sam Gilliam was a pioneer of Black Abstraction and a key figure in the Washington Color School movement known particularly for his "Drape" paintings. Gilliam's "Drape" paintings were unstretched, unprimed canvases covered in saturated colors and layers of acrylic poured paint. Gilliam also worked with other supports in mixed media applying materials, such as wood and metal, to surfaces giving these flat works multidimension. Gilliam's approach blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture, while it enriched his artistic expression. Sam Gilliam's Millenium in Blue (2000), an inscribed gift for friend Dr. Necia D. Harkless, is a mixed media collage of poured acrylic paint on paper with applied elements. The paper is creased and folded by the artist in a similar manner to his "Drape" paintings. Through the center of the work brilliant greens and yellows are layered over by applied elements that appear to build the work up and out as the acrylic paint pour pattern pulls the eye away in another direction. Dr. Necia D. Harkless taught in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky from 1974 through 1981 and at Georgetown College, a private Baptist college in Georgetown, Kentucky, from 1981 until her retirement in 1985. She befriended Sam Gilliam and enlisted him to lead art workshops at the University of Kentucky. HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice