In praise of artist Donald Sultan
Donald Sultan has been one of my favorite artists ever since I came face to face with the immense work Aqua Poppies, Dec 10, 2002 at the Mint Museum here in Charlotte a few years ago. (See a tiny version of the painting here.) It’s an 8×12′ mixed media piece worthy of a long look every time I visit the Mint.
This piece, Five Blue Flowers with Flocked Center, March 10, 2002, is not the one at the Mint but it similar in style and color:
© Donald Sultan / Courtesy of Mary Ryan Gallery
Some of his more recent work is really knockin’ me out, it’s so good. This is Black and Orange, Jan 28, 2008:
© Donald Sultan / Courtesy of Mary Ryan Gallery
Black Trumpet, April 2008 (left) and Sand Trumpet, April 16, 2008 (right):
And then here’s one from 1994 titled Fruits and Flowers III (Yellow Peppers):
© Donald Sultan / Courtesy of Mary Ryan Gallery
It’s the shapes and simplicity that I love most about Sultan’s work.
Check out more at Mary Ryan Gallery (click on the Donald Sultan link; Flash site with no direct link), Meyerovich Gallery, and artnet.com (the most comprehensive collection of his work online).
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I am a huge fan of Donald Sultan’s as well, makng my way through the Mint looking at all the different works, his Aqua Poppies piece stopped me in my tracks. I don’t know if it was the vibrant colors, against the black and white background, the almost liquid shapes, or the allusion the black centers of the flowers make to black tar opium, (a dangerous and addictive drug that these beautiful flowers are necessary to produce.) Whatever the message, there’s definitely something that reaches the soul through Mr. Sultan’s works.