Sean Scully

Galerie Lelong, Paris
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 2002

Colours: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the orange is deeper and richer and the white rectangle more silver grey in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Upon close inspection, there is a tiny speck of wear to the top right corner tip and one to the lower left corner of the inner canvas which has been restored and fluoresces under ultra-violet light. There is another tiny spot of retouching that fluoresces to the centre left of the top extreme edge and also below the centre of the left extreme 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."

Executed in 2002, Green Yellow Figure unites cool geometric precision with an emotionally expressive element, a reconciliation that defines Sean Scully’s career.  Marrying the expressive momentum of abstract painting with the formal traditions of European painting, the present work is accentuated by the architectural order of Rothko, but possesses deep hues and powerful brushwork in the vein of Velázquez. The narrative aspect of Green Yellow Figure can be viewed as expressing human relationships, each grouping of paint signifying a response to a question, an agreement or discrepancy. Scully states that his “paintings talk of relationships. How bodies come together. How they touch. How they separate. How they live together, in harmony and disharmony” (the artist quoted in: Exhibition Catalogue, Duisburg, Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Constantinople Or The Sensual Concealed The Imagery of Sean Scully, 2009, p.8).
Scully’s adept use of tightly fitted inserts, literally a canvas within a canvas, provide the painting with the pictorial weight of a sculpture. In the manner of a relief, Scully builds up the work with contrasting surface textures, illuminating each one in the process, and heightening the overall visual dominance of the work. 
Traveling to Morocco in 1969 ignited Scully’s imagination with the sheer vibrancy and novelty of colours and materials. He was mesmerized by the richly-dyed wools and the opulent carpets, sights so uncommon in his home city of Dublin. Later on, during a trip to Mexico in the early 1980s, Scully became enthralled by the stacked stones of ancient Mayan walls in the Yucatan region and by the effect of the light reflecting off of their surfaces. The artist then began to produce quilt-like structures of horizontal and vertical lines, over-painted with free use of impasto to create a luxurious paint surface, exemplified in this work. Traces of the artist’s gestural brushstrokes proliferate across the canvas, striking the viewer with their animation and intensity. 
Of a subsequent trip to Spain, and of the philosophy underlying his art, the artist has said: “I love Spain for its spiritual sense and its colour. Velázquez’ colour, his whites, blacks, pinks and his melancholy. I am not drawn to tragedy: I believe that it is always possible to overcome it and that in the end a ray of light will shine through. I try to express light, and express hope” (the artist quoted in: Exhibition Catalogue, Barcelona, Galeria Carles Taché, Sean Scully: Immensely Human, 2003, p.12).