The Brooklyn Rail

In 1975, I decided to take a short break from my MFA studies at Syracuse University and visit New York City to see current exhibitions at museums and art galleries. After visiting Andre Emerich Gallery and seeing a John Seery exhibition, I made my way to Sidney Janis Gallery where I then saw a Thornton Willis painting in a group show. The painting was titled Man In A Pinstriped Suit. It was one of his large and heroic “Wedge Paintings.” I was taken aback and immediately drawn to the work. From then on, I took an interest in his work. At the time, Thornton was a rising star in “post-painterly abstraction,” along with Brice Marden, Robert Duran, Stewart Hitch, and Ron Gorchov among others. I didn’t meet Thornton until decades later and we immediately became friends, a friendship that lasted for more than thirty years. I followed his work and production and realized that he was a major, unheralded giant in American abstract painting.

Wedges, Fins, Slats, Steps, and Grids were but a few of the phases and styles he invented. All of them were dense and layered, resolved and filled with emotion, meaning, chance, and deliberation. His art had a personal strength and determination that helped place abstract painting center stage in his time. Heroic, masterful, and original works with a childlike quality were his hallmark that imbued his work with unapologetic genius and confidence without decree. Thornton was the consummate canonical “Painter’s Painter” who pushed abstract painting to places it would have never reached without him. And as good as he was as an artist, he was by tenfold a better person. He was my best friend. I will miss him dearly.