Add to Collection

Add this item to an existing or new collection.
Harvard Art Museums
Incorrect Username, Email, or Password
This object does not yet have a description.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1994.20
People
David Smith, American (Decatur, IN 1906 - 1965 Bennington, VT)
Title
Fish
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
1950-1951
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/232821

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Welded steel, painted cadmium red.
Dimensions
176.5 x 179.1 x 47 cm (69 1/2 x 70 1/2 x 18 1/2 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: On tail: David Smith, Signed Date: 1950-51

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
David Smith, sold; to Lois Orswell, 1961, gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1994.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Krauss 230

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
1994
Object Number
1994.20
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Publication History

  • Elaine de Kooning, "David Smith Makes a Sculpture Cathedral", Art News (1951), Vol. 50, no. 5, p. 51, p. 51
  • Gertrude Benson, "Whitney Show Hails Quality of U.S. Artist", Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA, 1951)
  • Barbara Baer, "The Welder Artist as a Liberating Force", Modern Lamps and Accessories (1952), vol. 1, no. 6, p. 14, p. 14, ill.
  • Hilton Kramer, "Month in Review", Arts (1957), vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 49-51, p. 49, 51, ill.
  • Robert M. Coates, "The Art Galleries: Double Retrospective", The New Yorker (New York, 1957), vol. 33, no. 13, pp. 123-126, p. 126
  • James Fitzsimmons, "Space and the Image in Art", Quadrum (1959), vol. VI, p. 73, p. 73
  • Hilton Kramer, "The Sculpture of David Smith", Arts (1960), vol. 34, no. 5, p. 39, p. 39
  • Jane Harrison Cone, David Smith 1906-1965: A Retrospective Exhibition, exh. cat., Thomas Todd Co. (Cambridge, MA, 1966), p. 4, 8-10, 43, 71, fig. 15, ill.; no. 177
  • Jane Harrison Cone, "David Smith", Artforum (1967), vol. 5, no. 10, p. 76, p. 76
  • David Smith, David Smith by David Smith, ed. Cleve Gray, Holt, Rinehart & Winston (New York, 1968), pp. 55, 72, ill.
  • David Smith, "Notes for David Smith Makes a Sculpture", Art News (1969), vol. 67, no. 9, p. 56, p. 56
  • C. R. Wasserman, "Fogg Presents Smith Sculpture", The Boston Globe (Boston, 1972), p. 18, p. 18, ill.
  • Garnett McCoy, David Smith, Praeger Publishers (New York, Washington, 1973), pp. 67-68, 77, 123, no. 39-40, ill.
  • Rosalind E. Krauss, The Sculpture of David Smith, a Catalogue Raisonné, Garland Publishing, Inc. (New York, NY, 1977), cat. no. 230
  • David Smith, "In Their Own Words: David Smith - sculpture is energy", The Christian Science Monitor (1978), p. 24, p. 24
  • Edward F. Fry and Miranda McClintic, David Smith: Painter, Sculptor, Draftsman, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and George Braziller (New York and Washington D.C., 1982), p. 14
  • Stanley E. Marcus, David Smith: The Sculptor and His Work, Cornell University Press (Ithaca, NY, 1983), p. 131
  • Mary Sherman, "Smith Exhibition: A Blockbuster Antidote", The Boston Globe (Boston, 1990), p. 66, p. 66
  • Peter Hastings Falk, The Annual and Biennial Exhibition Record of the Whitney Museum of American Art: 1918-1989, Sound View Press (Madison, CT, 1991), p. 370
  • Miles Unger, "David Smith at Harvard", Art New England (1995), vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 16-16, ill.
  • Frank A. Pasquale, "David Smith's Abstract Identity", The Harvard Crimson (Cambridge, MA, 1995)
  • Christine Temin, "Sculpture that won't let you stand still", The Boston Globe (Boston, 1995), n.p.
  • Sarah Kianovsky, David Smith: This Work is My Identity, brochure, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1995), reproduced in b/w p. 4
