Construction in Space: Suspended, 1957/64, altered c.1966

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A pioneering Constructivist artist, Naum Gabo developed a transformative approach to sculpture, breaking solid mass into interlocking planes, lines, and geometric shapes punctuated by open spaces. Using glass, metal, and plastics, Gabo worked additively, building his sculptures piece by piece to create precise, linear forms, buoyed by lightness and dynamism. His works were mostly abstract and architectural, like Column (c. 1923), a clear vertical column ringed by an open circle and sliced by multicolored planes. Gabo sought a new visual language that was in sync with society and humanity, with space and time as its basic elements. He outlined his approach in his Realistic Manifesto, which he published with his brother, Anton Pevsner. “Space and time are the only forms on which life is built,” he wrote, “and hence art must be constructed.”