Donald Sultan
Aqua Poppies, 2021.
Limited edition sculpture.
Shaped aluminum with aqua powder coat on a polished aluminum base.
Titled, dated, and initialed at the mold.

Donald Sultan’s Aqua Poppies, 2021 transforms one of the acclaimed American artist’s most recognizable floral motifs into a striking three-dimensional sculpture. The composition captures Sultan’s distinctive ability to reduce flowers to bold, simplified forms while retaining their organic character. The brilliant aqua surface gives the poppies a fresh contemporary presence, while the polished aluminum base and industrial construction create a compelling contrast between the delicacy of the natural subject and the permanence of metal. This relationship between organic imagery and industrial materials has been central to Sultan’s artistic vocabulary across painting, printmaking, and sculpture.

Viewed from different angles, Aqua Poppies moves beyond the traditional still life and becomes an architectural object, allowing Sultan’s familiar poppy imagery to occupy physical space. The negative spaces between the flowers become an important part of the composition, giving the sculpture an elegant balance of color, form, and dimension.

Donald Sultan – Off The Wall Gallery, Houston, Texas.