Donald Sultan

wurde 1951 in Asheville, North Carolina geboren.

An der Universität von North Carolina begann er 1973 sein Studium, welches er 1975 mit dem MFA an der Kunsthochschule von Chicago beendete.

Von 1978 bis 1979 arbeitete er beim Creative Artists Public Service Grant, New York und hatte von 1980 bis 1981 ein staatliches Kunststipendium.

Schichtungen von Gegensätzen begegnen uns seit Sultans frühen Werken, von der Oberfläche aus Gesso zum Grund schwarzer Teerhaut, zur gefliesten Oberfläche, zur schweren Faserplatte, zum Hohlraum, zum gewichtigen Keilrahmen.

Seit den 70er Jahren entstehen seine Motive aus industriellen Themen, der feuer -speiende Schornstein sieht aus wie eine Vase mit Blumen - er nennt es Industrie- blumen, Schornsteine inspirieren ihn auch zu Rauchbildern, die an den Stil der abstrakten Expressionisten erinnern, an Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline oder Philip Guston. Die gegensätzlichen Eigenschaften der Avantgardekunst der 60er und 70er Jahre bindet er dadurch in seine Kompositionen ein, daß er ein malerisches Motiv über ein Schachbrettmuster legt. Das heißt, er kombiniert den romantischen, inprovisierten, malerischen abstrakten Expressionismus mit dem klassischen, überlegten, geometrischen Design des Minimalismus.

Die Tulpenknospen der frühen Jahre werden zum Vorbild einer Serie von Zitronen, zu denen ihn 1983 ein kleines Manet Stilleben inspiriert. Es folgen Zitronenbilder mit Eiern, Mohnblumen, deren runder Mittelpunkt wiederum Ausgangspunkt für eckige Würfelbilder wird, Kitschobjekte und damit eine verschmitzte Anspielung auf die Pop Art.

Sultan ist zwar seit den 60er Jahren an Friedhofsgesänge gewöhnt, die die Malerei für tot erklären, was ihn nur noch darin bestärkt hat, mit seiner Arbeit die Bedeutung und Tradition der Malerei zu bestätigen. Im Atelier hat er nur Augen für sein Werk und wohin es ihn trägt: "Ich will wissen, wohin sich Bilder bewegen. Ich bin fasziniert von ihrer Entwicklung."

Donald Sultan

Born in 1951 in Asheville, North Carolina, Donald Sultan received his BFA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and his MFA from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. He moved to New York in 1975.

The work of Donald Sultan is voluminous and varied. Since his first one-man show in 1977, he has enjoyed a distinguished career as painter, printmaker, and sculptor. His extensive body of work has placed him at the forefront of contemporary art, where he has become best known for his ability to successfully merge the best of yesterday's artistic tradition with a fresh, modern approach that is unique.

Although his paintings fit into the criteria of a still life, Sultan describes these works as first and foremost abstract. The largeness of Sultan's compositions, huge pieces of fruit, flowers, dominoes and other objects, set against the stark, unsettling tar-black, eight-foot square background, dominate the viewer. He is best known for his lemons and fruit, and states that his subjects develop from previous work. The oval of his lemons has led to a series of oval-blossomed tulips. Dots from dice have become oranges. What does not change with Sultan's work is the powerful statement his forms make. Sultan's work incorporates basic geometric and organic forms with a formal purity that is both subtle and monumental. His images are weighty, with equal emphasis on both negative and positive areas. Sultan describes his work as "heavy structure, holding fragile meaning" with the ability to "turn you off and turn you on at the same time." Sultan's still lifes have been described as studies in contrast. His powerfully sensual, fleshy object representations are rendered through a labor-intensive and unique method.

Sultan has been given numerous exhibitions dedicated to his work, as well as having been included in a number of group shows. His work is included in the permanent collection of many prestigious institutions including The Museum of Modern Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Einzelausstellungen (Auswahl)

1977 Artists Space, New York

1981 Daniel Weinberg Gallery, San Francisco Donald Sultan: Recent Painting

1982 Blum Helman Gallery, New York

1983 Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo (Katalog)

1985 Gian Enzo Sperone, Rome (Katalog)

1986 Galerie Montenay-Delsol, Paris

1987 Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago traveld to L.A.

1988 Museum of Modern Art, New York - Donald Sultan's Black Lemons

1989 Runkle-Hue-Williams, London

1990 Knoedler & Company, New York Donald Sultan: Painting (Katalog)

1992 The American Federation of the Arts, New York :Donald Sultan: A Print Retrospective;

Kurator: Barry Walker; traveled to Miami, Ohio, Houston, Nebraska, Orlando (Katalog)

Galerie Trauma, Barcelona (Katalog)

1993 Knoedler & Company, New York

1995 Knoedler & Company, New York

Galerie Lawrence Rubin, Zürich (Katalog)

1997 Galerie Templon, Paris

Knoedler & Company, New York

1998 Baldwin Gallery, Aspen-Colo.

1999 The Jewish Museum, New York: Bar Mitzvah

Knoedler & Company, New York

Meredith Long & Co., Houston

2000 Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, Tennessee

Ausstattung des Art'otel in Budapest, Ungarn

2001 Raab Galerie, Berlin: Donald Sultan: Neue Arbeiten

Gruppenausstellungen (Auswahl)

1972 The Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, N.C.

1977 New Museum of Contemporary Art, N.Y. (Katalog)

1978 Mary Boone Gallery, New York: Jean Feinberg, Lynn Hzkowitz, Donald Sultan

Willard Gallery, New York: Group Show

1979 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Biennial Exhibition (catalogue)

1980 Indianapolis Museum of Art: Painting and Sculpture Today (catalogue)

1981 Contemporary Art Museum, Houston:

The Americans: The Landscape (catalogue)

The Museum of Modern Art, New York: Black and White

1982 20th Anniversary Exhibition of the Vogel Collection.

