Recent Acquisitions at VFA

A painting is a kind of love letter to the audience.
- Donald Sultan 

Donald Sultan uses tough textures to create soft, romantic works. He applies tar and flocking in a way that other artists brush paint across their canvas.

 

He was born in Nashville in 1951, where his father owned a tire business and where Sultan became familiar with industrial materials.

 

 

After receiving his MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1975, Sultan moved to New York, worked construction and produced much of his artworks from the leftover materials he was able to get from some job sites.

 

Two recent acquisitions at VFA are Four Reds, 2002 and Blue Flowers, 2003 that exemplify Sultan’s textural style. 

 

Sultan’s works are in the permanent collection of more than 50 major museums around the world including MoMA, the Whitney, the Guggenheim, the Tate London, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Reina Sofia in Madrid and the the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.

 

Donald Sultan divides his time between his loft in Tribeca, his house in Sag Harbor and his apartment in Paris.

 

---

 

Mel Bochner (1940–2025) was a pioneer of Conceptual Art in America. He was interested in philosophy, mathematics, spatial relationships, language and words. Bochner was also wrote about art. His writings were collected in a single volume and published by MIT Press in 2008.

 

When he had an idea, he went with it, and created thoughtful works that leaves each viewer to contemplate and reflect.

 

 

Bochner was born in Pittsburgh in 1940. His father was a sign painter who taught him how to paint letters freehand. He studied art at Carnegie Mellon University and philosophy at Northwestern University and moved to New York in 1964 where he taught at the School of Visual Arts.

 

Blah, Blah, Blah, 2022 is probably Bochner’s most well known work. It says it all.

 

His works are part of the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Carnegie Museum of Art, the Courtauld Institute of Art, MoMA, The Met, The National Gallery of Art, the Schnitzer Collection, and the Smithsonian.

 

Mel Bochner died on February 12, 2025 at age 84.

 

---

 

Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004) was one of the leading Pop artists of the 1960s. Many of his works pay homage to the masterful artists, like Matisse, who came before him, and Lichtenstein, who was right there with him.

 

 

Recent acquisitions at VFA, like Lulu, 1982 and Still Life with Lichtenstein and Two Oranges, 1993 exemplify the boldness of Wesselmann’s works. 

 

Last Fall the Foundation Louis Vuitton payed tribute to the artist with Pop Forever Tom Wesselmann &… an exhibit that showcased Wesselmann’s art alongside works by both modern and contemporary artists inspired by him.

 

---

 

Please give us a call if you would like more information about the works at VFA. Our new gallery location is now open at 922 Clint Moore Rd, Boca Raton, We’d love for you to stop by (appointment only).

 

---

 

May 21, 2025