  • Ann Wilson Lloyd, "Museums and Galleries: David Smith at the Fogg Art Museum", Sculpture (1996), vol. 15, no. 1, p. 79, p. 79, ill. (color)
  • Sarah Schmerler, "David Smith: Matthew Marks", Art News (1998), vol. 97, no. 6, n.p.
  • David Smith: Photographs 1931-1965, exh. cat., Matthew Marks Gallery and Fraenkel Gallery, Inc. (New York and San Francisco, 1998), pp. 81, 114, pl. 71, ill.
  • David Smith: Paintings, Sculptures and Medals, exh. cat., Tel Aviv Museum of Art (Tel Aviv, 1999), p. 182
  • 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. 28
  • Marjorie B. Cohn and Sarah Kianovsky, Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2002), cat. no. 208, fig. 96, pp. 254-255
  • James Panero, "Exhibition Notes: Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art", New Criterion (2003), vol. 21, no. 6, p. 50, n.p.
  • Grace Glueck, "Lois Orswell, David Smith and Friends", The New York Times (New York, 2003), p. E48, ill.
  • Katie Stone, "Lois Orswell, David Smith and Friends: Knoedler & Company", Brooklyn Rail (2003), p. 15
  • Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Friends: Works from the Lois Orswell Collection, Harvard University, exh. cat., Knoedler & Co. Inc. (New York, 2003), p50
  • Richard Mulholland, "Of Dreams and Visions and Things Not Known: Looking at David Smith's Drawing Media" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, 2003), Unpublished, pp. 1-43 passim
  • Hilarie M. Sheets, "A Spiritual Journey", Art News, ARTnews (New York, NY, April 2004), p. 58 (repr. in color)
  • Laura Tansini, "Al Centre Pompidou Mostra Monografica di David Smith nel Centenaro della Nascita nell'Officina di Vulcano", Arte In (2006), n.p.
  • Marie-Guy Baron, "David Smith, le maitre du metal soude", Le Figaro (Paris, 2006), p. 28, ill.
  • Véronique Bouruet-Aubertot, "David Smith: l'homme de fer." Interview with Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, Connaissance des Arts (2006), pp. 90-92, pp. 90-92, ill.
  • Jean-Loup Bourget, "Exposition: La foret qui marche", Critique (2006), vol. 62, n.p.
  • "Sculpture Iconique", Vogue (Paris, 2006), p. 76, p. 76, ill.
  • "Weekend Update", website, 2006, n.p., ill.
  • David Smith, Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou (Paris, 2006), pp. 120, 301, cat. 17
  • Alexander Potts, David Smith: Personage (New York, 2006), p. 10, fig. 4, ill.
  • Eric Shanes, "Magic Giant: The Art of David Smith", Apollo (2007), p. 84, p. 84
  • Stephan Wolohojian and Alvin L. Clark, Jr., Harvard Art Museum/ Handbook, ed. Stephan Wolohojian, Harvard Art Museum (Cambridge, 2008), p. 223, ill.
  • David Smith: Working Surface - Drawings, Paintings, Sculptures 1932-1963, Galerie Gmurzynska (Zurich, 2009), p. 99
  • Joan Pachner, David Smith, Phaidon Press (London, 2013), p. 95, ill.

Exhibition History

  • Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings, Whitney Museum of American Art, 03/17/1951 - 05/06/1951
  • David Smith: Sculpture and Drawing, Kleemann Galleries, 04/01/1952 - 04/26/1952
  • David Smith, The Museum of Modern Art, 09/10/1957 - 10/20/1957
  • XXIX Biennale di Venezia: Lipton, Rothko, Smith, Tobey, U.S. Pavilion, XXIX Biennale di Venezia, 1958, 06/14/1958 - 10/19/1958
  • David Smith: 23 Related Sculptures, Drawings, Paintings, Fogg Art Museum, 01/01/1972 - 02/29/1972
  • Terminal Iron Works: The Sculpture of David Smith, Fogg Art Museum, 07/05/1972 - 09/15/1972
  • David Smith: Sculpture, Drawings, and Paintings, Fogg Art Museum, 10/01/1979 - 11/25/1979
  • David Smith: Five Sculptures in the Courtyard, Fogg Art Museum, 07/22/1981 - 09/20/1981
  • 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
  • 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: A Centennial, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 01/26/2006 - 05/14/2006; Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 06/14/2006 - 08/21/2006; Tate Modern, London, 11/01/2006 - 01/21/2007

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