Welcome

Hugh, a native of Dallas, Texas was born into an artistic family. His father, being a painter/sculptor was trained at the Arts Students League while his mother was an actor on the New York stage. His first formal training in painting at ten years of age was with Arthur Chapman Kelly in Dallas.

After his father died suddenly Hugh enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at the age of 17, served in Viet Nam from 1967 through 1968, with an honorable discharge in 1971. He continued his formal education at the Dallas County Community Colleges and North Texas State University, as well as the School of Visual Arts in New York.  Hugh received his Bachelor of Arts from SUNY.

After receiving an award from the Texas Fine Arts Association for a nude painted in 1980; a controversy over a refusal to display this same awarded piece caused Hugh to move to New York City to pursue his craft in an international market.

Although Hugh paints primarily in oils and acrylics these days, he is experienced in other medium as well. His work is rich in color and expression with subject matter as diverse as the human figure to oil tankers in harbor. He paints from nature and what he sees around him, treating industrial images and architecture as much a part of that nature as an apple or a tree. Hugh’s powerfully rendered portraits have been described as “aggressive”. Yet people who live with them find that they become very much a part of their lives. Aside from portraits and figures his works include the Townhouses of the Upper East Side,  Harlem  and Galaxies.

In 2010 while in his Chashama studio in Harlem, New York City Hugh continued with Upper East Side Buildings and Harlem’s Iconic locations such as “The Lenox Lounge Adieux” along with many selective others.

In 2018 the series of new Galaxies started; Hugh has been creating these works since then and continues to explore the nature of the universe.  Currently, you can find Hugh in his Tribeca Studio space in 373 Broadway, NYC. Hugh Sullivan’s works are in numerous private collections throughout the United States, Mexico and Denmark.

Portraits and figure paintings are some of my favorite motifs. A good portrait is one that not only captures part of the specific human but also makes a statement about humanity. This again need not be a conscious attempt on my part to make a statement, but one that evolves in the process of painting and may not even be understood by me for some time.