Seymour Lipton

Seymour Lipton was central figure of the postwar American avant-garde and one of the most influential and prolific sculptors of Abstract Expressionism. His work draws immediately upon the human existence and experience, resulting in sculpture that expresses the complexities of anatomical and natural forms. Lipton himself believed, “Art… will always soar beyond the sensuous pleasure and excitement of formal aesthetics into the deeper, more searching areas of the human spirit and human existence."

Lipton was trained as a dentist, he focused on sculpture from 1932 on and addressed themes of flight, nature and war in his art. His early choices of medium changed from wood to lead to bronze, and then to metal for which he is best known. 

With the outbreak of World War II, Lipton's sculptures referred increasingly to the conflict, which caused a change in working method and subject matter. Lipton often worked from quick, preliminary drawings, translating them into small working models or maquettes, then turned these into larger metal constructions.

Lipton associated with a group of welders that achieved prominence, namely Herbert Ferber, David Hare, Ibram Lassaw, and Theodore Roszak, who were considered the sculptural counterpart of Abstract Expressionism. 

By the 1950s, Lipton's work had already been acquired by 150 museums. Lipton's works are represented in an array of important collections and museums including Hirshorn Museum, MoMA, Whitney and Smithsonian.