Sean Scully takes up residence in Picasso’s former studio at Château de Boisgeloup
The Irish artist’s gestural paintings and stacked sculptures preside over the 18th-century estate in Normandy
‘I’m the Donald Trump of the art world,’ Sean Scully jokingly declared in the BBC documentary released in April this year about his art and life as one of the world’s wealthiest living artists, in which he jets around the world on his private jet. Excessive wealth and a lavish lifestyle are only some of the things the Irish-born abstract painter shares with the late Pablo Picasso – who preferred to use a Hispano-Suiza limousine to gad about in.
Now, they’re also sharing a work space, as Scully takes over the late Spanish artist’s famous former Normandy studio at Château de Boisgeloup where he has installed a dozen new paintings for a month-long exhibition, titled ‘Celtique’ and presented by Almine Rech gallery. Founder Almine Rech Ruiz-Picasso has worked with the Ruiz-Picasso family since 2012 to bring artists to Boisgeloup and exhibit across the 20,000 acre site and grounds, which include a 13th-century chapel. The exhibition with Scully, the gallery explains, is the most ambitious they’ve attempted yet – and for fans of Scully’s signature abstract sculptures, installations and paintings, it’s also a show of surprises.
Boisgeloup was particularly important in Picasso’s development as an artist — in this idyllic rural setting, Picasso began to work in a more abstract style, eventually creating some of the most revered works of his later career there. But Boisgeloup was also a family home, where Picasso spent time with his son, Paulo, first wife Olga, his mother, and friends including novelist Gertrude Stein who visited often. When Picasso bought Boisgeloup he had told both his wife and his 17-year-old lover Marie-Therese Walter that it was for them. After the weekend, when his wife and son returned to Paris, he would secretly spend the week with Walter, and created a vast number of portraits inspired by her there.
The personal dramas and private moments that took place over the years at Boisgeloup piqued Scully’s interest and are explored in some of his new works, which move away from abstraction and towards figuration. Scully started to venture towards the latter only recently, and here he presents unexpectedly tender portraits of his 9-year-old son, Oisin, and two versions of the Madonna, completed this year, and of his wife, the artist Liliane Tomasko, installed in the chapel. They are distinct from Scully’s usual works in theme, but with unmistakable touches of his colour and line.
Boisgeloup gave the previously city-dwelling Picasso the space to go large – another quality he shares with Scully, who is know for his monumental creations. A towering ten-foot aluminium stacked sculpture on the château’s lawn is more typical of Scully’s work to date, but provides a contrast with the intimacy of the paintings, the setting and history of Boisgeloup ideal for the artist to show his softer, more vulnerable side.
INFORMATION
‘Celtique’, until 17 November. alminerech.com
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Charlotte Jansen is a journalist and the author of two books on photography, Girl on Girl (2017) and Photography Now (2021). She is commissioning editor at Elephant magazine and has written on contemporary art and culture for The Guardian, the Financial Times, ELLE, the British Journal of Photography, Frieze and Artsy. Jansen is also presenter of Dior Talks podcast series, The Female Gaze.
-
Knoll presents Willo Perron sofa at Salone del Mobile 2024, 'a piece that can stay with you forever'
Salone del Mobile 2024: the ‘Pillo’ sofa by Willo Perron for Knoll is the California-based designer’s first piece for the American brand, prioritising comfort and timeless usability
By Rosa Bertoli Published
-
Nuova wants to 'bring time travel to the world' with their debut at Milan Design Week
Californian design studio Nuova has been working behind closed doors for some of the biggest names in luxury and tech. The studio makes its public debut at Milan Design Week 2024, and take visitors on a journey back to 1971
By Laura May Todd Published
-
Lavender Bay house opens towards the water, overlooking Sydney harbour
Lavender Bay house by Tobias Partners is an expansive family home overlooking Sydney harbour
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Guglielmo Castelli considers fragility and violence with painting series in Venice
Guglielmo Castelli’s exhibition ‘Improving Songs for Anxious Children’ at Palazzetto Tito, Venice, explores childhood as the genesis of discovery
By Sofia Hallström Published
-
‘Accordion Fields’ at Lisson Gallery unites painters inspired by London
‘Accordian Fields’ at Lisson Gallery is a group show looking at painting linked to London
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
Damien Hirst takes over Château La Coste
Damien Hirst’s ‘The Light That Shines’ at Château La Coste includes new and existing work, and takes over the entire 500-acre estate in Provence
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Peter Blake’s sculptures spark joy at Waddington Custot in London
‘Peter Blake: Sculpture and Other Matters’, at London's Waddington Custot, spans six decades of the artist's career
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Oozing, squidgy, erupting forms come alive at Hayward Gallery
‘When Forms Come Alive: Sixty Years of Restless Sculpture’ at Hayward Gallery, London, is a group show full of twists and turns
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Tia-Thuy Nguyen encases Chateau La Coste oak tree in tonne of stainless steel strips
Tia-Thuy Nguyen’s ‘Flower of Life’ lives in the grounds of sculpture park and organic winery Château La Coste in France
By Harriet Quick Published
-
New glass sculpture creates a verdant wonderland at Apple’s Cupertino HQ
‘Mirage’ at Apple Park is the work of Zeller & Moye and artist Katie Paterson, a shimmering array of glass columns that snakes through the grounds of the company’s monumental HQ
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Man Ray’s sculptures go on show in New York
‘Man Ray: Other Objects’ opens at Luxembourg + Co, New York, revealing their author’s ‘artistic revolution’
By Hannah Silver Published