Sean Scully appointed Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France

On 22 September 2026 Sean Scully was awarded  the grade of Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France. This prestigious honour is presented to the Irish-born artist by Catherine Pégard, the French Minister of Culture, in recognition of his important and longstanding contribution to the arts. Over the course of more than half a century, Scully’s work has enriched the artistic landscape in France and internationally, leaving an indelible mark on the evolution of contemporary abstraction. In her speech, the Minister of Culture stated: 'Michel Gauthier, the curator who oversaw [Sean Scully’s 2024–25 exhibition at the Centre Pompidou], describes you as the great Romantic of contemporary abstraction, and sees in your painting a coloured geometry of feeling. The phrase suits you so well. By night as by day, your work has never ceased to hold together what, in others, might have torn apart.'