{"data":{"id":72177,"api_model":"artworks","api_link":"https:\/\/api.artic.edu\/api\/v1\/artworks\/72177","is_boosted":false,"title":"Heart of Darkness","alt_titles":null,"thumbnail":{"lqip":"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhCAAFAPUAACcRDjQSCTkUCDsVCUEYC044FVk9FF09FF4+FmM+GG5YFm9cH3BbGXVeG3RfH3VgGnZhHnZhH39oHXJeIHRgIHVhIXtnJk9LQ1dNQ1tSR1xRRmFVTWZnYWhoYmlpYm9rY2ttZW9tZW1uZnBuZ3BvaW9wbINtIIFrJAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAAAAAAALAAAAAAIAAUAAAYlQA\/nAig8FIyRSDM4SBqRECgTMJgglU8HI0CcHBRSaUNIWBaTIAA7","width":3000,"height":2001,"alt_text":"A work made of oil on canvas, three joined panels."},"main_reference_number":"1988.259a-c","has_not_been_viewed_much":false,"boost_rank":null,"date_start":1982,"date_end":1982,"date_display":"1982","date_qualifier_title":"","date_qualifier_id":null,"artist_display":"Sean Scully\nAmerican, born Ireland, 1945","place_of_origin":"United States","description":"<p>Sean Scully\u2019s characteristic stripe paintings have a rugged, inelegant beauty and an intensely physical, almost sculptural, presence. He works on a large scale with colors that cannot be easily characterized, allowing strong underpainting to merge with the surfaces of his works. The wavering edges of his lushly painted bands structure imperfect compositions. This canvas\u2019s title, <em>Heart of Darkness<\/em>, refers to the novella first published in 1899 by Polish-born British author Joseph Conrad (1857\u20131924). Reflecting on the story, which depicts colonial exploitation in the Belgian Congo, Scully said, \u201cConrad writes that the heart of the twentieth century is black.\u201d<\/p>\n","short_description":null,"dimensions":"243.9 \u00d7 365.8 cm (96 \u00d7 144 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":null,"width":365,"height":243,"diameter":null,"clarification":null}],"medium_display":"Oil on canvas, three joined panels","inscriptions":null,"credit_line":"Gift of Society for Contemporary Art","catalogue_display":null,"publication_history":"William Zimmer, \u201cHeart of Darkness: New Stripe Paintings by and an Interview with Sean Scully,\u201d Arts Magazine 57, 4 (Dec. 1982): 82, 83 (ill.).\n\nSteven Henry Madoff, \u201cSean: Paintings and Works on Paper, 1982\u201388 Scully at William Beadleston,\u201d Art in America 73, 3 (Mar. 1983): 157.\n\nThomas Hudspeth, Contemporary Abstract Painting, exh. cat. (Muhelnberg College Center for the Arts, 1983), n.p. \n\nJohn Caldwell, David Carrier, and Amy Lighthill, Sean Scully, exh. cat. (Pittsbrugh: Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, 1985), 5, 18\u201320, 33.\n\nAlan G. Artner, \u201cStripe up the band: Scully show deserves a round of applause,\u201d Chicago Tribune, Jan. 17, 1988, K12 (ill.).\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago: Annual Report, 1987\u201388 (Art Institute of Chicago, 1988), 35, 111 (ill.).\n\nNeal Benezra, Sean Scully, exh. brochure (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1988), n.p. (color ill.)\n\nTheodora Green, \u201cSean Scully\u201d New Art Examiner 15, 7 (Apr. 1988): 53.\n\nConstance Lewallen, \u201cSean Scully,\u201d View V, 4 (Fall 1988): 5.\n\nIan Bennett, \u201cSean Scully,\u201d Flash Art, 147 (Summer 1989): 157 (ill.).\n\nPaul Bonaventura, \u201cSean Scully: Hay que ligar la abstacci\u00f3n a la vida,\u201d Revista Trimestral del Centro de Arte Reina Sofia 2 (Oct. 1989): 28 (color ill.).\n\nDavid Carrier, \u201cSpatial Relations,\u201d Art International 147 (Autumn, 1989): 81.\n\nLynne Cooke, \u201cSean Scully,\u201d Galeries Magazine, 32 (Aug.\u2013Sept. 1989): 62.\n\nRichard Dorment, \u201cScully Earns His Stripes,\u201d Daily Telegraph, May 17, 1989.\n\nWilliam Feaver, \u201cStarring in Stripes,\u201d Observer, May 7, 1989, 42.\n\nCarter Ratcliff, Sean Scully, exh. cat. (London: Whitechapel, 1989), 14, 35 (color ill.).\n\nCarter Ratcliff, Sean Scully Gem\u00e4lde und Arbeiten auf Papier 1982-1988, exh. cat. (Munich: St\u00e4dtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, 1989), 14, 15, 39 (color ill.).\n\nCarter Ratcliff, Sean Scully: Pinturas y Obra sobre Papel, 1982-88, exh. cat. (Madrid: Palacio de Vel\u00e1zquez, 1989), 16, 39 (color ill.).\n\nMaurice Poirier, Sean Scully (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1990), 7, 97, 99, 106, cat. 60 (color ill.).\n\nArmin Zweite, Sean Scully: Paintings and Works on Paper, exh. cat. (Munich: Bernd Kl\u00fcser, 1993), 18, 19.\n\nHank Burchard, \u201cSean Scully\u2019s Severe Stripes,\u201d Washington Post, June 30, 1995, N58.\n\nHans-Michael Herzog, ed., Sean Scully: The Catherine Paintings, exh. cat. (Bielefeld: Kunsthalle Bielefeld; Ostifildern: Cantz Verlag, 1995), 61 (color ill.).\n\nNed Rifkin, Sean Scully: Twenty Years: 1976\u20131995, exh. cat. (Atlanta: High Museum of Art, 1995), 14, 27, 34, 63\u201364, 68, 72, 96, 97, cat. 16 (color ill.), 145. \n\nDanilo Eccher, Sean Scully, exh. cat. (Bologna: Galleria d\u2019Arte Moderna, 1996), 65.\n\nNed Rifkin, Sean Scully: Zwanzig Jahre, 1976\u20131995, exh. cat. (Frankfurt: Schirn Kunsthalle, 1996), 10, 21\u201322, 29, 58\u201359, 63, 68.\n\nNed Rifkin, Sean Scully: Vinat anys, 1976\u20131995, exh. cat. (Barcelona: Fundaci\u00f3 la Caixa, 1996), 22, 95, 97, fig. 28 (ill.), 137, cat. 16 (color ill.), 185.\n\nMark Glazebrook and Irving Sandler, Sean Scully: Paintings, ex. cat. (Manchester: Manchester City Art Galleries, 1997), 14 (color ill.).\n\nMartin Tschechne, \u201cStrenge Form, grosse Gef\u00fchle,\u201d Art: Das Kunstmagazin, no. 7 (July 1998), 23 (color ill.).\n\nSean Scully: Prints: Catalogue Raisson\u00e9 1968\u20131999 (Wien: Graphische Sammlung Albertina; Gravelines, France: Mus\u00e9e du Dessin et de l'Estampe Originale; Wuppertal, Germany: Von der Heydt-Museum, 1999), 20.\n\nKarin Henning and Hans-Michael Herzog, \u201cSean Scully,\u201d K\u00fcnstler: Kritsches Lexikon der Gegenwartskunst, 54, no. 15 (2001), 5, no. 4 (color ill.).\n\nArmin Zweite, \u201cAbstraction and Authentic Experience: Double Strategies in the Oeuvre of Sean Scully,\u201d in Sean Scully: Paintings, Pastels, Watercolors, Photographs, 1990\u20132000, (D\u00fcsseldorf: Richter Verlag, 2001), 36 (color ill.).\n\nTerry Barret, Interpreting Art: Reflecting Wondering, and Responding (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003), 102, no. 4-4 (color ill.).\n\nDavid Carrier, Sean Scully (London; New York: Thames & Hudson, 2004), 112, 143\u201344, 145 (color ill.) 152.\n\nArthur C. Danto, Mia Fineman, and Edward Lucie-Smith, The Color of Time: The Photographs of Sean Scully (G\u00f6ttingen: Steidl, 2004), 9 (color ill.).\n\nWilliam Feaver, Sean Scully: Paintings and Works on Paper, exh. cat. (Kendal: Abbot Hall Art Gallery, 2005), 10.\n\nFlorence Ingleby, ed., Sean Scully, Resistance and Persistence: Selected Writings, (London; New York: Merrell, 2006), 21, 48 (color ill.).\n\nBrian Kennedy, Sean Scully: The Art of the Stripe, exh. cat. (Hanover, NH: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2008), 55, 77.\n\nRichard Ingleby, Sean Scully: Iona, exh. cat. (Edingurgh: Ingleby Gallery, 2010), 52, 53 (color ill.).\n\nTanja Pirsig-Marshall, Arthur C. Danto, and Armin Zweite, Sean Scully: Works from the 1980s, exh. cat. (Vienna: Czernin Verlag, 2010), 33, pl. 4 (color ill.).\n\nGregory J. Perry, Simon Martin, and Sean Scully, Sean Scully: Triptychs, exh. cat. (Chinchester, England: Pallant House Gallery, 2013), 16 (color ill.).\n\nKelly Grovier and Leina Gonz\u00e1lez, Sean Scully: Bricklayer of the Soul: Reflections in Celebration (Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 205), 52 (color ill.).\n\nKelly Grovier, ed., Inner: The Collected Writings and selected Interviews of Sean Scully (Berlin: Hatje Cantz, 2016), 77 (color ill.).\n\nDeborah Solomon, Sean Scully: The Eighties, exh. cat. (New York: Mnuchin Gallery, 2016, 13, fig. 3 (color ill.).\n\nMaria Price, Sean Scully: Catalogue Raisonn\u00e9 of the Paintings, Volume II, 1980\u20131989 (Fort Worth, Texas: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; Berlin: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2018), 79, 80\u201381 (color ill.).\n\nTimothy Rubb and Amanda Sroka, Sean Scully: The Shape of Ideas, exh. cat. (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art ; New Haven: in association with Yale University Press, 2020),34, 44-45, 46, 47, 51, 52, 54, 59,122-123 (color ill.), 224.\n\nM\u00f3nica Ram\u00edrez-Montagut, Kaitlin Halloran, and Faye Fleming, eds., Sean Scully: The Albee Barn, Montauk, exh. cat. (Berlin: Hatje Cantz; Water Mill: Parrish Art Museum, 2025), 17, 32, 90-91, pl. 29 (color ill.), 165, 187.","exhibition_history":"New York, William Beadleston Gallery, Sean Scully, Dec. 1, 1982\u2013Jan. 8, 1983, no cat.\n\nAllentown, Muhlenberg College Center for the Arts, Contemporary Abstract Painting, Sept. 12\u2013Oct. 23, 1988, no cat. no.\n\nPittsburgh, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Sean Scully, May 4\u2013June 30, 1985, cat. 1; Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, July 17\u2013Oct. 13, 1985.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Sean Scully, Dec. 15, 1987\u2013Feb. 7, 1988, no cat. no.\n\nLondon, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Sean Scully: Paintings and Works on Paper, 1982\u201388, May 5\u2013June 25, 1989, no cat. no.; Munich, St\u00e4dtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, July 12\u2013Aug. 27; Madrid, Palacio de Vel\u00e1zquez del Retiro, Sept. 14\u2013Nov. 12, 1989.\n\nWashington D.C., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Sean Scully: Twenty Years, 1976\u20131995, June 14\u2013Sept. 10, 1995, cat. 16; Atlanta, High Museum of Art, Oct. 10, 1995\u2013Jan. 7, 1996; Barcelona, Fundaci\u00f3 \u201cla Caixa,\u201d Centre Cultural, Feb. 14\u2013Apr. 7, 1996; Dublin, Irish Museum of Modern Art, May 23\u2013Aug. 24, 1996; Frankfurt, Schirn Kunsthalle, Sept. 21\u2013Dec. 1, 1996 (Washington D.C. and Atlanta only).\n\nModern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Sean Scully: The Shape of Ideas, June 20\u2013Oct. 10, 2021, no cat. no.; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Apr. 11\u2013July 31, 2022.\n\nWater Mill, NY, Parrish Art Museum, Sean Scully: The Albee Barn, Montauk, May 11-Sept. 21, 2025, no cat. no., pl. 29.","provenance_text":"The artist; sold through David McKee Gallery, New York, to Society for Contemporary American Art, Chciago, 1988; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1988.","edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":246,"fiscal_year":null,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":false,"is_zoomable":false,"max_zoom_window_size":843,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":false,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":74.7395,"color":{"h":43,"l":43,"s":96,"percentage":0.3227331636293022,"population":1529},"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"latlon":null,"is_on_view":false,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":null,"gallery_id":null,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Painting","artwork_type_id":1,"department_title":"Contemporary Art","department_id":"PC-8","artist_id":23408,"artist_title":"Sean Scully","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[23408],"artist_titles":["Sean Scully"],"category_ids":["PC-8"],"category_titles":["Contemporary Art"],"term_titles":["painting","lines","modern and contemporary art","geometric","grids"],"style_id":null,"style_title":null,"alt_style_ids":[],"style_ids":[],"style_titles":[],"classification_id":"TM-9","classification_title":"painting","alt_classification_ids":["TM-155"],"classification_ids":["TM-9","TM-155"],"classification_titles":["painting","modern and contemporary art"],"subject_id":"TM-12722","alt_subject_ids":["TM-9124","TM-12518"],"subject_ids":["TM-12722","TM-9124","TM-12518"],"subject_titles":["lines","geometric","grids"],"material_id":null,"alt_material_ids":[],"material_ids":[],"material_titles":[],"technique_id":null,"alt_technique_ids":[],"technique_ids":[],"technique_titles":[],"theme_titles":[],"image_id":"7bc2549a-7c93-cffd-49ad-f93df587102c","alt_image_ids":[],"document_ids":[],"sound_ids":[],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1988.259a-c"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["Heart of Darkness"],"weight":1394,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2025-11-20T15:44:33-06:00","updated_at":"2026-03-03T07:02:25-06:00","timestamp":"2026-07-12T01:54:17-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. 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