1957-D-No. 1

The Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York (the USA).

Canvas, oil.

In the mid-1950s, Clyfford Still started creating vertically-oriented pictures. The painting “1957-D-No.1”, which is one of the most famous among the author’s works, is based on the contrast of bright yellow and black colours, with black colour prevailing in the composition, creating a feeling of emptiness and a dark abyss. The artist often used the black colour in his compositions as the main one and did not consider it as unfavourable. He said that he did not think it a symbol of death or horror, “I find it warm and shaping, and if the viewer finds images in my paintings frightening or evil, let him pay attention to the state of his soul”.