Thomas Sills (August 20, 1914 – September 26, 2000) was a

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

collagist Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

and a participant in the New York

Abstract Expressionist Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

movement. At the peak of his career in the 1960s and 1970s, his work was widely shown in museums. His work was regularly featured in art journals and is in museum collections.

Biography

Early years

Thomas Sills was born and raised in

Castalia, North Carolina Castalia (pronounced "Cas-tale-yuh"), is a town in Nash County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Rocky Mount, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 268 at the 2010 census. History Castalia developed ...

. He was born to a family of eleven and would later live with one of his older brothers in Brooklyn. Before he got involved with painting, he worked in a

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, where the color around him made a strong impression on him. He received as much of a formal education as a black child could in rural, segregated North Carolina. Once in New York, he worked as a doorman at Paramount Theater at Dekalb and Flatbrush Avenues in Brooklyn. He returned to Raleigh from 1947-1948 to assist one of his brother's cleaning and pressing services before returning to Brooklyn. Then he worked on the docks as a stevedore three days a week and the rest of the time at a liquor store in Greenwich Village.

Career

Sills began to experiment in art in 1952, about the time he married the mosaicist and art collector

Jeanne Reynal Jeanne Reynal (1903–1983) was a mosaicist and a significant figure of the New York School group of artists. She showed with Betty Parsons Gallery. Her work is in the collections of Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, San Fra ...

, who was an important member of the surrealist movement in the United States. Self-taught and inspired by Reynal's collection of

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...

, he began working with the materials he found in her mosaic studio, but soon branched out to oil on wood as well as canvas. He originally used items such as magnesite, nails, dirt, rocks, enamel, housepaints, and other items onto wood while experimenting with his style. 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 1970s. He knew

Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning ( , ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. Born in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, he moved to the United States in 1926, becoming a US citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married pa ...

who visited his studio and told him not to 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.L. Campbell,"The Flowering of Thomas Sills" in ''Art News'', March 1972. His friendships with Newman and

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko ( ; Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz until 1940; September 25, 1903February 25, 1970) was an American abstract art, abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular reg ...

placed him at the intellectual center of the Abstract Expressionist movement, but like de Kooning,

Arshile Gorky Arshile Gorky ( ; born Vostanik Manoug Adoian, ; April 15, 1904 – July 21, 1948) was an Armenian Americans, Armenian-American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent the last years of his life as a national of the ...

and

Franz Kline Franz Kline (May 23, 1910 – May 13, 1962) was an American painter. He is associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1940s and 1950s. Kline, along with other action painters like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Robert Mo ...

, Sills believed that it was not necessary to explain his art; he painted what he felt and it came from within. Through his exploratory approach to materials, Sills was able to release phantasmical abstract paintings. Intrigued by the light quality of

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

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. His work was a rejection of the prim and proper of the European avant-garde that traditionally dominated Western art. 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 mainstream 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 indigenous art—in the 1950s he made frequent trips to Mexico to study the sculptures, frescos and architecture of

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

and the Yucatan. He would also travel widely around the world to Peru, England, Russia, France, Italy, Spain, and other countries, influencing his work. At the peak of his career in the 1960s and 1970s, his work was widely shown in museums and his work was regularly featured in art journals. His work was exhibited in ''Encore, Five Abstract Expressionists'' at Sidney Mishkin Gallery of Baruch College,

The City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges, an ...

in 2006. His work is featured in numerous collections nationally, including The

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, The

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

, the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, the San Francisco Museum Modern of Art, the

Brooklyn Museum of Art The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

, the

High Museum of Art The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (28, ...

, the

Studio Museum The Studio Museum in Harlem is an African-American art museum at 144 West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. Founded in 1968, the museum collects, preserves and interprets art created by African A ...

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, and the

Newark Museum The Newark Museum of Art, formerly known as the Newark Museum, in Newark, New Jersey is the state's largest museum. It holds major collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia (including a large collection of T ...

.L.S. Sims, "Thomas A. Sills: A Eulogy" in ''Thomas Albert Sills (1914–2000): A Retrospective of the Work.'' Cleveland, OH: Corcoran Fine Arts Limited, 2000.

Death and legacy

Thomas Sills died on September 26, 2000, in New York City at the age of 86. The Estate of Thomas Sills is represented b
Eric Firestone Gallery

Selected solo exhibitions

*Eric Firestone Gallery, New York, NY, ''Thomas Sills: Variegations, Paintings 1950s–70s'', 2022 *Corcoran Fine Arts, Cleveland, OH, ''Thomas Sills Retrospective Exhibition'', 2005 *Art Association of Newport, Newport, RI (solo) 1972

Collections

*San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA: 1 piece (as of June 2021) *Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY: 1 piece (as of June 2021) *Los Angeles County Museum, CA *Museum of Modern Art, NY: 1 piece (as of June 2021) *

Rose Art Museum The Rose Art Museum, founded in 1961, is a part of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, US. Named after benefactors Edward and Bertha Rose, it offers temporary exhibitions, and it displays and houses works of art from its permanent co ...

, Waltham, Massachusetts: 1 piece (as of June 2021) *

Williams College Museum of Art The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) is a college-affiliated art museum in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is located on the Williams College campus, close to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) and the Clark Art Institu ...

