Sean Scully Ireland, b. 1945

Sean Scully, a world-renowned abstract painter, was born in Dublin in 1945. He moved to London in 1949, where he studied fine art at the Croydon College of Art and Newcastle University. He moved to the U.S. in 1975 and is currently working in New York, Barcelona, and Munich. He was selected twice as a Turner Prize candidate in 1989 and 1993.

Sean Scully's painting features a rich yet subtle sense of color and space, which are obtained by painting in layers before it dries. Colors play a particularly important role in his painting. Colors can also produce light that seems to permeate into the painting, remind us of many things outside the painting, make the painting more explicit, smooth communication possible, and bring an immediate sense of familiarity while relieving the sense of weight within.

Sean Scully's works are permanently housed in some of the world's leading public art museums and galleries, including the Tate, MoMA, Met, and Guggenheim Museum. In addition, he has held exhibitions at major art museums and public institutions around the world, including the Royal Academy in England (2010), the Smithsonian Museum of Art in Washington (2007), the Barcelona Joan Miro Foundation (2007), and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (2000, 2006).