Richard Lippold (May 3, 1915 – August 22, 2002) was an American sculptor, known for his geometric constructions using

wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

as a medium.

Life

Lippold was born in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

. He studied at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, and graduated from the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

in industrial design in 1937. Lippold worked as an

industrial designer Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advance of the manufactur ...

from 1937 to 1941. After he became a sculptor, Lippold taught at several universities, including

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

at the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

, from 1952 to 1967. When describing Lippold's floor-to-ceiling sculpture "Trinity", the American artist

Howard Newman Howard Newman is an American painter, sculptor, art restorer, and inventor. Flynn, Sean. "Featured Work." NewportRI.com News and Information for Newport, Rhode Island. The Newport Daily News, 7 Feb. 2014. Web. 12 May 2016. Biography Howard Ne ...

said:

Lippold was an engineering genius, but we've been dealing with a piece that had reached the threshold of catastrophe,...People's mouths fall open when they see it going back up, like they're watching a spider spin a web of blazing gold,...The more that goes up, the more exquisite it gets.

The 14th and 15th of

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

's famous ''

Sonatas and Interludes ''Sonatas and Interludes'' is a cycle of twenty pieces for prepared piano by American avant-garde composer John Cage (1912–1992). It was composed in 1946–48, shortly after Cage's introduction to Indian philosophy and the teachings of art hist ...

'' for

prepared piano A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sounds temporarily altered by placing bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and/or other objects on or between the strings. Its invention is usually traced to John Cage's dance music for ''Bacchanale' ...

are subtitled ''Gemini – after the work of Richard Lippold''.

Works

*1949–50, ''Variation Number 7: Full Moon'', at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York City *1950, ''World Tree'', in

Harvard Graduate Center The Harvard Graduate Center, also known as "the Gropius Complex" (including Harkness Commons), is a group of buildings on Harvard University's Cambridge, MA campus designed by The Architects Collaborative in 1948 and completed in 1950. As the first ...

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in conne ...

, designer *1950–51, ''Aerial Act'', at the

Wadsworth Atheneum The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School lands ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

*1953–56, ''Variation within a Sphere, Number 10: The Sun'', at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York City, which includes more than two miles of gold wire; first commissioned work by this museum. *1958–60, ''Trinity'', Chapel of

Portsmouth Abbey School Portsmouth Abbey School is a coeducational Benedictine boarding and day school for students in grades 9 to 12. Founded in 1926 by the English Benedictine community, the School is located on a 525-acre campus along Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay. ...

, Portsmouth, RI. Pietro Belluschi, building architect. *1958, ''Radiant I'', at the

Inland Steel Building The Inland Steel Building is a skyscraper located at 30 W. Monroe Street in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the city's defining commercial high-rises of the post-World War II era of modern architecture.Schulze, Franz & Harrington, Kevin (2003). ' ...

in Chicago, IL. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, building architects

Joan Marter Joan Marter is an American academic, art critic and author. A 1968 graduate of Temple University, Marter is the "Distinguished Professor of Art History" at Rutgers University. Marter is the co-editor of the ''Woman's Art Journal'', and the editor o ...

. ''The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art'',
Google Books link
,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2011, pp. 172–73, (), (). *1959, ''Untitled, The Four Seasons'', and ''Seagram Building Construction No. 1'', at the

Four Seasons Restaurant The Four Seasons Restaurant (known colloquially as the Four Seasons) was a New American cuisine restaurant in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City from 1959 to 2019. The Four Seasons operated within the Seagram Building at 99 Ea ...

Seagram Building The Seagram Building is a skyscraper at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with minor assistance from Philip Johnson, Ely Jacques Kahn, ...

, New York City. Philip Johnson, Mies Van der Rohe building architects. *1959, ''Great Lone Star'', at the Longview National Bank, Longview, TX. *1959, ''Spirit Vine'' (label art), The Museum of Wine in Art,

Château Mouton Rothschild Château Mouton Rothschild is a wine estate located in the village of Pauillac in the Médoc region, 50 km (30 mi) north-west of the city of Bordeaux, France. Originally known as ''Château Brane-Mouton'', its red wine was renamed by ...

