With success always comes criticism. I've been criticized every year of my life.
Donald Sultan
Donald Sultan b. 1951
Born in 1951, Donald Sultan is an American contemporary painter from Asheville, North Carolina. He received his BFA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and moved to New York City after completing his MFA with the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. In the late 1970s, he rose to prominence as part of the New Image movement in New York with his first solo exhibition in 1977.
Sultan describes his body of work as abstract including large-scale compositions of still life imagery deconstructed into basic forms. His subject matter depicts everyday objects such as fruits, flowers, and playing cards set in rich colors against striking black backgrounds. In an innovative technique, he utilizes industrial materials such as tar and oil on tile over Masonite construction in reference to his North Carolina upbringing. Sultan has also created successful work as a draftsman, printmaker, and sculptor.
His work is included in internationally renowned collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Tate Gallery in London, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Sultan lives and creates in New York.