The Smithsonian Associates Commissions “Museum Moment” Print by Sam Gilliam

The Smithsonian Associates Art Collectors Program announces the 2009 commission of Sam Gilliam to create a limited-edition screen print. “Museum Moment” is on display at the Graphic Eloquence exhibition in the Smithsonian’s Ripley Center. This signed and numbered print is available for purchase through the Art Collectors Program. Proceeds support the educational and cultural programs of The Smithsonian Associates.

Gilliam’s “Museum Moment” is an abstract print lush with overlays of opaque and translucent colors. A prominent oval is intersected by lines and shapes of textured hues, which give it an overall painterly quality. Gilliam calls the print “a celebration of art” inspired by the first commission he created for the Smithsonian in 1987.

Gilliam is considered one of the foremost contemporary African American artists in the United States. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Norman Walt Harris Prize from the Art Institute of Chicago. His works are displayed in museum permanent collections around the country, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Denver Museum of Art and Chrysler Museum of Art.

“Museum Moment” is a 90-color, screen print limited edition of 105, printed on Rising two-ply acid-free paper. Produced by master printer Lou Stovall of Workshop Inc., each unframed print is numbered and signed by the artist and comes with a certificate of authenticity from the Smithsonian. The print measures 32 inches x 40 inches. The image can be viewed online at www.artcollectorsprogram.org and in the Graphic Eloquence exhibition in the Ripley Center. A three-minute video about the printmaking process for this commission will run continuously in the reception area of The Smithsonian Associates, also located in the Ripley Center. Prices are $1,500 for Associate members and $1,800 for nonmembers. To purchase at the member price, visit the Art Collectors Program Web site or call (202) 633-8680.

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SI-313-2009