Photo By Gail

Made primarily of blocks of wood, Marisol’s sculptors combine painting and figurative drawing with found objects — such as the sneakers and door in The Family (1962). “In the beginning,” the artist explained, “I drew on a piece of wood because I was going to carve it, and then I noticed that I didn’t have to carve it, because it looked as if it was carved already.”

This work was based on the above photograph of a family whose worn clothes and shoes suggest hardscrabble circumstances; with characteristic warmth and wit, Marisol has translated their dignity and charisma into three dimensions.

Photographed in The Museum of Modern Art in NYC.