Beschreibung:

Artist: Sean Scully (b.1945) Title: Raval Rojo (2004) Signature: signed, dated 'Sean Scully 9.04' and titled verso Medium: oil on linen Size: 92 x 102cm (36.2 x 40.2in) Framed Size: 114.5 x 125cm (45.1 x 49.2in) Provenance: Kerlin Gallery, Dublin where purchased by the present owner in 2005 Exhibited: Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, 'Celebrating the best of contemporary art', 19th December 2005 Literature: Robert O'Byrne, Dictionary of Living Irish Artists, (Plurabelle publishing 2010) illustrated p.339 a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} At the turn of the 1980s, Sean Scully, having settled a few years previously in the tough, competitive environment of New York and its art world, made a significant breakthrough. Exasperated by a relative lack of response to the quite austere, rigorous abstract stripe paintings he had been making, i... Read more Sean Scully Lot 31 - 'Raval Rojo (2004)' Estimate: €400,000 - €600,000 At the turn of the 1980s, Sean Scully, having settled a few years previously in the tough, competitive environment of New York and its art world, made a significant breakthrough. Exasperated by a relative lack of response to the quite austere, rigorous abstract stripe paintings he had been making, in subdued, almost monochromatic hues, he made a huge, multiple panel painting, employing many colours, and delivered with a more informal, expressive touch. While before this his great skill and judgement had been praised, what was missing was perhaps a sense of emotional connection, and that Backs and Fronts unmistakably delivered. He had opened up a whole new channel of exploration, and the question was how he would go on to develop it. In the early 1980s he visited Mexico. He was struck by the strength of the sunlight - as he had been in North Africa years before - and especially by its enlivening effect on the colour and texture of the ancient stonework. The density and rich luster 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. In time, what became one of his most significant, wide-ranging and diverse series of paintings, the Walls of Light, grew out of his attempts to answer that question. His solution was, in a sense, to make a wall in each of each painting using blocks of light and shade, colour and tone, but to do so outside the grammar of hard-edged abstraction. Instead, he elaborated on the more flexible, organic, emotional way of applying paint he'd introduced in Backs and Fronts. 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. By the time he painted this superb example, Raval Rojo, he had consolidated his approach. The Red Ravine referred to in the Catalan title, and the simmering palette of warm earth hues, relate the painting to his Barcelona studio. 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, March 2023