Lippold, Richard

Richard Lippold, (born May 3, 1915, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.—died August 22, 2002, Roslyn, New York), American sculptor known for his intricate abstract wire constructions.

Lippold studied at the University of Chicago and trained in industrial design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After graduating in 1937, he established an industrial-design studio in Milwaukee. Lippold later taught at several schools, including the University of Michigan and Hunter College (now part of The City University of New York).

In 1942, under the influence of Naum Gabo and Constructivism, Lippold began creating delicate weblike sculptures from brass, nickel, gold, and silver wire. Stretched taut between focal points and axes, these reflective rays describe an ideal and infinitely inclusive geometry. In some pieces (e.g., Gemini II, 1968), metal tubes or other forms are threaded onto the wires in complex patterns. Most of Lippold’s works were designed for suspension by anchor wires in the upper reaches of large rooms; Variations in a Sphere No. 10: The Sun (1953–56; gold wire), commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, is a major example. Constructions from the 1960s appeared in all kinds of public buildings: Orpheus and Apollo (Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City, 1961); Flight (Pan American [now MetLife] Building, New York City, 1963); Baldacchino (St. Mary’s Cathedral, San Francisco, 1967); Ad Astra (Mall entrance of the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C., 1976); and Winged Gamma (Park Avenue Atrium, 237 Park Avenue, New York City, 1981).