Study

David SmithWW-1949-073158

1949·Pen and black ink, with green colored pencil, on ivory wove paper·51.6 × 66.5 cm (20 3/8 × 26 3/16 in.)

<p>Renowned today for his large metal sculptures, David Smith dropped out of the University of Notre Dame to become an automotive welder and riveter in the mid-1920s. In 1927 he joined the Art Students League in New York, where he first encountered the work of Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, and the Russian Constructivists. There he also became friends with Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning, Jan Matulka, and Jackson Pollock, all pioneering practitioners of abstraction in the United States.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1949
Medium: Pen and black ink, with green colored pencil, on ivory wove paper
Dimensions: 51.6 × 66.5 cm (20 3/8 × 26 3/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: David Smith

Artist

David Smith

Mixed Media

David Smith was an American artist and sculptor of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Smith is best known for his large, geometric sculptures formed from welded steel. As with other American Abstract Expressionists, including his friend, Jackson Pollock, Smith’s oeuvre was influenced by the Surrealist art movement.

Decatur, IN, United States

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