Study for "Altar" 1963

Seymour Lipton made this Study for "Altar" with crayon on paper. There is something so raw, so immediate about the marks in this drawing, you feel like you are in the room with the artist, watching him work. The crayon is applied with a kind of furious energy. Look at the density of the hatching on the left-hand side of the image. It's as if Lipton is trying to carve out the form from the very paper itself. The roughness of the crayon strokes creates a beautiful texture, so tactile, almost like you could reach out and touch it. And then there are these little glimpses of light where the white of the paper shines through, creating a sense of depth. Even though it’s a preparatory sketch, it has a real solidity and boldness about it. I'm reminded of Milton Avery, with that same simplification of form, that same reduction to the essential. It's this kind of work that makes you realize that art isn't about perfection, it's about the process, the struggle, the journey of trying to make something new.