SAM GILLIAM "CONFETTI HEX" RELIEF SCULPTURE, 1978 Contemporary painting and the Whitney in New

and the Whitney in New York

and boxers

The drawings he created "off the clock" from his fashion commissions were romantic sketches

A man's profile commands the composition as he gazes into the distance

SAM GILLIAM "CONFETTI HEX" RELIEF SCULPTURE, 1978 Contemporary painting and the Whitney in NewSam Gilliam (19332022) is beloved as one of the 20th century's most important abstract artists. He was a true innovator in the evolution of American abstraction. Several groundbreaking techniques are credited to him, most notably removing the canvas from the stretcher and draping his paintings. Born in Mississippi, Gilliam studied at the University of Louisville and later worked in Washington D. C. with the Washington Colour School among artists such