Brooklyn College (BFA, MFA); Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
Knownfor
Egg tempera painting, rural landscapes
Awards
National Endowment for the Arts grants (2)
Altoon Sultan (born 1948) is an American artist known for her small-scale egg tempera paintings depicting details of agricultural machinery. Working in a tradition of formalist realism, her works nevertheless treat her subject matter like found abstractions. Sultan lives and works in Groton, Vermont.[1]
Sultan’s paintings are often based on photographs she has taken of agricultural landscapes and equipment. Her technique combines representational detail with simplified forms and bold use of color, sometimes compared to minimalist approaches to composition.[3] She frequently works in egg tempera on calfskin parchment.
In addition to painting, Sultan writes about art and maintains Studio and Garden, a blog featuring her photography, reflections on her practice, and exhibition commentary.[4]
Career
Sultan has exhibited in the United States and internationally since the 1970s. Her work has been shown at Marlborough Gallery (New York), Tibor de Nagy Gallery (New York), McKenzie Fine Art (New York), Chris Sharp Gallery (Los Angeles), Hollybush Gardens (London), and Zero… (Milan).[5]
Selected solo exhibitions
1979–1991: Marlborough Gallery, New York, NY
2007: Monuments of Architecture, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
2009: Helen Day Art Center, Stowe, VT
2014, 2015, 2017, 2019: McKenzie Fine Art, New York, NY
2020: Drawings and a Painting, Feuilleton, Los Angeles, CA
2021: Paintings, Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2022: Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO
2023: Altoon Sultan, Hollybush Gardens, London, UK
2024: New Paintings, Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2012: Walter Cerf Medal for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts, Vermont Council on the Arts
2001: J. Sanford Saltus Gold Medal for Painting, National Academy of Design
1999: Prix Duc de Valverde d’Ayala Valva, Fondation Monaco
1999: Academy Award in Art, American Academy of Arts and Letters
1995: Elected Member, National Academy of Design
1983, 1989: National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Grants
Publications
The Luminous Brush: Painting with Egg Tempera. Watson-Guptill, 1999. ISBN 0-8230-2888-7
References
↑ Lralon. "A Conversation With Altoon Sultan." Figure/Ground, November 4, 2013. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
↑ "Altoon Sultan." Art in America, March 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
↑ Yau, John. "Altoon Sultan’s Powerful Challenge." Hyperallergic, March 21, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
↑ "Studio and Garden." Altoon Sultan. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
↑ "Altoon Sultan – Exhibitions." Tibor de Nagy Gallery. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
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