4th Sculpture 1963

Michael Bolus made this painted sculpture, entitled ‘4th Sculpture’ in 3D, with simple, flat forms and subdued colours. I imagine Bolus in his studio, playing with planes and colours, bending shapes, and thinking, how can I make this more alive? How can it come to life in the world? It’s like he’s building a house of cards, carefully balancing colour and form. The maroon stripe gives it a kind of weight, a gravity, that anchors the whole structure. And then the triangular opening—that’s like a window, a portal into another dimension. I think of Anthony Caro’s playful approach to steel, or even some of David Smith’s more geometric works. All these artists are kind of talking to each other, across time and space, riffing on the same ideas, but always pushing it further, trying something new. Painting and sculpture is an exchange, an endless conversation where meaning emerges through dialogue and playful experimentation.