Art Encyclopedia - Iron Sculpture

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Iron Sculpture
Iron work is a very old craft, dating from the first Iron Age, but until the 20th century iron was seldom used as a material for sculpture.

Julio Gonzalez pioneered the use of welded iron in sculpture in about 1930, and Picasso followed him by making a large range of work in welded iron.

American artists such as David Smith, Alexander Calder and Theodore Roszak developed the direct working of iron, and by the 1940's and 1950's its use was so widespread that the period was called the "iron age" of sculpture.