Maquette for "Threshold" 1981

Seymour Lipton's maquette for "Threshold" stands as an intriguing monumentality crafted from nickel-silver and monel metal. Imagine Lipton in his studio, wrestling with these materials. Bending, cutting, and welding, his breath held in anticipation, coaxing the metal to submit to his vision. This piece feels like a brutalist doorway. The vertical bars, the overarching canopy, all speak of entering a new space, but one that's fraught with tension. What was Lipton thinking about when he made this? The Cold War? Personal anxieties? Maybe he was just playing with forms, letting the material guide him. Like all good artists, he probably worked with intuition. The rough texture and the way light catches the metallic surface is fascinating. I find it relates to the work of other sculptors of the period but has a uniquely individual tone. Lipton reminds us that art is a conversation across time, where artists respond to each other's ideas.