Pear, Lemon, Egg 1985

Donald Sultan created this still life, Pear, Lemon, Egg, with ink on paper. Just look at the economy of means! The shapes are built up with blotty washes of ink, bleeding at the edges, creating a halo effect. It’s a bit like those Rorschach tests, where you’re supposed to see something in the abstract inkblot. Sultan’s giving us just enough information to trigger our recognition of the objects. Notice how the dark, pooled ink gives weight and volume to the forms, even as they hover in this undefined space. The white of the paper becomes as important as the black ink, defining the shapes by what’s left unpainted. That one little stem-like mark at the bottom really makes the whole thing work. It’s like a tiny, assertive gesture that anchors the composition, giving it a sense of grounding. It’s almost like Morandi's explorations of simple forms, but with a bolder, graphic punch. It is this interplay of abstraction and representation that makes the piece so compelling, inviting us to see familiar objects in a new, fresh way.