Pauillac Pauillac (; oc, Paulhac) is a municipality in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The city is mid-way between Bordeaux and the Pointe de Grave, along the Gironde, the largest estuary in western Europe. Popul ...

, France. *1961, ''Homage to Our Age'', Reception Area,

J. Walter Thompson J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was an advertisement holding company incorporated in 1896 by American advertising pioneer James Walter Thompson. The company was acquired in 1987 by multinational holding company WPP plc, and in November 2018, WPP merge ...

, New York City. *1962, '' Orpheus and Apollo'', at

Avery Fisher Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall in New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designe ...

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

in New York City, with architect Max Abramovitz *1963, ''Flight'',

PanAm Building The MetLife Building (also 200 Park Avenue and formerly the Pan Am Building) is a skyscraper at Park Avenue and 45th Street, north of Grand Central Terminal, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed in the Internation ...

, New York, NY, with architects Emery Roth, Pietro Belluschi, Walter Gropius. *1966, ''Gemini II'', at

Jones Hall The Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts (commonly known as Jones Hall) is a performance venue in Houston, Texas, and the permanent home of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and Society for the Performing Arts. Jones Hall is also frequently re ...

, Houston, TX. William Wayne Caudill, building architect. *1967–70, ''Baldacchino'', St. Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco, CA. Pietro Belluschi, building architect. *1970, ''Homage to North Carolina'', at

North Carolina National Bank North Carolina National Bank (NCNB) was a bank based in Charlotte, North Carolina, prior to 1960 called American Commercial Bank. It was one of the top banking institutions. From 1974 to 1983, the bank was run by Chairman and Chief Executive Office ...

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, **later at

North Carolina Museum of Art The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) is an art museum in Raleigh, North Carolina. It opened in 1956 as the first major museum collection in the country to be formed by state legislation and funding. Since the initial 1947 appropriation that e ...

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

*1970, ''Youth'', Fine Arts Museum of the South, Mobile, Alabama. *1975, ''Flora Raris'',

Hyatt Regency Atlanta The Hyatt Regency Atlanta is a business hotel located on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Opened in 1967 as the Regency Hyatt House, John C. Portman, Jr.'s revolutionary 22-story atrium design for the hotel has influenced hotel de ...

*1975, ''Homage to H.I.H. the Late King Faisal'',

InterContinental Intercontinental is an adjective to describe something which relates to more than one continent. Intercontinental may also refer to: * Intercontinental ballistic missile, a long-range guided ballistic missile * InterContinental Hotels Group (IH ...

Hotel Conference Center,

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...

, Saudi Arabia *1976, '' Ad Astra'', at the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...

in Washington, DC. Gyo Obata, building architect. *1977, ''Untitled'', Grand Court, Columbia Mall, Columbia, South Carolina *1977, ''In Skyspace'',

Kish International Airport Kish International Airport ( fa, فرودگاه بین المللی کیش, ''Fervadgâh-e Bin Almilli-ye Kish'') is an international airport on Kish Island, Iran. Description The Kish International Airport serves as the entry point for the ...

Kish Island Kish ( fa, کیش ) is a resort island in Bandar Lengeh County, Hormozgān Province, off the southern coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf. Owing to its free trade zone status, the island is touted as a consumer's paradise, with numerous malls, ...

, Iran *1980, ''Wings of Welcome'' at the

Hyatt Regency Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vacat ...

, in

. Py-Vavra, building architect. *1981, ''Winged Gamma'', for Park Avenue Atrium Building, New York with office of Edward Durell Stone *1984, ''Untitled'',

One Financial Center One Financial Center is a modern skyscraper adjacent to Dewey Square in the Financial District of Boston, Massachusetts. Built in 1983 by Rose Associates, it is Boston's 9th-tallest building, standing tall, and housing 46 floors. An unusual ...

, Boston *1985, ''Primal Energy'', Sohio Headquarters, Cleveland, Ohio *1985, ''Counterpoint with Architecture'', Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt, Germany *1986, ''Fire Bird'' at the Orange County Performing Art Center,

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish for "Table Coast") is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including part of the South Coast Plaza–John Wa ...

