Flagship 1961

Thomas Sills made this 66 by 70 inch painting, Flagship, and right away, you can see he’s working with big shapes and a primary palette that feels both considered and intuitive. There’s this amazing push and pull between the colors and forms, like a conversation happening right on the canvas. The yellow rectangles—they’re not just blocks of color. Look closer, and you see the texture, almost like he built them up layer by layer, maybe with a palette knife. And the red and green, they’re not just backgrounds, they weave in and out, creating this complex spatial game. I’m drawn to that one yellow shape in the middle – it's got these little flecks of color, like hidden messages. Sills, like Beauford Delaney or Alma Thomas, knew how to make colors sing. They remind us that art isn't about answers, it's about the questions we ask along the way.