, Williamstown, Massachusetts: 1 painting (as of March 2023)

Footnotes

Bibliography

*Allen, S. A. (1972), "Introduction." *''Archives of American Art Journal'', 11 ( nos. 1–4, 1971): 33 *''Archives of American Art'' (1977), Checklist, 100 items plus one restricted item. *''Art Digest'', Newsletter 4 (May 1, 1969): 6 *''Art Gallery'', 13 (April 1970): 16A, 28: 35; 40–41. *''Art Gallery'', 14 (March 1971): 69–70, ''Pertinent and Impertinent: Mosaicist''. On

, wife of Sills; mentions him, pp. 69 – 70. *''Art Gallery'', 15 (March 1972): 32–36. "Eye on New York." Mentions Sills solo at Bodley Gallery, p. 33; illus. *''Art Gallery'', March 15, 1972). "Guide." *''Art News'', 17 articles 1955–74 *''Art News'', 69, March 1970. *Brooklyn College (1969), ''Afro-American Artists Since 1950: April 15 – May 18, 1969'', New York, NY: Brooklyn College. (Exhibition Catalog) *Campbell, L. "The Flowering of Thomas Sills" in ''Art News'', March 1972 *Campbell, L. and Sills, T. (1964), ''Sills'', Chicago: William and Noma Copley Foundation. *Cederholm, T. (1973), ''Afro-American Artists, A Bio-bibliographical Survey'', Boston: Trustees of the Boston Library. *Craig, R. J. (1969), ''Afro-American Artists, 1800–1969: December 5–29, 1969'', Philadelphia, PA: School District and Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center. (Exhibition Catalog) *Dover, Cedric. ''American Negro Art'', 1960, p. 48 & 183, pl. 91 *Fine, E. H. (1973), ''The Afro-American artist: A search for identity'', New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. *Fine, E. H. (1981), ''The African American artist : A search for identity'', New York: Hacker Art Books. *Gaither, E. B. (1970), ''Afro-American Artists: New York and Boston: May 19 – June 23, 1970'', Boston, MA: Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists. (Exhibition Catalog) *Holmes, O. N. (1993?, 1973), ''Black artists in America : part three: Romare Bearden,

Selma Burke Selma Hortense Burke (December 31, 1900 – August 29, 1995) was an American sculptor and a member of the Harlem Renaissance movement. Burke is best known for a bas relief portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt which may have been the model ...

, Elton C. Fax, Palmer Hayden, Richard Mayhew, Thomas Sills, and Charles White'', Alexandria, Va. : Oakley N. Holmes, 990?, 1973Edition: VHS video. *Igoe, L. M. (1981), ''250 Years of Afro-American Art – An Annotated Bibliography''. New York, NY *Jeffries, R. (1974), ''Directions in Afro-American Art: September 18 – October 27, 1974'', Ithaca, NY: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University. (Exhibition Catalog) *Jones, K. (1989), ''Abstract Expressionism: The Missing Link'', New York: Studio Museum in Harlem. *K., I. C. (1957), "The Surprise of Painter Tom Sills," ''The Village Voice'', p. 17 *Kenkeleba House (1991)''The Search for Freedom: African American Abstract Painting, 1945 – 1975'', New York: Kenkeleba House. *Kraskin, S. (2006), ''Encore : Five Abstract Expressionists : Amaranth Ehrenhalt, Leonard Nelson, Jeanne Reynal, Thomas Sills, and Ary Stillman'', New York: Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College. *Mandle, R. (1986), ''30 Contemporary Black Artists: October 17 – November 24, 1968'', Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis Institute of Arts. (Exhibition Catalog) *Montgomery, E. "Thomas Sills – An Interesting Artistic Life" in ''Thomas Albert Sills (1914–2000): A Retrospective of the Work'', Cleveland, OH: Corcoran Fine Arts Limited, Inc. (gallery brochure) *Paul Kantor Gallery (1962), ''Thomas Sills : May 14 – June 2, 1962'', Beverly Hills, CA: Paul Kantor Gallery. *RISD Museum of Art (1969), ''Contemporary Black Artists: July 1–31, 1969'', Providence, RI: Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. *''Pictures on Exhibits'', 30 (5): "Exhibition at the Betty Parsons Gallery" *Rose, M. A. (2010), ''African American Abstract Artists'' New York: Anita Shapolsky Gallery (Gallery Catalog) *Sims, L. S. (2000), "Thomas A. Sills: A Eulogy" in ''Thomas Albert Sills (1914–2000): A Retrospective of the Work'', Cleveland, OH: Corcoran Fine Arts Limited, Inc. (gallery brochure) *Campbell, Lawrence (1964), ''Sills,'' William and Noma Copley Foundation, Chicago IL. *Spradley, Mary Mace (1980), ''In Black and White: Afro-Americans in Print'', Kalamazoo, MI: Kalamazoo Public Library *Smithsonian Archives of American Art, Oral History Collection. Interview with Thomas A. Sills, conducted 1968 July 13 by Henri Ghent *''New York Times'', Thomas Sills, Obituaries, October 2, 2000. *Waters, Jerry C. (1982), ''Directions in Afro-American Abstract Art: October 17 – November 17, 1982'', Nashville, TN: Van Vechten Gallery, Fisk University. (Exhibition Catalog) *''Who's Who in American Art'', Vol. III, p. 3031 (1999).

External links

*Jeanne Reynal and Thomas Sills, ''Art Couple: Work of the 1950s''. http://www.anitashapolskygallery.com/past_exhibit_reynal_sills.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Sills, Thomas 2000 deaths 1914 births African-American painters Painters from North Carolina 20th-century African-American artists 20th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists American male painters People from Nash County, North Carolina