Curators at Work - College of William and Mary

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1 9 8 8 DonAlD K. sultAn (American, b. 1951) Morning Glories, 1988 silkscreen, 6/100 sheet: 23 in. x 22 in. image: 12 in. x 12 in. Purchase, Joseph and Margaret Muscarelle Art endowment Fund 1989.006 32 | Curators at Work
Sultan’s Morning Glories is a silkscreen print of two blue morning glory flowers on a black background. The larger flower has a red center, and both flowers have undertones of red beneath their blue petals. Both flowers also have green leaves. Along the left vertical margin of the composition it is titled and signed by the artist in graphite “Morning Glories July 1988 DS.” The edition number is found in the lower right corner, it is six of one hundred. Sultan references a vast history of still life and vanitas themes in his work. 1 His famous lemons series is a clear reference to Manet’s Lemon 1880-1881. Morning Glories are also a prominent theme of Sultan’s. He did a later series in 1990 of etched black and white morning glories Morning Glories I, II and III . In a lecture at the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art where a retrospective of his work was being exhibited Sultan said of his morning glories, “I wanted to own the image of the morning glory. I want people to think of me when they see the image of the morning glory.” 2 Sultan has taken one of the most traditional themes in art history, still life compositions, and brought it into the 21st century. He allows lemons, or in this case morning glories, to fill all of the composition space, rendering the still life subject monumental in scale. The subject is also abstracted and almost iconic because of the scale of the composition. There are specific references in this piece as well. The smooth edges made by the silkscreen technique, as well as the contrast between the cool blue and green, and the dramatic red and black recall the paintings of the German expressionist Emil Nolde. And the mystery endowed by the red layer beneath the blue petals is very reminiscent of the still life flower compositions of the symbolist Odilon Redon. 3 1 Ian Dunlop, Donald Sultan (New York: Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1987), 16. http://artbrokerage.com/artist/Donald-Sultan/Morning-Glories-I--II- -III-579 April 13,2011. Nora Ives ‘12 2 Donald Sultan, Genesis of Morning Glories (Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art: Donald Sultan Retrospective, March 27th 2009). 3 Antony Mason and edited by John T. Spike History of Western Art (New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2007). 16 Memoranda for 16 Artists | 33
Page 1 and 2: Curators at Work 16 Memoranda for t
Page 3: 16 Memoranda for 16 artists The wor
Page 6 and 7: 1 8 0 5 Attributed to Gilles-louis
Page 8 and 9: 1 8 9 3 henri-eDMonD DelACroix, cal
Page 10 and 11: 1 9 0 9 Arthur B. DAvies (American,
Page 12 and 13: 1 9 2 3 Attilio PiCCirilli (America
Page 14 and 15: 1 9 2 9 BlAnChe lAzzell (American,
Page 16 and 17: 1 9 3 7 thoMAs hArt Benton (America
Page 18 and 19: 1 9 4 5 MAx WeBer (American, 1881-1
Page 20 and 21: 1 9 5 3 MArino MArini (italian, 190
Page 22 and 23: 1 9 6 4 MAn rAY (American, 1890-197
Page 24 and 25: 1 9 6 9 PABlo PiCAsso (spanish, 188
Page 26 and 27: 1 9 7 2 ClAes olDenBurG (American,
Page 28 and 29: 1 9 7 4 JiM Dine (American, b. 1935
Page 30 and 31: 1 9 7 8 JAsPer Johns (American, b.
Page 34 and 35: 1 9 8 8 WAYne thieBAuD (American, b
Page 36 and 37: 2 0 0 3 JAune QuiCK-to-see sMith (n
Page 38 and 39: 2 0 0 3 JAune QuiCK-to-see sMith (n

Curators at Work - College of William and Mary

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