Study for "Fountainhead" 1958

Seymour Lipton made this "Study for 'Fountainhead'" in 1958 using graphite on paper, and you can see all the marks from the graphite so clearly. The shapes seem to be pushing against each other, forming an image of the inside and outside at the same time. There's a certain vulnerability in how Lipton leaves the marks visible, showing his process, which makes the drawing so intimate. Like a peek into his mind as he worked out this sculpture. Look at the way he's built up the tone around the top of the form. It feels heavy, pressing down, but it’s all just graphite, right? It reminds me of Eva Hesse, someone else who was thinking about sculpture in this very direct and personal way, testing the limits of what materials can do and what forms can express. Art, for me, is all about that conversation, across time and between artists, about what we can make and what it means.