| Metal Art is a growing trend and hobby. Learn about | | | | commissioned by municipal authorities for public |
| Metal Art with Steel Sculptures | | | | plazas, parks, airports and buildings. The availability of |
| While marble and bronze have a historically been the | | | | public finds for commissioning large sculptures gave a |
| preferred medium for sculptors, new techniques in | | | | huge fillip to the genre of steel sculpting. |
| the use and shaping of steel have made it one of | | | | |
| the best mediums for the modern sculptor to use. | | | | Steel sculpting also ceased to be purely the work of |
| Steel is, it goes without saying, strong. It is also easy | | | | the artist, although the artistic values were not lost. |
| to maintain and the gloss of its finish lasts and does | | | | An example of this is Picasso’s 1967 creation |
| not dull with age. It needs little maintenance and is | | | | of a huge head of a woman in steel. This was done |
| able to capture delicate detailing and nuances. In the | | | | in Chicago and the complete piece was fabricated at |
| delicacy of its use, the sculptor is able to use it as | | | | a steel company that was located near the city by |
| precisely and the painter uses his brush. | | | | skilled industrial steelworkers who were able to use |
| | | | | the company’s equipment to raise, cut, weld, |
| Steel sculpture came into being at the hands of | | | | bend and shape enormous pieces of heavy steel |
| artists born at the beginning of the 20th century. | | | | together to create the final sculpture using based on |
| These sculptors would adopt and modify European | | | | the small model the artist had created for them to |
| modernism in such a dramatic fashion that they | | | | work with. |
| developed a style of their own. These artists | | | | |
| approached sculpture from a painte’s point of | | | | Although steel sculpture became popular in the years |
| view rather than a sculptor’s and found | | | | following World War II, most universities and art |
| meaning and beauty in industrial products and the use | | | | school did not have the expertise or equipment to |
| creation of geometric designs and abstract shapes. | | | | teach steel sculpting. However, by the 1970s, the |
| For them, steel was the material of choice. They | | | | popularity of the art form had created such a |
| understood that steel could replace not just the lines | | | | demand that these institutions were able to not just |
| and planes of marble, iron and even wood, but give | | | | procure the equipment needed to teach this art form |
| the finished work of art a power and presence no | | | | but were also were able to bring in teachers with the |
| other material could match. | | | | experience and skill to assist in the birth of a new |
| | | | | generation of sculptors who had both an |
| Steel sculpture opened the doors to new concepts. | | | | understanding of steel as a material and the skill to |
| The size of the sculpture was now limited only be | | | | create with it. |
| the imagination of the sculptor. And since steel was | | | | |
| immune to effects of weather, large outdoor | | | | Today, steel is the preferred material for large |
| sculptures became common. These were not just | | | | outdoor and very often, government commissioned |
| pieces for private collections and galleries, but were | | | | sculptures. |
| made for public places. Steel sculptures could now be | | | | |