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A silver metal sculpture of a bird on a base with a matte finish.

The sculpture in silver metal is of an elongated, stylized bird standing on two thin legs. A large square of beaten metal on a handle forms the tail rising-up at a right angle to the body. The body is a lump of metal with a rough finish, three thin strands of metal stretch from it. One strand rises in a slight curve to a pronged head. One forms a ninety-degree angle to the body ending in a downturned prong; the other curves down and is connected to the bar of metal to which the tail is attached, it angles out with a pronged end.

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
1979.409
People
David Smith, American (Decatur, IN 1906 - 1965 Bennington, VT)
Title
Bird
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
1957
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/212487

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Silver
Technique
Cast
Dimensions
52.39 x 58.42 x 11.11 cm (20 5/8 x 23 x 4 3/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: top of base, at front: David Smith, 9/7/57

Provenance

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

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Krauss 414

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
1979.409
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.
  • Jeanne L. Wasserman, Six Sculptors and Their Drawings, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1971), no. 41
  • Stanley Marcus, "The Working Methods of David Smith" (1972), Columbia University, p. 139
  • Rosalind E. Krauss, The Sculpture of David Smith, a Catalogue Raisonné, Garland Publishing, Inc. (New York, NY, 1977), p. 78, no. 414, reproduced fig. 414
  • "Grand Contructions: Fogg Exhibition Shows David Smith in Three Media", Fogg Art Museum Newsletter, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1979), vol. 17, no. 1, p. 3
  • Miranda McClintic, David Smith: The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington D.C., 1979), p. 18
  • 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), p. 137
  • Miles Unger, "David Smith at Harvard", Art New England (1995), vol. 16, no. 6, p. 16
  • Frank A. Pasquale, "David Smith's Abstract Identity", The Harvard Crimson (Cambridge, MA, 1995)
  • Sarah Kianovsky, David Smith: This Work is My Identity, brochure, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1995), p. 5, reproduced in b/w
  • Ann Wilson Lloyd, "Museums and Galleries: David Smith at the Fogg Art Museum", Sculpture (1996), vol. 15, no. 1, p. 79, p. 79
  • 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), p. 141
  • Marjorie B. Cohn and Sarah Kianovsky, Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2002), cat. no. 214, fig. 90, pp. 226-227 (color), 348, 378
  • Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Friends: Works from the Lois Orswell Collection, Harvard University, exh. cat., Knoedler & Co. Inc. (New York, 2003), p51
  • Lance Esplund, "Lions in the Mud: The Alchemy and Mythology of David Smith", Modern Painters (2004), pp. 78-79, 81, ill. (color)
  • Consuelo Ciscar, Julio González/David Smith: un Diálogo Sobre la Escultura, exh. cat., Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno (Valencia, Spain, 2011), p. 183

Exhibition History

  • 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
  • David Smith: Sculptures and Drawings 1906-1965, Fogg Art Museum, 06/09/1990 - 08/05/1990
  • David Smith: "This work is my identity", Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 06/03/1995 - 05/05/1996
  • The Fields of David Smith [Part III], Storm King Art Center, 05/17/1999 - 11/15/1999
  • 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, Related Clues: Drawings, Paintings and Sculpture 1931-1964, Gagosian Gallery, New York, New York, 03/05/2004 - 04/17/2004

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