Clinton Hill (1922–2003) was an American
abstract art
Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world.
Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th ...
ist who created abstract color compositions on canvas, constructions made from wood and canvas, wood and plastic relief
sculptures,
collage
Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...
,
woodblock prints and unique assemblages of handmade paper.
Life and work
Born in Payette, Idaho, and raised on a working ranch, Clinton Hill served in the navy during
World War II as commander of a minesweeper in the Pacific. Upon his return from service, Hill attended the
University of Oregon from which he graduated in 1947. He then moved to New York City, where Hill attended the
Brooklyn Museum Art School from 1949 to 1951."The work of Clinton Hill is characterized by a lyrical abstraction which is derived from the painterly tradition of the New York School" In 1951 he left for Paris where he furthered his art studies on the GI Bill at the
Academie de la Grande Chaumiere
An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
and then on to Florence, Italy where Hill studied painting at the Instituto d'Art Statale."Clinton's Hill's first important works were made in the period after 1950s." Upon returning to NY, Hill prepared for his first solo exhibition at the
Zabriskie Gallery. His friend
Mark Rothko suggested the name of the show "Ladders and Windows;" and from that exhibit in 1955 forward, Hill had numerous one man shows in both the US and Europe. Clinton Hill has been a part of almost 100 exhibitions over a 55-year period."Hill would expand his interest in physically assertive surfaces and outline into outright sculptural relief" In 1958 Hill traveled to India on a
Fulbright scholarship
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
."Since the late eighties he produced pieces with a linear element running through the handmade paper, and sculptural forms utilizing wood, charcoal and oil, sometimes attached to canvas and sometimes freestanding pieces, using similar color balances"
[Contemporary American Works of Art on Paper. University of Michigan-Dearborn Mardigian Library Pg:28] For over 20 years he was Professor of Painting at Queens College of the
City University of New York
The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...
.
References
Further reading
* Clinton Hill/Allen Tran Foundation, Clinton Hill: A 50 Year Survey. Melissa Morgan Gallery, Palm Desert, California and Jordan Schnitzer Museum, University of Oregon, Eugene, 2009–2010
* Una Johnson. American Prints and Printmakers. (Doubleday, 1980)
* Jules Heller. Papermaking. (Watson-Guptil, 1978)
* Harriet Janis & Rudi Blesh. Collage. (Chilton Co. 1962)
* Amy Winter. Clinton Hill, 1980–2002. The Godwin-Tembach Museum, Queens College, CUNY
* David Acton. A Spectrum of Innovation: Color in American Printmaking, 1890–1960. Worcester Art Museum 1990.
* Stephan Westfall, Clinton Hill. Marilyn Pearl Gallery, New York, 1988
*
Martica Sawin
Martica Sawin is an author and art critic. She is the author of ''Surrealism in Exile and the Beginning of the New York School'' (MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1995) and surveys on artists such as Roberto Matta
Roberto Sebastián Antonio ...
. Clinton Hill. Paintings and Paperworks. Montclair Art Museum, 1981
* Charlotta Kotik. With Paper, About Paper. Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, 1980
* Jane M. Farmer. Paper as a Medium. Smithsonian Institution, 1978
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Clinton
1922 births
2003 deaths
American abstract artists
Alumni of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière
United States Navy personnel of World War II
University of Oregon alumni
American expatriates in France