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A sculpture in silver metal of a disc and three rectangles on a silver base.

The sculpture is composed of three rectangles, the longest of the rectangles is vertical. Placed off-center at the top of the long vertical rectangle is the shortest which makes an l-shape at the top, a longer rectangle is placed on the shorter and extends to the right. The disc, which has two vertical creases running down the center, is placed on the edge of the second longest rectangle.

Gallery Text

The first decades of Smith’s career were dedicated to the proposition that it is possible to make fine art using industrial techniques and materials. In the sculptures on view here, he argues instead that it is equally possible to make sculpture out of sterling silver, a material usually reserved for tableware, jewelry, and religious objects. While in the past he had cast small pieces of jewelry, it was not until 1953 that he began to experiment with silver sculpture. The effort was spurred by a commission from the American manufacturer Towle Silversmiths, who were interested in expanding the material’s use. In 1953 Towle hired eight established artists to make one sculpture apiece. These objects formed the centerpiece of a touring exhibition that included silver objects dating from ancient times to the present. Smith’s contribution to this endeavor was Birthday, made of forms cut and twisted from the slab metal he was provided. The two later sculptures utilize many of the techniques he applied to bronze and steel. The welded Bird revels in gesture; its drip and splatter marks created by the torch attest to the artist’s movements much as tool marks do on a marble sculpture. These gestural markings contrast with the measured geometric forms and lightly marked surfaces of Books and Apple, in which welding simply serves to connect the cut and assembled parts. Although he made only eight sculptures in silver, these works were the point of departure for an exploration of reflective metals that culminated in the bright stainless-steel surfaces of the Cubi series, which were burnished to reflect the changing light of their outdoor settings.

With more than 60 objects in all media, the Harvard Art Museums have the largest and most complete museum representation of the work of David Smith,due primarily to the generosity of Lois Orswell.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1979.408
People
David Smith, American (Decatur, IN 1906 - 1965 Bennington, VT)
Title
Books and Apple
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
1957
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/212486

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Silver
Technique
Cast
Dimensions
76.2 x 53.3 x 12.4 cm (30 x 21 x 4 7/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: top of base, rt. rear: David Smith, Signed Date: 10 3 1957

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
David Smith, sold; to Mrs. Lois Orswell, 1960, gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1979.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Krauss 415

