For Albert Paley, the definitive turning point in his studio career - from metalsmithing on the intimate scale to fabrication on the monumental scale of public artworks - came in 1973 when he won the commission for the gates of the Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. Albert Paley: Sculpture, Drawings, Graphics and Decorative Arts includes a spectrum of Paley's works, maquettes, and proposals for major commissions, decorative arts, drawings, prints, and sculpture. Paley's projects range from the 260-foot bridge railings for the Main Street Redevelopment Project in his home, Rochester, New York, to the sculptural ornament of a gilt opera box handle for a Texas cultural compex. He orchestrates a team of professionals at his studio to create titanic sculptures, heroic archways, massive gates, and human-scaled functional objects such as ceremonial tables, desks, or lamps.
