Maquette for "Sailing" 1976

This is “Maquette for Sailing”, a sculpture by Seymour Lipton. It's made of metal, and sits on a stone plinth. It’s all silvery, like pewter, glinting in the light. I can just imagine Lipton in his studio, welding these shards of metal together, letting his hands lead him. He’s making something about movement, about wind and waves, but also about struggle, I think. The forms are angular, sharp, like something man-made, but they also evoke the natural world, like a bird taking flight or a boat cutting through water. The surface is rough, textured, showing the marks of the artist’s process. The welds are visible, raw, like scars. It’s not about perfection, it’s about the energy of creation, the push and pull between intention and accident. It reminds me of other sculptors who worked with metal, like David Smith. There’s this sense of industry, of the machine, but also of something deeply human. It’s like a conversation across time, artists inspiring each other, pushing the boundaries of what sculpture can be.