Seymour Lipton
(American, 1903-1986)
Winterseed,1968-1974
Nickel silver on Monel metal
Collection of James R. and Barbara R. Palmer
An American Sculptor: Seymour Lipton
January 20-June 4, 2000
Seymour Lipton (American, 1903-1986) achieved art-world recognition in the 1950s as one of a small number of avant-garde construction sculptors. He did not , however, begin as a vanguard artist. From 1933 to the early 1940s, he carved primarily wood sculptures in the then popular Social Realist manner. The figures were simplified and distorted for expressive purposes.
With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Lipton's sculptures referred increasingly to the conflict. The change in subject matter proved critical to Lipton's development. After the entry of the United States into the war, he experienced a profound sense of anguish about the human condition, which could no longer be conveyed by the topical themes and the sculptural limitations of his early Social Realist style.
In his desire to work more improvisationally, Lipton was attracted to the practice of automatism in which conscious thought is suspended. As a sculptor, and particularly as a carver, he could not use automatism as freely as painters could, but he could in his drawings. As he gave his subconscious freer rein, Lipton's imagery became increasingly abstract. His process would be to make quick preliminary drawings, translate them into small working models or maquettes, and then turn these models into larger, more "finished" metal constructions.
In the 1950s, Lipton began to weld Monel metal planes and braze the surfaces with nickel silver or bronze. He became identified with a group of welders that achieved prominence during that decade, namely Herbert Ferber, David Hare, Ibram Lassaw, and Theodore Roszak. This group was considered the sculptural counterpart of Abstract Expressionism. As Irving Sandler notes in his catalogue introduction, "Just as the painters used the direct process of painting to encounter new motifs, so the sculptors used the direct process of welding. The welding medium enabled them to improvise relatively freely with structure and with the molten crust that activated the unconscious imagination and suggested biomorphic images."
Lori Verderame, author of An American Sculptor: Seymour Lipton,indicates that Lipton addressed several themes throughout most of his career: flight, nature, and the concept of the hero. Lipton himself wrote extensively about the underlying ideas in his work and once stated, "Basically 'man' concerns me in all the various things I make. I find 'inner spaces' of man in things outside of himself: in the sea, under the earth, in animals, machines, etc. . . ."
Probably no other American sculptor of his generation was more widely collected than Lipton from the mid-1940s through the 1970s. His works were acquired by nearly every major museum that included contemporary American sculpture in its scope. However, by 1980 Lipton's popularity and critical reputation were in decline, a fate he shared with most of his colleagues except for David Smith. No major study of Lipton's work has been published since Albert Elsen's monograph of 1974. With this exhibition and accompanying catalogue, we are pleased to provide a critical reevaluation of LiptonŐs prolific career, which spanned six decades.
The exhibition has been co-organized by the Palmer Museum of Art and the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio. The fully illustrated catalogue has an introduction by Irving Sandler who places Lipton in context with his fellow artists and within the prevailing social milieu. Lori Verderame, who received her doctorate from Penn State in 1996, is the principal author. In five separate essays she offers fresh insights into Lipton's working methods and development of recurring themes. The 128-page publication is available in the Museum Store.
Seymour Lipton
(American, 1903-1986)
Lynched,1933
Mahagony
Collection of James R. and Barbara R. Palmer
Seymour Lipton
(American, 1903-1986)
Prisoner,1948
Copper, lead solder with steel base l
Collection of James R. and Barbara R. Palmer
Seymour Lipton
(American, 1903-1986)
Study for Inquisitor,1965
Black conté crayon
Collection of James R. and Barbara R. Palmer
Seymour Lipton
(American, 1903-1986)
Scroll,1969
Nickel silver on Monel metal
Collection of James R. and Barbara R. Palmer
Seymour Lipton
(American, 1903-1986)
Maquette: Adventurer,1977
Monel metal
Collection of James R. and Barbara R. Palmer
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