Study for "Sentinel" 1959

This 1950 study for "Sentinel" by Seymour Lipton is all about the push and pull of charcoal on paper. Look at the way Lipton coaxes the form out of the page with these chunky, confident lines. It's like he's wrestling with the idea of the sculpture itself. The texture is key here. You can almost feel the grain of the charcoal, how it catches on the tooth of the paper, especially in the darker areas that define the sculpture’s edges. The way he's built up this mass with such simple marks reminds me of de Kooning's drawings – that same sense of searching and building. Take a close look at that swirling, almost floral shape near the center. It's both organic and mechanical, like a strange hybrid. It's these ambiguous forms that really grab me, hinting at hidden meanings without ever giving them away. It leaves you thinking about the dialogue between drawing and sculpture.