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Sean Scully: b. 1945

Sean Scully b. 1945

  • Biography
  • Works
  • Exhibitions
  • Publications
  • News
  • Biography
    Sean Scully

    Sean Scully was born in Dublin in 1945, and grew up in the south of London, where his family moved in 1949. He began painting in the late 1960s, and moved to New York City in 1975; he became an American citizen in 1983. Scully has shown extensively, both nationally and internationally, including, most recently, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, England, the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, the Wadsworth Atheneum, Connecticut, the National Gallery of Art in London and San Giorgio Maggiore for the Venice Biennale, Upcoming solo exhibitions include the Albertina, Vienna, and in 2020 a major retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 

    Sean Scully is known for rich, painterly abstractions in which stripes or blocks of layered color are a prevailing motif. The delineated geometry of his work provides structure for an expressive, physical rendering of color, light, and texture. Scully’s simplification of his compositions and use of repetitive forms—squares, rectangles, bands—echoes architectural motifs (doors, windows, walls) and in this way appeals to a universal understanding and temporal navigation of the picture plane. However, the intimacy of Scully’s process, in which he layers and manipulates paint with varying brushstrokes and sensibilities, results in a highly sensual and tactile materiality. His colors and their interactions, often subtly harmonized, elicit profound emotional associations. Scully does not shy away from Romantic ideals and the potential for personal revelation. He strives to combine, as he has said, “intimacy with monumentality.”

  • Works
    • Sean Scully
    • Sean Scully
    • Sean Scully
    • Sean Scully
    • Sean Scully
    • Sean Scully
    • Sean Scully
    • Sean Scully
    • Sean Scully
  • Exhibitions
    • Sean Scully

      Sean Scully

      Jack the Wolf 26 Sep - 4 Nov 2023
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce an exhibition of Sean Scully’s drawings from Jack the Wolf , an extraordinary and deeply personal project that the artist made in collaboration...
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    • Art Basel

      Art Basel

      22 - 26 Sep 2021
      We are happy to be reunited with our colleagues and clients from around the world here at Art Basel for the first time since lockdown. Our presentation this year includes...
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    • At Dawn

      At Dawn

      10 Sep - 3 Oct 2020
      Not knowing when the Dawn will come, I open every Door, Or has it Feathers, like a Bird, Or Billows, like a Shore — - Emily Dickinson Cheim & Read...
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    • Art Basel

      Art Basel

      13 - 16 Jun 2019
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2019 edition of Art Basel with a presentation of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Ron Gorchov, Hans Hartung, Jonathan Lasker,...
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    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      6 - 9 Dec 2018
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2018 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach with a presentation of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Ron Gorchov, Al Held,...
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    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      7 - 10 Dec 2017
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2017 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach with a presentation of works by Ghada Amer, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Adam Fuss,...
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    • The Horizontal

      The Horizontal

      6 Jul - 31 Aug 2017
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce The Horizontal, a group exhibition exploring the poetics of the horizon in abstract art. The show will feature an intergenerational selection of 21...
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    • Art Basel

      Art Basel

      15 - 18 Jun 2017
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2017 edition of Art Basel with a presenation of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Louise Fishman, Ron Gorchov, Al Held,...
      Read more
    • Sean Scully

      Sean Scully

      Wall of Light Cubed 30 Mar - 20 May 2017
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce an exhibition of new paintings, drawings, and sculpture by Sean Scully, which will open on March 30, 2017, and run through May 20....
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    • Art Basel

      Art Basel

      16 - 19 Jun 2016
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2016 edition of Art Basel with a presentation of works by Donald Baechler, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Louise Fishman, Ron Gorchov,...
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    • Sean Scully

      Sean Scully

      Circa 70 20 May - 1 Jul 2016
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce Sean Scully: Circa 70 . This is a unique opportunity to view a little seen but surprisingly relevant body of work in a...
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    • Art Basel

