David Smith

American, 1906-1965. Ronald David Smith was an American sculptor and painter who gained recognition for his geometric metal sculptures made of iron, bronze and steel. In the 1930’s he developed friendships with avant-garde artists, including Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, Jackson Pollock, and John Graham. After being awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1950 and 1951, the scale of Smith’s work grew and he continued to attract attention having had a retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1957 and a major traveling exhibition of his work in 1961. Unlike other metal artists, Smith did not cast his works using a mold, he made them all from scratch, welding together the pieces with a torch in a technique likened to a painter working his/her brush on a canvas. He is perhaps best known for the Cubis series, which were among the last pieces he completed before his death. This Cubis were comprised of stainless steel, hand-brushed arrangements and focused on balance, shape and the contrast of positive and negative space, and are closely tied with Abstract Expressionist sensibilities.

Looking for auctions near me? Visit Bidsquare's Auction Near Me page to discover upcoming auctions near you.