Altoon Sultan (born 1948) is an American artist known for her small-scale

egg tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. ''Tempera'' also refers to the paintings done in ...

paintings depicting rural and agricultural landscapes. Her paintings, drawings, and bas-reliefs are held in major public collections, including the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

, and the

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University. Although it embraces all cultures and period ...

. She is also a writer and educator based in

Groton, Vermont Groton is a New England town, town in Caledonia County, Vermont, Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 984 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It contains the places Groton Pond, Rickers Mills, Rickers and West Gr ...

Early life and education

Sultan was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. She earned a BFA in 1969 and an MFA in 1971 from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

, where she studied with

Philip Pearlstein Philip Martin Pearlstein (May 24, 1924 – December 17, 2022) was an American painter best known for Modernist Realist nudes. Cited by critics as the preeminent figure painter of the 1960s to 2000s, he led a revival in realist art. Biography ...

and

Lois Dodd Lois Dodd (born 1927), is an American painter and educator. Dodd was a key member of New York's postwar art scene. She played a large part and was involved in the wave of modern artists including Alex Katz and Yvonne Jacquette who explored the co ...

.Lralon. "A Conversation With Altoon Sultan." ''Figure/Ground''. November 4, 2013. Retrieved May 20, 2017. She also attended the

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture is an artists residency located in Madison, Maine, just outside of Skowhegan. Every year, the program accepts online applications from emerging artists from November through January, and selects 65 ...

."Altoon Sultan." ''Art in America''. March 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019.

Work

Sultan is known for a formalist, realist style that centers on highly cropped depictions of agricultural implements and industrial forms, rendered in vivid color and meticulous detail using egg tempera. Her works often blur the line between abstraction and representation, drawing comparisons to artists like

Ellsworth Kelly Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 – December 27, 2015) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker associated with hard-edge painting, Color field painting and minimalism. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing line, col ...

. She maintains a blog titled ''Studio and Garden'', where she writes about her artistic process, posts photographs of rural Vermont, and reflects on exhibitions she visits."Studio and Garden". Altoon Sultan. Retrieved May 20, 2017.

Career

Sultan has exhibited in solo and group shows throughout the United States and internationally since the 1970s. She has been represented by galleries such as Marlborough Gallery, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, McKenzie Fine Art, Chris Sharp Gallery, and Hollybush Gardens (London). Her work has been included in major art fairs including Frieze London,

Art Basel Miami Beach Art Basel Miami Beach, sometimes referred to as "Art Basel Miami," is an art fair founded in 2002 as an offshoot of the flagship Art Basel fair in Switzerland. It is currently considered the most important art fair in the United States and was the f ...

, and

Independent Art Fair The Independent Art Fair was established in New York City in 2010 by gallerist Elizabeth Dee as a means of challenging the typical format of art fairs. It is typically held during Armory Week in March, and more than one third of its exhibitors co ...

Selected solo exhibitions

* 2025 – Zero..., Milan * 2024 – Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles, CA * 2023 – Hollybush Gardens, London, UK * 2022 – Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO * 2021 – Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles, CA * 2020 – Feuilleton, Los Angeles, CA * 2019, 2017, 2015,*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sultan, Altoon 1948 births Living people