      Art Basel

      18 - 21 Jun 2015
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2015 edition of Art Basel with a presenation of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Al Held, Jenny Holzer, Joan Mitchell,...
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    • Sean Scully

      Sean Scully

      Landline 18 Feb - 4 Apr 2015
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce Landline, an exhibition of eight new paintings by the Irish-born American artist Sean Scully. Begun in 2013, Scully’s Landline series resonates with newfound...
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    • Frieze Masters

      Frieze Masters

      15 - 19 Oct 2014
      Cheim & Read is pleased to make a special presention of William Eggleston’s Troubled Waters portfolio at Frieze Masters. The portfolio is comprised of 15 dye-transfer prints published in 1980...
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    • Art Basel

      Art Basel

      19 - 22 Jun 2014
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2014 edition of Art Basel with a presentation of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Ron Gorchov, Jenny Holzer, Joan Mitchell,...
      Read more
    • Sean Scully

      Sean Scully

      Night and Day 30 Oct 2013 - 11 Jan 2014
      Opens Wednesday October 30, 2013 from 6-8 pm Cheim & Read is pleased to announce an exhibition of new paintings by Irish-born American artist Sean Scully. This is the artist’s...
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  • Publications
    • Sean Scully

      Sean Scully

      2017 Read more
    • Sean Scully

      Sean Scully

      Night and Day 2013 Read more
  • News
    • Sean Scully Goes Down A Rabbit Hole

      Sean Scully Goes Down A Rabbit Hole

      October 11, 2023 Read more
    • Jack the Wolf: A Great Abstract Painter's Children's Story

      Jack the Wolf: A Great Abstract Painter's Children's Story

      September 22, 2023 Read more
    • Sean Scully and Lilianne Tomasko - artists coupled

      Sean Scully and Lilianne Tomasko - artists coupled

      August 20, 2021 Read more
    • Sean Scully Closes His Windows

      Sean Scully Closes His Windows

      April 9, 2020 Read more
    • The Horizontal

      The Horizontal

      Cheim & Read July 21, 2017 Read more
    • Sean Scully: Wall of Light Cubed

      Sean Scully: Wall of Light Cubed

      Cheim & Read May 1, 2017 Read more
    • How Sean Scully Bent the Grid

      How Sean Scully Bent the Grid

      June 27, 2016 Read more
    • 9 Art Events To Attend In New York City This Week

      9 Art Events To Attend In New York City This Week

      May 16, 2016 Read more
    • Sean Scully Storms the Globe

      Sean Scully Storms the Globe

      April 1, 2015 Read more
    • First He Takes Manhattan

      First He Takes Manhattan

      April 1, 2015 Read more
    • The Star of Stripes

      The Star of Stripes

      February 23, 2015 Read more
    • Sean Scully On Why Abstraction Still Matters

      Sean Scully On Why Abstraction Still Matters

      February 16, 2015 Read more
    • Sean Scully: 'My therapist sent me away'

      Sean Scully: 'My therapist sent me away'

      January 7, 2015 Read more
    • Sean Scully: Night and Day

      Sean Scully: Night and Day

      Cheim & Read January 1, 2014 Read more
    • Christopher Wool and Sean Scully

      Christopher Wool and Sean Scully

      December 18, 2013 Read more
    • Rich for a Day

      Rich for a Day

      November 1, 2013 Read more
    • Change of Art

      Change of Art

      November 4, 2010 Read more
    • Sean Scully

      Sean Scully

      Timothy Taylor Gallery, London January 20, 2009 Read more
    • Sean Scully: In the Search of the Light

      Sean Scully: In the Search of the Light

      October 1, 2008 Read more
    • A Dark But Vital Light

      A Dark But Vital Light

      An Interview with Sean Scully August 1, 2007 Read more
    • 'Light' Shines at the Met

      'Light' Shines at the Met

      September 22, 2006 Read more
    • Sean Scully's Absolute Paintings

      Sean Scully's Absolute Paintings

      November 1, 1979 Read more

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