This catalog, the second volume in a proposed series of five, chronicles Sean Scully's (born 1945) paintings of the 1980s. Beginning with major breakthrough works early in the decade, it profiles the development of Scully's mature style as well as his growing success in America and internationally. Scully, a native of Ireland, was educated in England and moved to the United States in 1975. By the early 1980s, he was established in New York, where he developed a powerful style of richly painted stripes and shapes with a masterly control of color and strongly built canvases. In a period of low regard for abstract painting, Scully reinvigorated the form to include rich evocations of places, literature and emotion.