CRAWFORD GILLIS

Crawford Gillis was born near Selma, Alabama, in 1914. His interest in art led him to enroll at the National Academy of Design in New York in 1935. By the time he was drafted in 1941, Gillis had already held three very successful exhibitions in New York. For the next four years, he served his country overseas and was awarded the Bronze Star. After the war, Gillis worked at Craig Air Force Base near Selma and painted in his spare time. His work drifted from social realism to experimentations with Impressionism and Cubism. Today, his pieces are found in Museums throughout the South, as well as many private collections New York, Washington D.C., and San Francisco.