Donald Sultan Playing Cards

Donald Sultan is a distinguished painter, sculptor, and printmaker who rose to prominence in the late 1970s as part of the “New Image” movement in New York City.

Sultan has a unique artistic method and innovative approach to traditional subject matter. Known as Abstract Representation, Sultan’s paintings, prints and other art are characterized by the use of geometric black forms set against organic areas of bright color, thus bringing an abstract sensibility to his iconographic images of still life. Throughout his career he has revisited and reinvented still life, using images of lemons, poppies, playing cards, fruits, flowers, and other objects. Sultan’s lemons, a recurrent theme in his artworks, have in fact become an iconic image all over the world.

“All of the images of those dark pictures are really about the architecture in the paintings; they seem so massive and strong and permanent, but nothing is permanent,” Sultan has said. “The image in the front is very fragile, but it conveys the loaded meaning of everything that is contained in the painting.”

Sultan is considered to be at the forefront of contemporary art. Although his paintings are often classified as landscapes and still lifes, Sultan states that they are first and foremost abstracts. Besides paintings, drawings, and sculptures, he has created many editions. Sultan’s prints are unique: he uses specific materials like “flocking” to create expressive and powerful prints that are reminiscent of his forceful paintings. Since his first solo exhibition in 1977, Sultan’s artistic career has progressed rapidly; his works are part of the most prominent public and private collections to be found across the globe.

Find original Donald Sultan art on 1stDibs.

(Biography provided by Weng Contemporary — ArtXX AG)

Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.