Thomas Sills facts for kids

Thomas Sills (born August 20, 1914 – died September 26, 2000) was a talented painter and collagist. A collagist is an artist who makes art by gluing different materials together. He was part of the New York Abstract Expressionist movement. This was a style of art where artists used colors and shapes to show feelings and ideas, rather than painting realistic pictures.

At the peak of his career in the 1960s and 1970s, his art was shown in many museums. His work was also often featured in art magazines. Today, his paintings are part of many museum collections.

Biography

Early Life and Work

Thomas Sills was born and grew up in Castalia, North Carolina. He was one of eleven children in his family. Later, he moved to Brooklyn, New York, to live with one of his older brothers.

Before he became a painter, Sills worked in a greenhouse in Raleigh, North Carolina. The many colors of the plants there made a big impression on him. He received the best education available to a Black child in the segregated South at that time.

In New York, he worked as a doorman at the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn. He also worked on the docks as a stevedore, loading and unloading ships. He spent the rest of his time working at a liquor store.

Becoming an Artist

Sills started experimenting with art in 1952. This was around the time he married Jeanne Reynal. She was an artist who made mosaics and collected art. She was also an important part of the surrealist art movement in the United States.

Sills taught himself how to paint. He was inspired by Reynal's collection of abstract art. He began by using materials he found in her mosaic studio. Soon, he started painting with oil on wood and canvas. He used unusual items like nails, dirt, rocks, and house paints in his early works.

Sills lived most of his creative life in New York City. He was deeply connected to the art trends and cultural issues of the 1950s to 1970s. He knew famous artists like Willem de Kooning. De Kooning even visited Sills' studio. He told Sills not to throw away any art before someone else had seen it.

Other artists in New York also gave him advice. When Sills had his first solo art show, Barnett Newman sent him a letter of congratulations. His friendships with Newman and Mark Rothko placed him at the center of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Like these artists, Sills believed his art did not need explaining. He painted what he felt inside.

Art Style and Influence

Sills used an experimental way of working with materials. This helped him create amazing abstract paintings that seemed dreamlike. He was fascinated by the way light shone through mosaics. This led to a similar bright glow in his oil paintings.

His exciting use of color and new ways of using materials caught the eye of the New York art world. His art was a fresh change from the more traditional European art styles.

As an African-American painter, Sills was a regular part of the art scene from the 1950s to the early 1970s. He was an important part of both mainstream and African-American art. Thomas Sills saw his art as being beyond politics. For him, art was a way to express energy and movement that could not be held back by rules.

Sills' work was very intuitive, meaning it came from his feelings and instincts. He also found inspiration in art from different cultures. In the 1950s, he often traveled to Mexico. There, he studied the sculptures, frescos, and buildings of Chiapas and the Yucatan. He also traveled to Peru, England, Russia, France, Italy, Spain, and other countries. These trips influenced his artwork.

Later Career and Collections

In the 1960s and 1970s, Sills' career was at its peak. His work was shown in many museums. It was also regularly featured in art journals. In 2006, his work was part of an exhibition called Encore, Five Abstract Expressionists. This show was held at the Sidney Mishkin Gallery of Baruch College, The City University of New York.

His art is now part of many important collections across the United States. These include The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Modern Art. His work is also in the San Francisco Museum Modern of Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Newark Museum.

Death

Thomas Sills passed away on September 26, 2000, in New York City. He was 86 years old.

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