Narrator: During the late 1920s, Spanish artist Julio González wanted to make sculptures that had the feeling of a three-dimensional drawing. He became one of the first artists to make work by welding metal.
Thirty years later, his work made a big impression on the American sculptor Richard Hunt.
Artist, Richard Hunt: I'd gone to New York, saw a couple pieces that were in The Museum of Modern Art. He talked about "drawing in space." I saw that as an exciting idea as a sculptor. It seemed to me, when I was modeling or carving, I'd always want things to be more involved with space. The possibilities were there because of the tensile strength of metal and because of the way you could put pieces together with welding. It seemed to me a way of being able to work more freely and improvisationally. And, actually, he developed the technique. He's one of the great unsung artists in my estimation.
Archival audio from: Oral history interview with Richard Howard Hunt, 1979 Mar. 3. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.