Aurora, Steel sculpture at National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., United States
Aurora is a steel sculpture in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden that distributes eight tons of material across three diagonal supports. The intersecting beams converge at a central circular hub, creating a complex three-dimensional form.
The work was created in 1993 by Mark di Suvero and was first shown at Larry Gagosian Gallery in New York. It later moved to its current location in Washington, D.C., where it has remained since.
The name comes from a Federico García Lorca poem about New York, while the steel beams form a letter K honoring di Suvero's wife Kate. This link between literature and personal life adds meaning beyond the physical form.
The sculpture garden is open to the public and offers open space to view the work from different angles. Visitors should be prepared for changing weather since the sculpture is fully exposed to the outdoors.
The steel beams were engineered to converge at specific angles, creating a hidden mathematical structure beneath the visible form. This careful geometry is what allows the sculpture to stand and balance visually.
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