• the artist;
• from whom bought by Alfonso Ossorio, East Hampton, New York, in 1953;
• from whom bought through Thomas Gibson Fine Art Inc., London, by the Australian National Gallery, February 1978

• Fourteen Paintings: De Kooning, Dubuffet, Ossori, Pollock, Still
  • Thomas Gibson Fine Art Ltd 1976
• Abstract Expressionism: the National Gallery of Australia celebrates the centenaries of Jackson Pollock and Morris Louis
  • 14 Jul 2012 – 24 Feb 2013

• Francine du Plessix, 'Ossorio the Magnificent', Art in America vol. 55 no. 2, March–April 1967, p. 56, illus. col., with title as Gray picture, republished in Jean Lipman (ed.), The collector in America, New York: Viking Press 1970, p. 206, illus. col., with title as Gray picture;

• Bettina Gabetti, 'Il collezionista Americano, 8', Bolaffiarte anno V no. 36, January 1974, p. 53, illus. col.;
• John P. O’Neill, Clyfford Still, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art 1979, cat. PH–1071,illus. col. pl. 20;
• Laura Murray (ed.), Australian National Gallery, Canberra: Australian National Gallery 1982, p. 27, illus. col.;
• James Mollison and Laura Murray (eds), Australian National Gallery: An introduction, Canberra: Australian National Gallery 1982, pp. 62–64, illus. col.;
• Michael Desmond and Michael Lloyd, European and American paintings and sculptures 1870–1970 in the Australian National Gallery, Canberra: Australian National Gallery 1992, pp. 265–267, illus. col.

Literature

• Francine du Plessix, 'Ossorio the Magnificent', Art in America vol. 55 no. 2, March–April 1967, p. 56, illus. col., with title as Gray picture, republished in Jean Lipman (ed.), The collector in America, New York: Viking Press 1970, p. 206, illus. col., with title as Gray picture;

• Bettina Gabetti, 'Il collezionista Americano, 8', Bolaffiarte anno V no. 36, January 1974, p. 53, illus. col.;
• John P. O’Neill, Clyfford Still, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art 1979, cat. PH–1071,illus. col. pl. 20;
• Laura Murray (ed.), Australian National Gallery, Canberra: Australian National Gallery 1982, p. 27, illus. col.;
• James Mollison and Laura Murray (eds), Australian National Gallery: An introduction, Canberra: Australian National Gallery 1982, pp. 62–64, illus. col.;
• Michael Desmond and Michael Lloyd, European and American paintings and sculptures 1870–1970 in the Australian National Gallery, Canberra: Australian National Gallery 1992, pp. 265–267, illus. col.

Discussion of the work

Still’s association with Mark Rothko, and other prominent artists that he met after moving to New York in 1945, led him to become known as an Abstract Expressionist or ‘action painter’, categories of which Still disapproved. He showed fully resolved, abstract works in his second solo exhibition that was held at Peggy Guggenheim’s Art of This Century Gallery, New York, in 1946. More than other members of the New York School, Still attempted to purge his work of literary allusions and overt graphic symbols, preferring to stress the elements of painting—colour, shape, size—and their formal relationships as his subject matter. He frequently denied any connection between the craggy forms in his paintings and the rugged western landscapes of his childhood: 'I only paint myself, not nature'.[1] Stripped of conventional associations, he hoped that the elements in his paintings could be as pure and abstract as musical notes and, indeed, he compared his paintings to orchestral compositions.[2]

1952—no. 2 was purchased from the artist in early 1953 by Alfonso Ossorio, in whose possession it remained until 1978 when it was acquired by the Gallery. During this time it was known variously as Gray picture or Gray painting. Even such a mildly descriptive title would not have suited Still's austerity. 'My paintings', he wrote, 'have no titles because I do not wish them to be considered illustrations or pictorial puzzles. If made properly visible they speak for themselves'.[3]

Patricia Still, the artist’s widow, has confirmed that Clyfford Still’s records indicate the correct title of the work as being 1952—no. 2 and that it was painted in 1952.[4] The painting is further identified in Still's records by the photographic number PH–773. The National Gallery’s painting 1952—no. 2 is the second version of a work that was originally painted in New York in 1951. This painting, PH–1071, which forms part of the artist's estate, was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1979.[5] Still often made replicas of works that he regarded as important, before letting them onto the art market, as he distrusted dealers, critics and museums. He wrote in 1972:

Making additional versions is an act I consider necessary when I believe the importance of the idea or breakthrough merits survival on more than one stretch of canvas, especially when it is entrusted to the precarious world of exhibitions or collecting. Although the few replicas I make are usually close to or extensions of the original, each has its special and particular life and is not intended to be just a copy.[6]

Michael Desmond and Michael Lloyd, European and American paintings and sculptures 1870–1970 in the Australian National Gallery, Canberra: Australian National Gallery 1992, pp. 265–267, revised Christine Dixon 2003

[1] 'The fact that I grew up on the prairies has nothing to do with my paintings, what people think they find in them. I paint only myself, not nature', from Benjamin Townsend, 'An interview with Clyfford Still', Gallery Notes, Albright-Knox Gallery vol. 24 no. 2, Summer 1961, pp. 10–16. Reprinted in Maurice Tuchman, New York School: The first generation, Greenwich, Connecticut: New York Graphic Society 1965, p. 148.

[2] Tuchman, p. 148.

[3] Still, quoted from a letter written to the Tate Gallery in 1972, in Ronald Alley, Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's collection of modern art other than works by British artists, London: Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke Bernet 1981, p. 710.

[4] Mrs Clyfford Still, correspondence with the National Gallery, 11 August 1983, NGA file 74/843, f. 165, ff. 165–165a

[5] John P. O’Neill, Clyfford Still, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art 1979, cat. 20, col. illus., p. 88.

[6] Still, letter, 20 July 1972, to Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, quoted in Neal Benezra, ‘Clyfford Still’s replicas’ in James T. Demetrion, Clyfford Still: Paintings 1944–1960, New Haven and London: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden2001, pp. 88–89, 98, note 12.