April 4
- Created by
- Gilliam, Sam, American, 1933 - 2022
- Subject of
- Dr. King, Martin Luther Jr., American, 1929 - 1968
- Date
- 1972
- Medium
- acrylic paint on canvas
- Dimensions
- H x W (unframed): 72 1/2 × 48 in. (184.2 × 121.9 cm)
- Caption
- Abstract artist Sam Gilliam began his professional career in 1962 when he moved to Washington, D.C. He soon joined a group of D.C.-based painters, the Washington Color School, who used various techniques to explore color and spatial relationships on large-format canvases. Although Gilliam has worked in a wide variety of artistic styles, he is best known for developing the groundbreaking technique of painting on large sheets of unstretched canvas draped from walls and ceilings.
- Gilliam painted April 4 to commemorate the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. It reveals Gilliam’s deep social and political engagement achieved through abstraction.
- Description
- This is an abstract painting from the Martin Luther King series. Done with a thick layer of color, the painting field is made up of splashes of color in a variety of shades of pinks, yellows, blues, greens, and reds. There is a larger, more continuous field of blue at the bottom left hand side of the painting. There is a thin stripe of the same splash pattern down the center running from top to bottom.
- Place made
- Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
- Portfolio/Series
- Martin Luther King Series
- Classification
- Visual Arts
- Movement
- Civil Rights Movement
- BAM (Black Arts Movement 1965-1976)
- Type
- acrylic paintings
- Topic
- Abstract Expressionism
- Art
- Civil rights
- Local and regional
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Object number
- 2011.37.1
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Sam Gilliam
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.