Clyfford Still (1904-1980) was one of the pioneers of Abstract Expressionism, although throughout his life he chose isolation from other styles and most other artists.

Clyfford Still was born in 1904 in Grandin, North Dakota. During his childhood he was interested in music, literature, and poetry, as well as art. A graduate of Spokane University, Still received an M.A. from Washington State College, where he later taught from 1933 to 1941. He lived for a time in Alberta, Canada, and also taught briefly at the College of William and Mary (1943-1945) and at the California School of Fine Arts.

Being something of a renegade from the art establishment, Still rarely exhibited his work. In 1943 he showed 22 canvasses at the San Francisco Museum of Art; in 1946 he had a one-man show at Peggy Guggenheim's New York gallery; and in 1959 he had a major retrospective exhibition at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in...