Loading

Light Fan

Sam Gilliam1966

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Smithsonian American Art Museum
Washington D.C., United States

Light Fan has the feel of an image seen from space—a sunrise observed from an orbiting capsule through a window struck by a ray of light—or the blue and green depths of an ocean giving way to sun-warmed shallows. The effect is diaphanous; color has bled in irregular pools as the tidal pull of capillary action moved wet pigment around a field of color on a finely woven fabric. Edges freely shift in a way that is both accidental and controlled.

Show lessRead more
  • Title: Light Fan
  • Creator: Sam Gilliam
  • Date Created: 1966
  • Physical Dimensions: 36 1/4 x 36 in. (92/1 x 91.4 cm)
  • Medium: acrylic on canvas
  • Credit Line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Woodward Foundation
  • Artist: Born Tupelo, MS 1933
Smithsonian American Art Museum

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Interested in Visual arts?

Get updates with your personalized Culture Weekly

You are all set!

Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.

Home
Discover
Play
Nearby
Favorites