Square Light I
1988
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color soapground aquatint, aquatint, spitbite aquatint, and crayon resist on Somerset Textured paper
Dimensions
image: 53 x 52.7 cm (20 7/8 x 20 3/4 in.) sheet: 86 x 77.5 cm (33 7/8 x 30 1/2 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Kathan Brown
Accession Number
1998.40.410
Art Historical Context
**Square Light I** (1988) by Sean invites viewers into the artist's signature world of geometric abstraction, where bold blocks of color and subtle textures evoke the play of light and shadow. This striking print, housed in the National Gallery of, measures 53 x 52.7 cm in its image area and was created using a masterful combination of color soapground aquatint aquatint, spitbite aquatint, and resist on Somerset Textured paper. Scully, an Irish-born artist renowned for his striped and blocky compositions, draws from modernist traditions while infusing emotional depth—here, the square format ca...
About the Artist
Sean Scully
Sean Scully (born 30 June 1945, Dublin) is one of the foremost abstract painters of his generation, celebrated for large-scale canvases of interlocking vertical and horizontal bands that transform geometric structure into something emotionally and spiritually resonant. Raised in London, he attended evening classes at the Central School of Art between 1962 and 1965 before enrolling full-time at Cro...