Presence
By Ibram Lassaw
Category: Sculpture
About
Lassaw’s contribution to the advancement of sculptural abstraction went beyond mere formal innovation; his promotion of modernist styles during the 1930s did much to insure the growth of abstract art in the United States. He was one of the founding members of the American Abstract Artists group, and served as president of the American Abstract Artists organization from 1946 to 1949.
Dimensions: 12′ x 7′ x 4′
Year Completed: 1960
Material: Welded metal
Owner: The Kemper Art Museum
About the artist:
Ibram Lassaw
Artist Bio: 1913-2003
Lassaw was born in Alexandria, Egypt, of Russian émigré parents, and moved to New York in 1921. He first studied sculpture in 1926 at the Clay Club and later at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York. He made abstract paintings and drawings influenced by Kandinsky, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and other artists. Influenced by his study of art history and readings in European art magazines, Lassaw began to make sculpture in the late 1920’s.
