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Artist: Sean Scully (b.1945) Title: Untitled (1983) Signature: signed lower right and dated 9.1.83 Medium: oil crayon on paper Size: 38 x 53.60cm (15 x 21.1in) Framed Size: 45 x 60.7cm (17.7 x 23.9in) Provenance: David McKee, Inc, New York; Private Collection, Sausalito, California; Anon. Sale; Bonhams & Butterfields, Los Angeles, 4th May 2009, lot 8107; Private Collection a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} In a sense every work by an artist is “transitional,” since each new piece opens new possibilities. But the early 1980s was a dramatically transitional time for Sean Scully, and this oil crayon composition is an indication of where he was headed. As the decade began, he felt that he was at something... Read more Sean Scully Lot 17 - 'Untitled (1983)' Estimate: €40,000 - €60,000 In a sense every work by an artist is “transitional,” since each new piece opens new possibilities. But the early 1980s was a dramatically transitional time for Sean Scully, and this oil crayon composition is an indication of where he was headed. As the decade began, he felt that he was at something of an impasse. Having settled a few years previously in the tough, competitive environment of New York and its art world, he felt he needed to change, to find a way of working that added more expressive freedom, more openness and unpredictability. A minimalist way of thinking and working had become a straitjacket. He made a breakthrough with a huge work, Backs and Fronts, which opened a whole new path for exploration. Travels to Mexico and Morocco, and elsewhere, were important. He was taken with the brilliant light, the way it fell on the stone structures, and the vibrant colours of Mexico, particularly. The density and rich lustre of the surfaces, and the intensity of both light and shade, made an indelible impression on him. Initially, he made a series of watercolours. Really, he wasn’t trying to depict a scene in a conventional sense. Rather, he felt that when he looked at stone wall, all the material for a painting was there, and the question was how to convey a sense of what he was seeing and feeling in paint. Gradually he realised that he had a whole new language of expression to use. It wasn’t at all confined to its source in Mexico but was a way of addressing a formidable range of themes and subjects. He was also looking at classical painting and the bright, vertical band in the luminous composition here can be regarded as a way of introducing a figurative subject into an abstract vernacular. The work looks both back to Backs and Fronts and forwards to the epic Walls of Light that have preoccupied the painter for decades. Born in Dublin and raised in London, Scully is one of the pre-eminent contemporary artists internationally. He has always remained attached to and identified with Ireland and his work is always on view in the Sean Scully Room at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin. Aidan Dunne, November 2023