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Lois Orswell
Copyright
© The Estate of David Smith / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Accession Year
1979
Object Number
1979.408
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Ormonde Plater, "A Rugged Art Shapes Out of Iron", Knickerbocker News (1957), p. B11, ill.
  • E. A. Navaretta, "New Sculpture by David Smith", Art in America (Winter 1959), vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 96-99, p. 96, reproduced
  • Jane Harrison Cone, David Smith 1906-1965: A Retrospective Exhibition, exh. cat., Thomas Todd Co. (Cambridge, MA, 1966), p. 76, no. 320
  • Jeanne L. Wasserman, Six Sculptors and Their Drawings, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1971), no. 42, reproduced
  • Stanley Marcus, "The Working Methods of David Smith" (1972), Columbia University, pp. 139-140, 143, 147, 284, fig. 86, ill.
  • Rosalind E. Krauss, The Sculpture of David Smith, a Catalogue Raisonné, Garland Publishing, Inc. (New York, NY, 1977), p. 78, no. 415, reproduced fig. 415
  • "Sculptural Collage", Cape Cod Times (1979), n.p.
  • "La Chronique des Arts: Principales Acquisitions des Musées en 1980", Gazette des Beaux-Arts (1981), no. 1346, p. 45, p. 45, no, 247
  • Holliday T. Day, David Smith: Spray Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture, Arts Club of Chicago (Chicago, 1983), n.p.
  • Stanley E. Marcus, David Smith: The Sculptor and His Work, Cornell University Press (Ithaca, NY, 1983), p. 164
  • Caroline A. Jones, Modern Art at Harvard: The Formation of the Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Collections of the Harvard University Art Museums (New York, NY and Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Art Museums and Abbeville Press, 1985). With an essay by John Coolidge and a preface by John M. Rosenfield. To accompany the inaugural exhibition at the Sackler Museum, Oct 21 1985 - Jan 5 1986, reproduced in b/w fig. 108, p. 111
  • Kristin A. Mortimer and William G. Klingelhofer, Harvard University Art Museums: A Guide to the Collections, Harvard University Art Museums and Abbeville Press (Cambridge and New York, 1986), no. 155, p. 137, repr.
  • Miles Unger, "David Smith at Harvard", Art New England (1995), vol. 16, no. 6, p. 17
  • Sarah Kianovsky, David Smith: This Work is My Identity, brochure, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1995), p. 4
  • Margaret Moorman, "David Smith: Storm King Art Center", Art News (1997), vol. 96, no. 10, p. 231, p. 231
  • Candida Smith and Irving Sandler, The Fields of David Smith, Thames and Hudson, Ltd. and Storm King Art Center (New York and Mountainville, NY, 1999), pp. 80, 123, 144, 141, ill.
  • Marjorie B. Cohn and Sarah Kianovsky, Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2002), cat. no. 215 fig. 69, pp. 146 (color), 147, 348, 378, cover ill. (color)
  • Grace Glueck, "Lois Orswell, David Smith and Friends", The New York Times (New York, 2003), p. E48, ill.
  • Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Friends: Works from the Lois Orswell Collection, Harvard University, exh. cat., Knoedler & Co. Inc. (New York, 2003), p52
  • Rex Weil, "David Smith, Lois Orswell and Friends", Art News (2004), vol. 103, no. 3, n.p.
  • David Smith: A Centennial, exh. cat., Guggenheim Museum Publications (New York, 2006), p. 82
  • Carol Eliel, Anne Wagner, and Christopher Bedford, David Smith: Cubes and Anarchy, exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles, CA, 2011), pp. 140, 147, ill.
  • Consuelo Ciscar, Julio González/David Smith: un Diálogo Sobre la Escultura, exh. cat., Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno (Valencia, Spain, 2011), pp. 183, 218
  • "Review of David Smith: Cubes and Anarchy", website, 2012, http://www.caareviews.org
  • Stephanie Cassidy and Pamela N. Koob, A History in Art: A Timeline of the Art Students League of New York, Art Students League of New York (New York, 2012), n.p., ill. (color)

Exhibition History

  • Bienal de São Paulo , Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, 09/21/1959 - 12/31/1959
  • David Smith 1906-1965: A Retrospective Exhibition, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 09/28/1966 - 11/15/1966
  • Six Sculptors and Their Drawings, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 05/07/1971 - 06/07/1971
  • David Smith: 23 Related Sculptures, Drawings, Paintings, Fogg Art Museum, 01/01/1972 - 02/29/1972
  • David Smith: Sculpture, Drawings, and Paintings, Fogg Art Museum, 10/01/1979 - 11/25/1979
  • Modern Art at Harvard, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/21/1985 - 01/05/1986
  • David Smith: Sculptures and Drawings 1906-1965, Fogg Art Museum, 06/09/1990 - 08/05/1990
  • Shades of Significance: Tonal Value in Abstract Art, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 12/11/1993 - 02/25/1996
  • The Fields of David Smith [Part I], Storm King Art Center, 05/17/1997 - 11/16/1997
  • Modern Art at Harvard, Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, 07/31/1999 - 09/26/1999; Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Kagawa, 10/09/1999 - 11/14/1999; Matsuzakaya Art Museum, Nagoya, 12/02/1999 - 12/27/1999; Oita City Museum, Oita, 01/06/2000 - 02/06/2000; Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki, Ibaraki, 02/11/2000 - 03/26/2000
  • Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/21/2002 - 02/16/2003
  • Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Friends: Works from the Lois Orswell Collection, Harvard University, Knoedler & Co. Inc., New York, 11/14/2003 - 01/24/2004
  • David Smith: Cubes and Anarchy, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 04/03/2011 - 07/24/2011; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 10/06/2011 - 01/08/2012; Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, 01/27/2012 - 04/15/2012

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu