Sound Grammar

Allan Houser, Buffalo Dance, 1983, Indiana limestone, 13 3⁄4 x 60 x 14 in. (35.9 x 52.4 x 35.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, Frank E. Everett, and the Alice Henderson (Rossin) Colquitt Fund in honor of William Penhallow Henderson, 1995.11, © 1983, Allan Houser

Heinz Warneke, Elegance, ca. 1927, marble, 17 x 8 1⁄4 x 7 7⁄8 in. (43.1 x 21.0 x 19.9 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Julia Bretzman, 1972.171

Michael James, Quilt #150: Rehoboth Meander, 1993, machine pieced cotton and silk; machine quilted, 53 x 52 1⁄2 in. (134.6 x 133.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance, 1994.76, © 1993, Michael F. James

Joseph Gering, "Industry, self-denial, and temperance are the laws of prosperity for men and states; without them advance in the arts and in wealth means only corruption and decay through luxury and vice. With them progress in the arts and increasing wealth are the prime conditions of an advancing civilization which is sound enough to endure." --William Graham Sumner on the conditions of prosperity and progress. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man., 1955, mixed media: oil, nails, and string on wood, 14 9⁄16 x 11 1⁄16 in. (37.0 x 28.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.102

Sean Scully, Wall of Light Blue Corner, 2010, hardground etching, aquatint, spit bite and sugarlift on paper, image: 17 7⁄8 × 22 in. (45.4 × 55.9 cm) sheet: 28 3⁄4 × 30 7⁄8 in. (73.0 × 78.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2012.2.3, © 2010, Sean Scully

Sean Scully, Landline Blue, 2014, aquatint, spitbite, and sugarlift on paper, image: 12 1⁄2 × 9 7⁄8 in. (31.8 × 25.1 cm) sheet: 21 7⁄8 × 16 7⁄8 in. (55.6 × 42.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2015.52.1, © 2014, Sean Scully

Sean Scully, Black Moon, 2006, oil on canvas, 84 x 72 in. (213.4 x 182.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James F. Dicke Family, 2013.49.3, © 2006, Sean Scully

Sean Scully, Munich 3.18.09, 2009, watercolor on paper, image (irregular): 21 1⁄2 x 27 1⁄2 in. (54.6 x 69.9 cm) sheet: 22 × 30 in. (55.9 × 76.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2011.7.1, © 2009, Sean Scully

Sean Scully, Maesta, 1983, oil on canvas, 89 3⁄8 × 119 1⁄2 × 9 1⁄2 in. (227.0 × 303.5 × 24.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2004.1A-C, © 1983, Sean Scully

Irish-born American painter, printmaker, sculptor, and photographer Sean Scully (born 30 June 1945)