Sean Scully (b. 1945) has transformed American abstraction by shifting away from minimalist concepts toward a more emotive and spiritual approach. Recognized globally as a leading abstract artist of his generation, Scully is renowned for his large-scale works that balance rhythmic color bands to capture tonality and light with drama and delicacy. His art reflects a global yet deeply personal perspective, drawing from fundamental elements of the visual world as well as the full range of human emotions. Scully harnesses the power of color, depth, and volume to express the surrounding world and to explore the spiritual realm. Beyond painting, his artistic practices include printmaking, sculpture, watercolor, and pastel. Born in Dublin and raised in South London, Scully was passionate about becoming an artist from an early age. He attended evening classes at the Central School of Art in London from and studied full-time at Croydon College of Art. He then earned his Bachelor of Arts from Newcastle University and received the Frank Knox Fellowship to Harvard University, marking his first visit to the United States before moving permanently to New York.

Scully’s works are housed in numerous prestigious institutions, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.; The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Museum of Modern Art in New York; The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York; the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; the Art Gallery of Ontario in Canada; Tate Modern in London; the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin; the De Pont Museum of Contemporary Art in Tilburg; the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf; the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid; the Albertina in Vienna; and the Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou, China, among many others.