Traveled to Gallery of Art, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Rapids,

Brainerd Art Gallery, Potsdam, Germany (catalogue)

1983 Blum Helman Gallery, New York: Steve Keister: Sculpture/ Donald Sultan: Charcoals

The Museum of Modern Art, New York »Prints from Blocks - Gauguin to Now«

traveled to Palacio de Velazquez, Madrid: Tendencias en Nueva York;

Fundacion Joan Miro, Barcelona; Musée du Lucembourg, Paris (catalogue)

1984 Artists Space, New York: A Decade of New Art

Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Japan: Painting Now (catalogue)

The Museum of Modern Art, New York: An International Survey of Recent Painting

and Sculpture

Walker Art Center, Minneapoli: Images and Impressions: Painters Who Print.

Traveled to Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (catalogue)

1985 Laforet Museum, Harajuku, Tokyo: Correspondences: New York Art Now.

Traveled to Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Utsunomiya, Japan

1986 The Brooklyn Museum: Monumental Drawings: Works by 22 Contemporary Americans

The Brooklyn Museum: Public and Private:

American Prints Today. Traveled to Flint Institute of Art, Mich.; Rhode Island School of

Design, Providence; Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Walker Art Center,

Minneapolis (catalogue)

1987 The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto: Selections from the Roger and Myra Davidson Collection

1988 The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York: Viewpoints: Paintings and Sculpture from the

Guggenheim Museum Collection and Major Loans

1989 Galerie Montenay, Paris: Nature morte

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth: 10 + 10:

Contemporary American and Soviet Painters. Traveled to San Francisco Museum o Modern Art;

Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; Milwaukee Art Museum;

Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Artists Union Hall of the Tretyakov Gallery

Krymskaia Embankment, Moscow; Central Exhibition Hall, Leningrad, Russian (catalogue)

Whitney Museum of American Art at the Equitable Center, New York: Nocturnal Visions

in Contemporary Art

1990 Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto: Selections from the Roger and Myra Davidson Collection

Stanford University Museum of Modern Art, Stanford CA: Sean Scully/Donald Sultan

Abstraction/Representation - Paintings, Drawings and Prints from the Anderson Collection

1991 John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco: Large Scale Works on Paper (catalogue)

Knoedler & Company, New York: Works on Paper

1992 Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris: De Bonnard à Baselitz: Dix ans d'enrichissement du

Cabinet des Estampes 1978-1988 (catalogue)

The Museum of Fine Arts. Houston: Singular and Plural, Recent Accession Drawings &

Prints 1945-1991

1993 Nationalgalerie Berlin »Wege der Moderne«, Die Sammlung Beyerler (Ways of the Modern: From

the Beyerler Collection)

1994 Hill Gallery, Birmingham, Mich.: Popular Culture

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City,Mo.: Inaugural Exhibition

1995 The Museum of Modern Art, New York - Semblances -

National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.:

»Recent Acquisitions of Paper«

Paine Webber Incorporated, New York (organizing institution): The Paine Webber Art

Collection. Traveled to Detroit Institute of Arts; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston;

Minneapolis Institute of Arts; San Diego Museum of Art; Center for the Fine Arts,

Miami (catalogue)

1996 Knoedler & Company, New York: Different Sides

The Museum of Modern Art, New York: Thinking Print - Books to Billboards 1980-1995

1997 Baumgartner Galleries, Washington, D.C.: New York on Paper

Boston University Art Gallery: Painting Machines, Industrial Image and Process in

Contemporary Art

Robert Brown Gallery, Washington, D.C.: Floor to Ceiling: A Twentieth Century Print Salon

Fotouhi Cramer Gallery, New York: Edge of Chaos, curated by John Torreano

Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York: Summer

Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego: Exhibition of works from the permanent collection

1998 Arts on Douglas, New Smyrna Beach, Fla.: Mirror Images

The Jewish Museum, New York: Contemporary Artists Welcome the New Year - The Jewish

Museum List Graphic Commission

Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York: Art Dealers Association of America, Art Show

Benefit for the Henry Street Settlement

Elizabeth Mayer Fine Art, New York: 80's Artists Then and Now

1999 Raab Galerie, Berlin »Summertime«

Arbeiten in öffentlichen Sammlungen (Auswahl)

The Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina

The Art Institute of Chicago

Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont

Australian National Gallery, Canberra

Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France

Dallas Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Museum of Fine Art, Boston

The Museum of Fine Art, Houston

The Museum of Modern Art, New York

San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum New York

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York