Altoon Sultan's Egg Tempera Farm Machines at ZERO in Milan
Altoon Sultan (Brooklyn, 1948) brings her egg tempera paintings of American agricultural machinery to ZERO gallery in Milan. The exhibition focuses on close-up, detailed views of tractors, mowers, and other equipment, rendered with the luminous, layered technique she adopted after discovering Italian Renaissance painting during a 1971 trip to Italy. Inspired by Duccio di Buoninsegna's Maestà and Ambrogio Lorenzetti's rural scenes, Sultan translates the industrial American landscape through the same opaque yet brilliant tones of egg tempera. Her works, based on her own photographs, isolate tiny details—tubes, wheels, hinges—so that the original machine becomes abstract. The gallery's industrial setting echoes the subject. Sultan has authored The Luminous Brush (1999) on egg tempera. The exhibition spans two floors with sparsely hung, small-scale paintings.
Key facts
- Altoon Sultan was born in Brooklyn in 1948.
- She has over 45 years of exhibition history across the US.
- She uses egg tempera, an ancient technique uncommon in contemporary art.
- Her 1971 trip to Italy introduced her to Raphael, Titian, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Sienese art.
- Duccio di Buoninsegna's Maestà and Ambrogio Lorenzetti's farm scenes influenced her.
- She published 'The Luminous Brush' on egg tempera in 1999.
- The exhibition at ZERO in Milan focuses on agricultural machinery.
- Her paintings are based on her own photographs of farm equipment.
- The gallery space is a former industrial building.
- Works are small-scale and sparsely hung on two floors.
Entities
Artists
- Altoon Sultan
- Raffaello
- Tiziano
- Michelangelo
- Caravaggio
- Duccio di Buoninsegna
- Ambrogio Lorenzetti
Institutions
- ZERO
- Artribune
Locations
- Brooklyn
- United States
- Italy
- Milan
- Siena