Famed American sculptor Richard Serra, the 'poet of iron,' has died at 85

Famed American sculptor Richard Serra poses in front of Slat, a 1984 steel sculpture, after its reinstallation in La Defense, west of Paris, Dec. 15, 2008. (Jacques Brinon/AP)

Famed American artist and sculptor Richard Serra, known for turning curving walls of rusting steel and other malleable materials into large-scale pieces of outdoor artwork that are now dotted across the world, died Tuesday at his home in Long Island, New York. He was 85.

Considered one of his generation's most preeminent sculptors, the San Francisco native originally studied painting at Yale University but turned to sculpting in the 1960s, inspired by trips to Europe.