Prints + Multiples 
26 February 2020
Donald Sultan, Playing Cards - Image 1 of 1
Prints + Multiples 
Donald Sultan, Playing Cards - Image 1 of 1
266

Donald Sultan b.1951

Playing Cards

54-card deck of poker size playing cards 4¼ h × 3¼ w × 1¼ d in (11 × 8 × 3 cm)
estimate: $150–250
result: $282
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Includes one marker card, corresponding drawing and numbered wooden box.
Stamped number and inscription to inside of box ‘A/D 54/100’. This work is number 54 from the edition of 100 fabricated by Bicycle Playing Card, Windsor, Ontario.
provenance: A/D, New York
literature: Elisabeth Cunnick and Peter Joseph, A/D at the Peter Joseph Gallery New York, (catalogue for the exhibition September 17 - October 24), 1992 (illustrated, page 43)

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Influential Edition

From the A/D Archive

A/D (Artist Designer), a strong and unique voice in the 1980s and 1990s, commissioned visual artists to create functional objects that were meant to be lived with and used. The idea was that visual artists would bring different solutions to design problems, and would challenge material limits in ways that designers and architects normally would not. The success of the gallery and all that they published was a result of this challenge, and of the standards that they were willing to commit to projects. The roster of artists published by A/D is impressive, from Sol LeWitt and Chuck Close, to Jennifer Bartlett and Arlene Shechet. Further, A/D worked with the best possible fabricators who often worked closely with the artists to realize their vision and create works in small editions.

While many of the A/D editions were successful in their time, a number of the editions were never completed. Since A/D closed some 20 years ago, no other publisher has pursued this path in the same way. A/D remains a very special marker of its decade, and their editions represent an important impulse that is still influential. 

The present work is an example that A/D retained for its own archives.

Donald Sultan b. 1951

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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.

Auction Results Donald Sultan

DONALD SULTAN, Three Old Limes and an Orange August 30 1988 (in four parts) | Ragoarts.com

Donald Sultan

Three Old Limes and an Orange August 30 1988 (in four parts)

estimate: $30,000–50,000

result: $47,500
DONALD SULTAN, Seven Blue Flowers | Ragoarts.com

Donald Sultan

Seven Blue Flowers

estimate: $7,000–9,000

result: $37,800
DONALD SULTAN, Four Poppies II suite | Ragoarts.com

Donald Sultan

Four Poppies II suite

estimate: $10,000–15,000

result: $20,160
DONALD SULTAN, Red and Black Poppies | Ragoarts.com

Donald Sultan

Red and Black Poppies

estimate: $15,000–20,000

result: $17,640

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