Beach Scene

David SmithWW-1949-112915

1949·Steel·58.4 × 60.6 × 20.3 cm (23 × 23 7/8 × 8 in.)

<p>David Smith found inspiration for his early work in the Surrealist sculptures of <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/34643">Alberto Giacometti</a> and <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/40418">Hans Arp</a>, as well as the paintings of <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/31309">Arshile Gorky</a> and <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/32048">Joan Miró</a>. Among the first American artists to master the use of steel and other industrial materials, Smith worked as a welder at a Studebaker automobile plant, where he gained firsthand experience with metal. He made <em>Beach Scene</em> early in his career, at a time when he was interested in organic forms and an unplanned, autonomous approach to art making: “I do not work with a conscious and specific conviction about a piece of sculpture,” he explained. “It is always open to change and a new association.”</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1949
Medium: Steel
Dimensions: 58.4 × 60.6 × 20.3 cm (23 × 23 7/8 × 8 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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