Billet til Clyfford Still Museum Denver Colorado

I'm a Clyfford Still fan so I was pretty excited to visit this museum. I did not know that he kept most of his art, so it's interesting to see how a family chooses to preserve an artist's legacy. For me it's always interesting to see earlier works and how an artist evolves. I only gave this four stars because they rotate the curation of the exhibit and I was not keen on the current installation. I felt like I was missing out of some really good pieces, which you only glimpsed through the doors of the archive. I'd like to come back and take the guided collection tour and see another exhibit. For people who are coming into this with no appreciation for modern (let alone contemporary art), I suggest approaching this museum with an open mind and allowing yourself to feel the paintings.

I went with friends to this museum since we have been trying to see all of Denver's art museums. We were honestly more impressed with the galleries and the architecture than the actual art presented. Clyfford Still rarely sold any of his art, (which is what makes this 'complete collection' unique) but perhaps that's because his talent was limited, or at least questionable. The museum is filled with huge wall-sized paintings done in few colors, often with one corner of the 'art' painted in another color. Maybe it's just us, but we didn't get it. We suspect that Mr. Still thought it would be hilarious to see what city would build a museum to create his fame in exchange for all of his paintings, which is exactly how he left the collection behind in his will. Denver won that bid, and they did a wonderful job designing a building to showcase these 'works of art.' The works themselves, however, are impressive in size but little else.

I needed to burn an hour in Downtown Denver, and decided to stop into this museum dedicated to a single artist, Clyfford Still. I wasn't sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. Still was an abstract expressionist, so his art might not be everyone's cup of tea, but the museum does a great job of telling his story and getting visitors to think about his art. It was also interesting to learn about how this museum came about, and how they conserve the collection.