Donald Sultan Black Lemon on Silver, July 24 2018 For Sale

Donald Sultan's "Black Lemon on Silver, July 24 2018" presents a striking meditation on form, material, and the quiet power of familiar objects transformed through artistic vision. The singular black lemon dominates the composition, its rounded silhouette commanding attention against a luminous silver ground. The fruit's contour is at once recognizable and abstracted, reduced to an essential shape that hovers between representation and pure geometry. The tar-like texture Sultan employs adds a tactile dimension that photography alone cannot fully convey — a surface that absorbs light rather than reflecting it, creating a void-like presence that feels almost gravitational in its weight. The monochromatic palette establishes a compelling visual tension, the deep matte black pulling against the reflective silver backdrop in a dialogue of opposites. Light and dark, industrial and organic, absence and presence — these polarities animate the work without ever resolving into simple contrast. The enamel inks and museum board ground the piece in Sultan's signature fusion of fine art materials with industrial sensibilities. This work exemplifies Sultan's decades-long project of elevating humble subjects — lemons, tulips, buttons — into icons of contemporary art. By monumentalizing the everyday, he invites contemplation of objects we typically overlook, imbuing them with a solemnity and permanence that transforms perception. The dated title anchors the work in a specific moment while the image itself transcends time, achieving the timeless quality of a still life master translated through distinctly modern means. This work is available for acquisition through Guy Hepner, New York.