“Happy Bull”
Matt Sesow, 2026 · acrylic/oil on stretched canvas · 11 × 14 in · original, signed
Lot #132 · Transformer’s 22nd Benefit Art Auction, The Kaleidoscope Effect, Washington, DC
Bid on Happy Bull →Opens Lot #132 on Transformer’s auction site. Bidding from $100.
Online bidding closes 10 PM ET, Saturday, November 21, 2026. See it in person at The LINE DC, 2468 Champlain St NW, November 9–20 (Wed–Sat, noon–6 PM), and at the gala on November 21.
Why a bull
The bull is one of Matt Sesow’s signature icons. He started painting it in 2009, getting ready for his first solo show in Europe, Sesow in Barcelona. In his words:
“i was extremely nervous and felt vulnerable. but i realized that rather than be a bunny, i needed to be a bull. a controlled bull. i needed confidence and strength … the bull is smiling. he is nice. you won’t eat him. and he won’t attack you. but he is very strong, confident.”
Happy Bull carries that whole story: the grin, the stars on his legs, the red circle around his eye and the little trauma cup at his feet. An original, one-of-a-kind Sesow bull, and your bid benefits Transformer, the DC nonprofit for emerging artists.
From the “Matt Sesow Icons” key, shown at the American Visionary Art Museum, 2016–17. The full story →
Matt and his bulls
In the studio with bull paintings. The painting-in-progress photo is from November 2013, in his Adams Morgan studio. Photos: Matt Sesow.
Where the bull was born: Barcelona
Matt’s solo shows at Galeria ArteVistas, Barcelona:
- “Sesow in Barcelona,” 2009 — his first solo show in Europe, and the first bulls
- “Balance of Power,” December 2010 – January 2011
- “Icons,” March – April 2013
Also in Barcelona: Antic Teatre gallery, 2009 · “Déjà Vu,” with Dana Ellyn, 2015
About the artist
Matt Sesow is a Washington, DC artist. A self-taught painter, he has painted nearly every day since 1994 and sold more than 17,000 original paintings directly to collectors in over 40 countries. His work is in the permanent collection of the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, and in 2013 the United Nations put his painting “Dive Bomb” on a stamp. This is his eighteenth Transformer auction since 2007.
sesow.com · new paintings every week · his full career history · thirty years as a Washington, DC painter
Proceeds support Transformer, the DC nonprofit for emerging artists. · Matt’s 18 Transformer auctions since 2007