Sphere
Gego (Gertrud Goldschmidt)
Venezuelan, born Germany. 1912–1994
1959
A painted-steel construction that suggests a sphere by assembling hundreds of evenly spaced steel rods so the artist can model volume as a lattice of lines rather than a solid mass.
From the front it reads as a near-perfect circular plane, but as you move the layered parallel rods shift into bands of density and delicate moiré-like shadows that make the form seem to vibrate and open into space.
Dating from 1959, this work shows Gego’s breakthrough in turning drawing into sculpture—prioritizing line, transparency, and spatial perception—and helped expand mid‑century modernism in Latin America toward airy, structural experiments.
Medium
Painted steel
Dimensions
22" (55.7 cm) diameter
Classification
Department
Credit
Inter-American Fund
Accession
115.1960
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