. Cesar Pelli, building architect. *1986, ''Copper Crystal'', Crystal Park II Building,

Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia Crystal City is an urban neighborhood in the southeastern corner of Arlington County, Virginia, south of downtown Washington, D.C. Due to its extensive integration of office buildings and residential high-rise buildings using underground corridor ...

*1986, ''Homage to South Korea'', Dae-Han Building, Seoul, Korea *1986, ''Orchidea'', Marina Mandarin Hotel, Singapore *1988, '' Ex Stasis'', Haggerty Museum,

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

. Kahler Slater, building architect. *1988, ''Encounter'' at

Fairlane Town Center Fairlane Town Center is a super-regional shopping mall in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan. The mall is adjacent to The Henry Hotel, The Fairlane Club, the University of Michigan–Dearborn, Henry Ford Community College, The Henry Ford, a ...

, Dearborn, Michigan (de-installed pending conservation)

Group exhibitions

* ''Origins of Modern Sculpture'', 1945 Organized by

Wilhelm Valentiner William Reinhold Valentiner (May 2, 1880 – September 6, 1958) was a German-American art historian, art critic and museum administrator. He was educated and trained in Europe, first working at the Mauritshuis in The Hague and at museums in Berli ...

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the list of largest art museums, largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation a ...

, January 22, 1946, to March 3, 1946 ** City Art Museum of Saint Louis, March 30, 1946, to May 1, 1946

Solo exhibitions

Willard Gallery The Willard Gallery was a contemporary art gallery operating in New York City from 1940 until 1987. It was founded by Marian Willard Johnson. History In 1936, Marian Guthrie Willard had founded the East River Gallery as an art rental gallery at ...

1947, 1948,1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1961, 1968, 1973 *

Arts Club of Chicago Arts Club of Chicago is a private club and public exhibition space located in the Near North Side community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States, a block east of the Magnificent Mile, that exhibits international contemporar ...

, ''Richard Lippold Sculpture'', 1954 *

Patrick and Beatrice Haggerty Museum of Art The Patrick and Beatrice Haggerty Museum of Art, sometimes referred to simply as "the Haggerty", is located at 13th and Clybourn Streets on the campus of Marquette University in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The museum opened in 1 ...

, ''Richard Lippold: Sculpture'', 1990–91

Publications

*''Notes in Passing'', by Richard Lippold, Arts & Architecture, August 1947. *''Before Band Wagons'',

Allene Talmey Allene Rosamond Talmey (January 11, 1903 March 13, 1986), later Allene Talmey Plaut, was an American columnist, editor, reporter and a film reviewer. She worked with various magazines and newspapers, including ''Vogue'' magazine, where she was a ...

, Vogue Magazine. August 15, 1949, p. 133. *''

Craft Horizons ''Craft Horizons'' is a periodical magazine that documents and exhibits crafts, craft artists, and other facets of the field of American craft. The magazine was founded by Aileen Osborn Webb and published from 1941 to 1979. It included editoria ...

'', June 1952. *''Four Artists in a Mansion'', Harpers Bazaar, July 1952. *French Vogue, May 1955. *''Lippold Makes a Construction'', by Lawerence Campbell, Art News, Oct. 1956. *''Eye on the Sun'', Vogue, February 1, 1958. *''Profiles: A Thing Among Things'', Calvin Tompkins, New Yorker, March 1963. *''Synergizing Space, Sculpture, Architecture and Richard Lippold at Lincoln Center'', Marin R. Sullivan, American Art, Summer 2019.

References

External links

Lippold in the Columbia Encyclopedia
* Marika Herskovic
''New York School Abstract Expressionists Artists Choice by Artists,''
(New York School Press, 2000.)

* ttp://cdm15264.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16075coll3/id/20 Richard Lippold "Shapes of the New Sculpture" The Baltimore Museum of Art: Baltimore, Maryland, 1964Accessed June 26, 2012
Richard Lippold & ''Orpheus and Apollo''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lippold, Richard 1915 births 2002 deaths Artists from Milwaukee Hunter College faculty University of Chicago alumni School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists American male sculptors Sculptors from Wisconsin Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters