“THE ISSUE IS THIS . . . ARCHAIC SYMBOLS OF PROFOUND FEELINGS
THIS IS AMERICAN . . . PROFOUNDLY DEMATERIALIZED SPIRITUALITY
MONUMENTAL FORM AND ROUGHT COLOR.
ARCHAIC FORMS WHICH HAVE A GREAT DEPTH OF TIME
IT’S SENSUALITY AND IT’S LIFE GIVING.
SAM’S WORK IS BIG, BIG IN IMPACT. BIG IN EFFECT. THAT’S PAINTING.”
SAM GLANKOFF | UNTITLED 74, 1976 INK & CASEIN ON PAPER | 44 x 31 INCHES, FRAMED
The Technique | “Print-Painting” Glankoff's process required many steps. He began with two uniform plywood boards, each of which corresponded in size to the Japanese paper onto which his image would be printed. An image was then carved into the board, bearing in mind that the entire picture was contained not on one block of wood as Glankoff had done previously, but on both blocks. (He approached the composite area of the wood panels as one would approach an entire canvas.) Glankoff no longer gouged large areas of the wood, as in Japanese woodblock prints. Rather, he carved only the outlines of his forms which, eventually, were defined by color.
After a while, Glankoff ceased incising lines into the plywood. Instead, using a permanent pigment – enamel and later acrylic – he painted the design in black or brown upon Masonite boards which had been placed together to stimulate the final composition. Once dried, the design on these boards became the template for placement of the water-based colors. Glankoff then separately inked the boards and printed the design onto each piece of paper. He never painted directly upon the paper. Not only did he prefer the effect he achieved with this transfer process, but he chose to remain within the limitations of indirect procedure. Eventually, working this way made it possible for Glankoff to work large, enabling him to make six and eight-panel pieces. Once all sections were complete to Glankoff’s satisfaction, they were joined together to form the complete piece.
SAM GLANKOFF | UNTITLED 93, 1977 INK & CASEIN ON PAPER | 33 x 42 INCHES, FRAMED
SAM GLANKOFF | UNTITLED 116, 1971 INK & CASEIN ON PAPER | 34 x 30 INCHES, FRAMED
SAM GLANKOFF | UNTITLED 128, 1971 INK & CASEIN ON PAPER | 44 x 31 INCHES, FRAMED
For Glankoff, geometry and the circle, which he used repeatedly at the end of his life, seemed to represent a liberation from his own painful egocentricity, and escape from subjectivism to a "more purely non-objective image," as he put it. Even the circle, however, brought him back to self confrontation, in another commentary from his notes he observes that circles go beyond formal purity to engage the artist at deeper psychological and cultur al levels.
SAM GLANKOFF | UNTITLED 89, 1972 INK & CASEIN ON PAPER | 39 x 47 INCHES
SAM GLANKOFF | UNTITLED 69, 1972 INK & CASEIN ON PAPER | 43 x 53 INCHES
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There is a distinction in the late work between Glankoff’s use of brilliant colors and his use of more subdued tones. He said that the subtle colors manifested an effort to repress the brilliance. Indeed, he could create a print-painting with a radiant combination of violet, red, and yellow while concurrently creating one with a color scheme based upon dull blues and blacks.
SAM GLANKOFF | UNTITLED 128, 1971 INK & CASEIN ON PAPER | 44 x 53 INCHES
SAM GLANKOFF | UNTITLED 73, 1971 INK & CASEIN ON PAPER | 43 x 53 INCHES
SAM GLANKOFF | UNTITLED 105, 1981 INK & CASEIN ON PAPER | 57 x 65 INCHES, FRAMED
“In art it is the feeling that is paramount. That's the thing that we are looking for, and it's beyond words. . it is the intangible . . . that is all it is.�
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