SEAN SCULLY, R.A. (B. 1945) - photo 1
SEAN SCULLY, R.A. (B. 1945) - photo 2
SEAN SCULLY, R.A. (B. 1945) - photo 3

SEAN SCULLY, R.A. (B. 1945)

Sold
£ 107 100
Auction dateClassic
20.10.2022 13:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 831303
Lot 130 | SEAN SCULLY, R.A. (B. 1945)
SEAN SCULLY, R.A. (B. 1945)

5.16.89

signed and dated 'Sean Scully 5.16.89' (lower right)

pastel and coloured chalk on paper

36 x 30 1/2 in. (91.4 x 77.5 cm.)

Executed in 1989.





Provenance

with Mayor Rowan Gallery, London.

with Timothy Taylor Gallery, Chicago, where purchased by the present owner in the late 1990s.



Exhibited

London, Grob Gallery, Sean Scully, Pastel Drawings, December 1989 - January 1990, no. 26.



Special notice


Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.



Post lot text

‘Pastel is like putting makeup on. There is a dust on the paper, which I rub in. I push it right into the paper with a piece of cloth or paper. Once it’s embedded into the surface, I fix it. And then I work it up, adding a layer, fixing it, adding another layer, fixing it again, and so on until the pastel starts to stand up a little from the paper. At a certain point, if you keep pushing, you start taking it off. So you have to give in’ (S. Scully, quoted in M. Poirier, Sean Scully, New York, 1990 p. 143).

In a wonderful play of balance and colour, 5.16.89 reflects the substantial influence that Abstract Expressionism had on Scully’s practice. Taking inspiration from the artist Mark Rothko’s minimalistic yet boldly poignant canvases, Scully removed the figurative subjects found in his early work to instead explore how the colour combinations can represent humanity and emotion in the place of a more literal subject. It was in his visits to North Africa and Mexico in the 1960s and 1980s, where Scully witnessed the changing light and shadow throughout the day across the ancient Mayan stacked stones which instigated his Wall of Light series, where architectural bricks of colour are grouped together in varying horizontal and vertical formations.

5.16.89 displays soft red-pink pastel stripes, layered against heavy panels of black. Together, the colours simultaneously harmonise and compete with one another, pushing and pulling the viewer constantly around the pattern. The directions, represented by horizontal and vertical lines and the tensions they create, are at the heart of Scully’s production. This new geometrical approach, which moves away from the idea of purity and appropriates errors, reflects the troublesome relationship between the individual and the collective and opens up a new field of reflection, previously unknown to abstract painting.
Artist:Sean Scully (1945)
Applied technique:Charcoal, Сhalk
Medium:Stone, Wood
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
20.10.2022 – 20.10.2022
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

More from Creator

Sean Scully (b. 1945)
Sean Scully (b. 1945)
€6 500
SEAN SCULLY (B. 1945)
SEAN SCULLY (B. 1945)
$20 000
SEAN SCULLY (B. 1945)
SEAN SCULLY (B. 1945)
$800 000
SEAN SCULLY (B. 1945)
SEAN SCULLY (B. 1945)
£60 000
SEAN SCULLY (B. 1945)
SEAN SCULLY (B. 1945)
$3 000
Scully, Sean
Scully, Sean
€600
Scully, Sean
Scully, Sean
€12 000
SEAN SCULLY (B. 1945)
SEAN SCULLY (B. 1945)
$800 000

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.