Apples, Oranges May 16, 2007

Sean Scully; Untitled (Print #6), from the portfolio Enter Six; 1998; etching, aquatint, sugarlift, and spitbite; Smithsonian American Art Museum; Gift of the artist

The upcoming exhibition of Sean Scully's prints puts me in mind of a conversation I had some time ago with an artist. This artist's paintings were (and still are) greatly in demand, but they're not the only work that he does. Besides oil painting, he also draws in graphite. But when he shows these works or talks about them with viewers and collectors, the assumption that inevitably greets his drawings is that they are minor media—sketches for paintings or material that should be considered supplementary otherwise.

Sean Scully is best known for his paintings, and the Irish artist understands his prints to be distinct from those works, but not lesser than—not by a stretch. Discussing his print work, Scully has said: "There are things you can do with prints that you simply can’t do with any other medium." One of those things is very readily apparent: Portfolios and artist books allow Scully, in a direct way, to curate his own work, establishing themes and expressing dynamics of light and form by sequencing the prints.

Sean Scully's exhibition, The Prints of Sean Scully, opens May 18 and runs to October 8, 2007. The artist will be speaking at SAAM, Saturday, May 19 at 3 p.m. in the McEvoy Auditorium, Lower Level. Tickets are free and may be obtained one hour prior to his talk at the G Street lobby.

• Sean Scully, Printmaking, American Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum