DENVER, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Denver will build a museum dedicated to abstract expressionist Clyfford Still, whose widow left 2,200 works to any city that would build such a museum.
Mayor John Hickenlooper said Patricia Still's will stipulated her husband's works be given only to a city that would create a museum devoted exclusively to his art. He said Denver had reached an agreement with the Still estate and estimated $7 million would be needed for construction of the facility.
Hickenlooper said the city plans to seek private financing for the project and has 10 years under the terms of the agreement to raise the money. He said the museum also would need about $500,000 annually for operating costs.
Still, one of the most celebrated American artists from the 1940s through the 1970s, was born in Grandin, N.D., grew up in Washington State and Alberta, Canada, taught art in San Francisco, and later lived and worked in New York before settling on a farm in Maryland. He painted large flowing images in a lyrical style to great dramatic effect.
