Sean Scully's paintings of brushy stripes and blocks of sumptuous color
are critically acclaimed and widely admired. In this fascinating book,
the record of countless hours of conversations between Scully and his
friend art critic Kelly Grovier, the painter reflects on his
extraordinary journey--from homelessness on the streets of Dublin in the
mid-1940s to his current position as one of the most important abstract
artists working today.
In these revealing conversations, Scully recalls with poignancy and wit
his rough-and-tumble childhood in London, his tenacity in the face of
rejection from nearly every art school in England, and his rise to
prominence in New York in the 1980s.
Illustrated throughout with images that capture both the artist and his
work, this volume explores Scully's relationship with past masters, from
Rembrandt to Mark Rothko, and delves deep into his eventual rejection in
the late 1970s of minimalism--the dominant force in abstract art at the
time. Punctuated throughout by passionately recounted stories of
struggle and loss, perseverance and triumph, the portrait that emerges
from these pages is at once intimate and surprising. On the Line
reflects the scope of Scully's broad interests and opinions, with
segments devoted not only to his attitudes toward the art world and his
most significant works, but also culture, politics, and philosophy.
Scully communicates with a raw pugnacity that is every bit as
hard-hitting as his big brushstrokes.
