1966.41: Studies for "Pillar of Sunday;" verso: Box Constructions

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1966.41

People

David Smith, American (Decatur, IN 1906 - 1965 Bennington, VT)

Title

Studies for "Pillar of Sunday;" verso: Box Constructions

Classification

Drawings

Work Type

drawing

Date

1945

Culture

American

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/308847

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Black ink, gray-blue watercolor, and spots of white gouache on cream wove paper; verso: graphite

Dimensions

actual: 25.4 x 18.5 cm (10 x 7 5/16 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription: in image, black ink and gray-blue watercolor, in artist's hand: [Black ink:] Tower of Sunday; [black ink:] ass Jaw; [black ink:] Pillar - of - Sunday / totem / [crossed out:] tower; [watercolor:] Assyrian / death bd / tabernacle / promenade / with twin / carriage / sacrament / platter
• inscription: verso, u.r., graphite, in artist's hand: Stainless / & / Bz / beads / with / projections
• inscription: verso, l.r., graphite, in artist's hand: 4" wide / live plates / get what you can!
• inscription: verso, l.l., graphite: 5776 / 7-7
• inscription: l.r., graphite: 1785-2

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

David Smith, Bolton Landing, New York, gift; to Lois Orswell, Pomfret Center, Connecticut, 1961, gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 1966.

NOTE: See correspondence from Mrs. Orswell in curatorial file for 1966.16: "Some time ago, David gave me the sketches saying they were early ones and would I give them to the Fogg "some time."... I think my name should not be used for the purposes of labels etc., and that they should be "gift of David Smith"."

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of David Smith

Copyright

© The Estate of David Smith / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Accession Year

1966

Object Number

1966.41

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

• The Sculpture of David Smith, exh. cat., Buchholz Gallery, Willard Gallery (New York, NY, 1946), reproduced inside back cover
• Jeanne L. Wasserman, Six Sculptors and Their Drawings, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1971), no. 32
• Karen Wilkin, David Smith: The Formative Years, Sculpture and Drawings from the 1930's and 1940's, exh. cat., Edmonton Art Gallery (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 1981), no. 60, fig. 35, p. 57
• William Rubin, ed., 'Primitivism' in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern, exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY, 1984), vol. II, p. 650, reproduced in b/w
• Sarah Kianovsky, David Smith: This Work is My Identity, brochure, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1995), reproduced in b/w p. 2
• Marjorie B. Cohn and Sarah Kianovsky, Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2002), cat. no. 235, fig. 97; pp. 214, 267 note 76 (repr. color), 349, 379
• 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

Exhibition History

• Six Sculptors and Their Drawings, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 05/07/1971 - 06/07/1971
• David Smith: The Formative Years, Sculpture and Drawings from the 1930's and 1940's, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, 01/06/1981 - 03/01/1981
• David Smith: "This work is my identity", Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 06/03/1995 - 05/05/1996
• Under Cover: Artists' Sketchbooks, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 08/01/2006 - 10/22/2006

Verification Level