Richard Serra
American, 1938 - 2024
Richard Serra, the son of an artist and a factory worker, was born in San Francisco in 1938. Initially he studied literature at the University of California at Berkeley, earning his B.A. degree in 1961. He supported himself by working in steel factories. In 1964 he received an M.F.A. from Yale University, working under Josef Albers. Prestigious fellowships allowed him to spend the next two years working in Europe.
Serra returned to the United States in 1966. He became part of a circle of West Coast abstract artists including Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, and Keith Sonnier, whose aim was to expand the perception and potential of various media. After experimenting with formations of rubber and neon tubing on walls, Serra started to incorporate the horizontal floor plane as part of his sculptural field. He soon became interested in the qualities of heavy metals and is perhaps best known for his lead prop pieces and steel plates. Often hundreds of feet long and weighing several tons, these monolithic sculptures focus on gravity, balance, and power, yet retain a certain beauty and simplicity.
Serra hoped to redefine the relationship between art and the viewer by creating space that is "discerned physically rather than optically." Although large-scale, site-specific sculptural installations in interior, exterior, and landscape settings remain his primary interest, Serra has also examined related themes in drawing, film and video, and printmaking, exploiting the specific processes and possibilities unique to each medium. In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, many of Serra's large-scale sculpture commissions caused great controversy and public upheaval owing in part to their stark and unsettling presence. Serra is considered among the best artists of his generation.
[This is an excerpt from the interactive companion to the videodisc American Art from the National Gallery of Art.]
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Promenade Notebook Drawing for Obama from Artists for Obama
Promenade Notebook Drawing for Obama from Artists for Obama
Richard Serra, Xavier Fumat, Gemini G.E.L. · 2008 · etching on gray wove Bockingford paper from a portfolio of eight lithographs and five etchings · Accession ID 2009.69.1.11
Artwork

Artists for Obama [special proof]
Artists for Obama [special proof]
Susan Rothenberg, Richard Tuttle, Gemini G.E.L., Various Artists, John Baldessari, Jonathan Borofsky, Frank Gehry, Ann Hamilton, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Brice Marden, Julie Mehretu, Ken Price, Ed Ruscha, Richard Serra · 2008 · portfolio of eight lithographs and five etchings (one with aquatint) on wove paper · Accession ID 2009.69.1.1-13
Artwork

Between the Torus and the Sphere IV
Between the Torus and the Sphere IV
Erik Beehn, Jonathan Cross, Xavier Fumat, Anna Medina, Amber Rissman, Gemini G.E.L., Richard Serra · 2006 · photo-etching in black on Fabriano Print Satin wove paper · Accession ID 2015.23.87
Artwork

Between the Torus and the Sphere III
Between the Torus and the Sphere III
Richard Serra, Erik Beehn, Xavier Fumat, Anna Medina, Gemini G.E.L. · 2006 · photo-etching in black on Fabriano Print Satin wove paper · Accession ID 2015.23.114
Artwork

Between the Torus and the Sphere II
Between the Torus and the Sphere II
Richard Serra, Erik Beehn, Jonathan Cross, Xavier Fumat, Case Hudson, Gemini G.E.L. · 2006 · photo-etching in black on Fabriano Print Satin wove paper · Accession ID 2015.23.113
Artwork

Between the Torus and the Sphere I
Between the Torus and the Sphere I
Richard Serra, Erik Beehn, Jonathan Cross, Xavier Fumat, Scott Hassell, James Reid, Gemini G.E.L. · 2006 · photo-etching in black on Fabriano Print Satin wove paper · Accession ID 2015.23.112
Artwork

Between the Torus and the Sphere V
Between the Torus and the Sphere V
Richard Serra, Erik Beehn, Jonathan Cross, Xavier Fumat, Gemini G.E.L. · 2006 · photo-etching in black on Fabriano Print Satin wove paper · Accession ID 2015.23.88