American sculptor Richard Serra dies at 85

MADRID, 27 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The American sculptor Richard Serra (1938-2024) died this Tuesday at his home in New York at the age of 85 due to pneumonia, as reported by his lawyer John Silberman to the newspaper 'The New York Times'.

The Guggenheim Museum has mourned the loss of the artist, whose "monumental works reshaped our perceptions of space and form," as indicated through his profile on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter.

Serra, who created sculptures using massive walls of rusted steel that transformed museums and public spaces, was known for creations designed not only to be observed, but to be experienced. Among his creations, his sculptural group of eight elements 'The Matter of Time', which is in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, stands out.

Also gaining importance is the controversial 'Leaning Arch' installation, displayed in Manhattan's Federal Plaza from 1981 to 1989, at which time it was removed as a result of a federal lawsuit and has not been publicly displayed since. The plaque was 37 meters long and around four meters high.

In 2006, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid announced that the sculpture that this author had designed for the inauguration of the center in 1986, 'Equal-Parallel-Guernica-Bengasi', weighing 36 tons, "had been lost." Serra made a free duplicate that has been on public display in his permanent collection since 2009.

The artist, who was born in San Francisco to a family consisting of a Russian Jewish mother and a Spanish father, has seen his work represented in the best museums and collections in the world. He was awarded the Order of Arts and Letters of Spain in 2008 and the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts in 2010.