The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 23, 2024
Stay
1979
(American, 1945-)
Unframed: 213.4 x 213.4 cm (84 x 84 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 2007.196
© Artists Rights Society, (ARS), New York/ Sean Scully
Location: not on view
Description
Executed between 1976 and 1981 after his immigration to New York, Sean Scully’s horizontal striped paintings sought to create a more rigorous abstract language, challenging his previous style which was defined by an illusionistic grid of crossing lines and bands of intense color. He said, "I stripped down the paintings to their utter minimum and the paintings became more connected to surface, and the history of surface making..." In spite of the obvious influence of more formal, minimalist approaches as in the work of Agnes Martin, Robert Ryman, and Brice Marden for example, Stay nevertheless reveals a considerable charge of emotion and psychology. Even on the somber surface of the black paintings the colors shift subtly in intensity and depth, leaving room for sensibility and intuitive reading.- Scully, Sean, Kelly Grovier, and Leina González. Sean Scully: Bricklayer of the Soul : Reflections in Celebration. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2015. Reproduced: p. 43; mentioned: p. 203.
- {{cite web|title=Stay|url=false|author=Sean Scully|year=1979|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2007.196