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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1966.43
People
David Smith, American (Decatur, IN 1906 - 1965 Bennington, VT)
Title
Three Birds; verso: Bird
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
c. 1945
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/308871

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black ink and blue-gray watercolor on cream wove paper (recto and verso)
Dimensions
actual: 25.4 x 18.4 cm (10 x 7 1/4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: upper edge, graphite: Show opposite
  • inscription: verso, l.r., graphite: 1785-5

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
1966.43
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Sheet has been cut; part of another bird shows at right edge.

Publication History

  • Jeanne L. Wasserman, Six Sculptors and Their Drawings, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1971), no. 31
  • James Harper, Verso: The Flip Side of Master Drawings, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2001), cat. no. 29, repr. (recto and verso), pp. 13, 16
  • Marjorie B. Cohn and Sarah Kianovsky, Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2002), cat. no. 236, 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Drawing Media" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, 2003), Unpublished, pp. 1-43 passim

Exhibition History

  • Six Sculptors and Their Drawings, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 05/07/1971 - 06/07/1971
  • David Smith: "This work is my identity", Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 06/03/1995 - 05/05/1996
  • Verso: The Flip Side of Master Drawings, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 05/19/2001 - 08/12/2001

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