Picasso and the Age of Iron

This handsome catalogue of a recent exhibit at Manhattan's Guggenheim Museum traces a fluid exchange of ideas among five sculptors who worked in iron between the world wars. Pablo Picasso and his Catalan compatriot Julio Gonzales collaborated on daring iron sculptures between 1928 and 1931. These ``drawings in space'' influenced American sculptors Alexander Calder and David Smith. Calder's experiments in iron ranged from delicate linear wire pieces to large fantastic shapes, while Smith invented iconoclastic forms that carried their own story with them. Meanwhile, Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti equated sculpture with mental space in works that explored the realm of human psychology. Art historian Ashton perceptively relates the iron sculptures of these five artists to the Surrealist obsession with objects. Spanish scholar Serraller fills in the political backdrop and also links their work to the Greek myth of the celestial blacksmith, with iron as a metaphor for the union of body and spirit. Gimenez curated the exhibit. (Aug.)