Metal ARChives
A modern history of metal art told through journal & magazine archives
New York Times, January 25, 1967
“…If he had to do it again, he doesn’t think he would” because he has, “had almost no time to do anything else.” This candid and honest remark by De Rivera, expresses what many artists have felt… Regret in having taken a commission or personally committed to completing a piece (often one where creativity has not come easy) with the consequence of not being able to freely create other works. A sense of guilt then follows as you feel (and/or others perceive) ungrateful for the having the opportunities that other artists dream of…Including a Smithsonian commission. ~V.R.
New York Times, August 30, 1936.
“Business and professional men of a “handy Turn” with “basements or attics serve admirably as a scene of operations.” Sound familiar? Of course, this was before power tools and welding machines so an attic would not be a safe workspace for today’s metal artists. This article really takes you to a simpler time and illustrates the beginnings of the modern metal artists as we know it today. Take note that in 1936, “Not a few women in the metal hobby”, whereas now women make up a good portion of metal artists (and welders). ~V.R.