Sewell Sillman (1924-1992)

Sewell Sillman began his art studies after he served in the US Army during WWII. He enrolled at the Black Mountain College in North Carolina. There he met and became a devotee of the artist Joseph Albers. Albers left Black Mountain for a professorship at Yale University. Sillman decided to follow Albers to continue his studies there. From Yale he received a BFA in 1951 and then a MFA in 1953.

He was offered, and accepted a position on the faculty of Yale. He remained there until 1966. He subsequently taught at Rhode Island School of Design, the University of Michigan, and finally retired in 1990 from the University of Pennsylvania.

He co-founded Ives/Sillman Publication with a fellow Yale artist and printed editions for artists: Joseph Albers, Romare Bearden, Jean Dubuffet, Jacob Lawrence, Piet Mondrian, Ad Reinhardt; and they also published a book on the theories of Joseph Albers.

He was widely exhibited during his life. His work was handled by both the Stable Galleries and Sidney Janus Gallery in NYC, and he is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and the Phillips Collection.