Study for "Loom" 1965

Seymour Lipton made this study for "Loom" in 1965, probably with charcoal on paper. Just look at how the marks form and build upon each other! You can almost feel Lipton's hand moving across the paper, figuring out the structure, the balance, the darks and lights. I imagine him stepping back, squinting, then diving back in, maybe muttering to himself, trying to bring this thing to life. The lines have this raw energy, a searching quality, like he’s wrestling with the form, pulling it out of the ether. You can see the push and pull, the way he’s trying to capture something solid, but also something that feels like it's in motion. Those heavy, dark strokes give it real weight, but the lighter, sketchier lines around it suggest movement, change, and maybe even some kind of hidden inner life. It reminds me a little of some of the cubist sculptors, like Archipenko, but with a more personal, angsty twist. It’s like he’s not just showing us the object, but also the struggle of trying to grasp it. That’s what makes it so alive. Artists are always riffing off each other, you know, a big conversation across time.