Sean Scully
Born – Dublin, Ireland 1945
Sean Scully grew up in London, attended Croydon College of Art from 1965-1968 and then Newcastle University until 1972. He studied at Harvard University from 1972-1973, moving to America in 1975. His work charts a complex mix of British and American influences. On the one hand his art is related to the cool, Conceptual and Minimal experiments of the 1970s, combined with the achievements of British artists such as Noel Forster and Joe Tilson. On the other hand, it carries romantic, symbolic essences of the American Abstract Expressionists, particularly Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko. In spite of Paul having the hallmarks of the minimal approach, the tangibility of the painting’s relief construction would suggest that modernist, traditional forces are at work. The triptych format, one Scully uses often, is evocative of devotional art from the beginning of art history. However, the slightly awkward joining of the three canvases brings our attention back to the material reality of the piece. Paul, dedicated to the artist’s son who died in 1983, is an economically conceived, grounded composition, painted with gestural marks. It complies with Scully’s view of abstraction that “It’s the spiritual art of our time.”
Masterpieces:
- The Fall
- White Window
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Books About sean scully
Sean Scully: Retrospective
Donald Kuspit
Buy on Amazon
Sean Scully: Resistance and Persistance : Selected Writings
Buy on Amazon
Sean Scully
Tiffany Bell
Buy on Amazon