The 1970s marked a pivotal period in Sean Scully's career, characterized by significant transitions in his artistic approach and the development of key themes that would continue to define his work. During this time, Scully's exploration into the realms of Minimalism and Op Art began to evolve, reflecting his growing interest in emotional depth and human connection through abstract forms. Scully's early work in the 1970s was heavily influenced by his experiences in New York, where he was exposed to the prevailing trends of Minimalism and Conceptualism. His engagement with these movements led to the creation of works characterized by meticulously painted stripes, indicative of the minimalist aesthetic. However, unlike the emotionally detached works typical of Minimalism, Scully's paintings from this period began to hint at a deeper, more personal exploration. His use of stripes and color blocks, while seemingly aligning with the minimalist doctrine, carried with them a warmth and depth that suggested a longing for human connection and emotional expression​ (The Art Story)​. In the mid-1970s, Scully received a Harkness Fellowship to study in New York for two years. It was during this time that he made a conscious decision to abandon the grid paintings that had marked his earlier work in favor of stripes, influenced by artists like Ad Reinhardt, Agnes Martin, Frank Stella, and Francois Morellet. This shift was not merely stylistic but philosophical, as Scully sought to imbue his work with a "deep pathos" and a "form of poetic expression" that delved beneath the surface of appearances. His paintings became more than visual objects; they were meditations on the spiritual and emotional conditions of humanity, striving for a "deep, pure, religious, or quasi-religious meaning"​ (The Art Story)​. By the late 1970s, Scully had begun to experiment with more complex compositions, integrating geometric abstraction with a more expressive handling of paint. This was a time of experimentation and growth for Scully, as he sought ways to bridge the gap between the austerity of Minimalism and the expressive potential of abstraction. The result was a series of works that, while maintaining a minimalist sensibility in terms of composition and form, were imbued with a richness of texture and color that spoke to more personal and introspective themes. The 1970s also saw Scully grappling with the challenges of abstraction in an era dominated by Minimalism and Conceptual Art. His response was a deeply personal one, marked by a gradual movement away from the strictures of minimalism towards a more nuanced exploration of color, form, and texture. Scully's work from this period reflects a transition from the impersonal to the personal, from the geometric to the gestural, setting the stage for the developments that would characterize his work in the decades to follow. Scully's journey through the 1970s was thus a period of exploration and discovery, marked by a series of artistic and philosophical shifts that would lay the foundation for his later work. By integrating the intellectual rigor of Minimalism with a more expressive approach to painting, Scully began to forge a unique path in the landscape of contemporary art, one that sought to reconcile the abstract with the deeply human.