Sean Scully

Timothy Taylor Gallery, London
The Taylor Gallery, Belfast
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate although the reds are slightly brighter and richer throughout the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There is a minute surface loss to the centre of the grey vertical pigment stroke at the centre of the right edge. Under ultraviolet light a small retouching is visible towards the bottom of the right hand vertical red on the top edge.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

'I'm always trying to combine morality, which I see manifested in structure, with high emotion manifested in beauty.'
The artist cited in: David Carrier ed., Sean Scully, London 2004, p. 187

 

With its bold hues and carefully composed painted vertical and horizontal bars, Small Grey Wall is a beautiful example from the "Wall of Light" series that has been Scully's abiding focus since it was begun in the late 1990s. After a trip to Mexico in the early 1980s, Scully became captivated by the stacked stones of ancient Mayan walls in the Yucatan peninsula which, when enlivened by light, seemed to reflect the passage of time.

Using a five inch brush and oil paints thickened with varnish, Scully constructs his compositions gradually, applying layer after layer of paint to highlight the 'building' process of the artist's hand. The feathery joins between each 'brick' suggest the cracks in a wall through which light seeps, and in Small Grey Wall previous layers of pigment can be glimpsed through these fault lines. The whole becomes an archaeological exercise to reveal the story of the painting's creation.

Scully's artistic language combines the formal traditions of European painting - the brooding tones of Velàzquez and Manet and the intense colours and brushwork of van Gogh and Matisse - with a distinctly American abstract tradition, epitomised by Rothko and Pollock. Like Rothko, Scully constructs layered rectangles of expressive colour that are at once united and in tension with each other in a post and lintel construction. Manifesting a complete adherence to the ideology of abstraction, in Small Grey Wall, Scully lyrically conveys its emotional power, its storytelling potential and above all its capacity to convey light.