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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1966.40
People
David Smith, American (Decatur, IN 1906 - 1965 Bennington, VT)
Title
Study for "False Peace Spectre;" verso: Sketch
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1945
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/308869

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black ink, blue-gray and purple watercolor, graphite, and white gouache on cream wove paper, scorched and repaired with notebook paper patch; verso: blue-gray watercolor and graphite
Dimensions
25.3 x 18.6 cm (9 15/16 x 7 5/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: blue-gray watercolor, u.r.: DS1945; and black ink l.r.: [delta sigma, for D.S.] 1945
  • inscription: in image, blue-gray watercolor and black ink, in artist's hand: [watercolor:] Spectre with capital peace / DS1945; [black ink:] larger -> / stainless / hooks; [black ink:] lower; [watercolor:] [plugW]; [watercolor:] Bz [=bronze]; [watercolor:] Bz ->; [watercolor:] Cast Bz
  • inscription: verso, l.r., graphite: 1785-9

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
1966.40
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Commentary
The figure with the string instrument may relate to "Cello Player," a 1946 sculpture.

Publication History

  • 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. 59, fig. 40, p. 60; illustrated p. 13
  • Marjorie B. Cohn and Sarah Kianovsky, Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2002), cat. no. 234, pp. 267 note 76, 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
  • David McCarthy, David Smith's Spectres of War and Peace, Art Journal, College Art Association of America (New York, 2010), Vol. 69, no. 3; pp. 20-39, p. 31, 33, ill.

Exhibition History

  • 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
  • Under Cover: Artists' Sketchbooks, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 08/01/2006 - 10/22/2006
  • 32Q: 1320 Social Realism, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/04/2021 - 01/27/2022

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