Fragmented Figure Construction America, 20th century

Fragmented Figure Construction

1963

Richard Hunt

(1935–2023)

America, 20th century

welded steel

Base: 35.6 x 66 x 66 cm (14 x 26 x 26 in.); Unframed: 143.5 cm (56 1/2 in.)

Gift of Arnold H. Maremont 1969.16

Location: not on view

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Description

Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt embarked on his artistic career in 1955 when he taught himself to become a master welder. During the 1960s, his abstract work often referred to human, plant, and animal shapes. This sculpture balances on two splayed legs, appearing to strain and bulge with energy. Light and shadow define the curving ridges and hollows of its form, in which remnants of industrial waste are folded and fused together beyond recognition. Color and texture continually change as the eye scans the surface-from deep brown tones to flashes of coppery iridescence, and from scuffs and abrasions to polished sheens. Hunt relied on a vigorous technique to convey the presence of life and "the kind of forms nature might create if only heat and steel were available to her."