This was one on the highlights of my final year at Bangor University Fine Art Degree in November 2016. I had long wondered about these paintings. I had studied them as part of my essay on the sublime. The expressionists were not shy about attaching the label sublime to their art which would make me nervous but you have to picture the time – the cold war. The two superpowers lived on the edge of nuclear war and the battle of cultures for the hearts and minds of the world was intense.
Into this mix steps the CIA with hundreds of millions of dollars
Whatever the truth of all of this, these paintings have presence. Its not just about the size its the sheer exuberance, the inventiveness of it all.
It must have seemed like a dream for the Irascibles their paintings were taken all around the ‘free’ world and always lauded.
I was Impressed by the Pollacks who would not, the Rothko’s yes although I did not quite feel the quasi-religious experience. I did, however, fall forever in love with the work of Clifford Still. Now here was a man to be admired. He kept all his art and left it to the nation where it is preserved by the Clifford Still Gallery in Denver. Denver was one of my favourite US cities when I worked in Investment Banking but I was there to meet Investors with no spare time for Gallery visits – what a pity.
I just loved his blue work which invites you in to wonder at its depth and what could the red and yellow be saying – quite profound.
Richard Ryder - Gaelic Artist 