David Smith

Marian Willard and Dan Rhodes Johnson, New York (acquired directly from the artist)
Miani Johnson, New York (by descent from the above)
Diva Fine Arts S.A., Geneva
Acquired by the present owner from the above

New York, Neumann-Willard Gallery, David Smith, March – April 1940, cat. no. 3
Cambridge, MA, 15 Sculptors, May/June 1941
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, 1942-43 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, November 1942 - January 1943, cat. no. 115
New York, Buchholz and Willard Gallery, The Sculpture of David Smith, January 1946, cat. no. 11
David Smith (exhibition organized by American Association of University Women and the Willard Gallery, traveling to over a dozen venues in the United States) 1946 - 1951 (not shown at all venues)
New York, Willard Gallery, Selections: Marian Willard Collection, March 1947, cat. no. 25
New York, Kleeman Gallery, Group Show, May 1948
Edmonton, The Edmonton Art Gallery; Seattle Art Museum; Winnipeg Art Gallery; Ontario, Art Gallery of Hamilton; Ontario, Art Gallery of Windsor, David Smith: the Formative Years: Sculptures and Drawings from the 1930s and 1940s, January 1981 -  January 1982, cat. no. 13, pp. 46-47, illustrated
New York, Zabriskie Gallery, Eight New York School Sculptors: 1940 - 1955, April - May 1983
New Brunswick, The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, Dorothy Dehner and David Smith: Their Decades of Search and Fullfillment, January - March 1984, cat. no. 40, p. 52, illustrated
New York, Washburn Gallery, David Smith Painting into Sculpture, October - December 1990, illustrated
New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (and traveling), David Smith: a Centennial, February - May 2006, cat. no. 23, pl. 23, illustrated in color (New York only)

Elizabeth McCausland, ``David Smith's Abstract Sculpture in Metals'', The Springfield Sunday Union and Republican, March 31, 1940, p. 6E
Ernest W. Watson, ``David Smith - From Studio to Forge'', American Artist, vol. 4, no. 3 (March 1940), p. 21, illustrated
David Smith, ``Sculpture: Art Forms in Architecture... New Techniques Affect Both'', Architectural Record 88 (Oct. 1940), p. 77, illustrated
Milton W. Brown, ``American Art a Year after Pearl Harbor'', Art News,  Dec. 1, 1942, p. 10, illustrated
Maude Riley, ``The Modern Idiom in Concrete Terms: the Sculpture of David Smith'', MKR's Outlook no. 7 (Feb. 1946), p. 5, illustrated
``Notes and Topics: Publications Received'', The Architects Journal, April 25, 1946, p. 134, illustrated
Exh. Cat., Cambridge, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, David Smith: 1906-1965: A Retrospective Exhibition, 1966, p. 66, illustrated
Garnett McCoy, ed., David Smith, New York, 1973, fig. no. 14, p. illustrated
Rosalind E. Krauss, The Sculpture of David Smith: A Catalogue Raisonné, New York, 1977, cat. no. 134, fig. 134, illustrated
Karen Wilkin, ``David Smith: the Formative Years'', Update (the Edmonton Art Gallery), vol. 2, no. 1 (Jan/Feb 1981), p. 2, illustrated
Alain Kirili, ``David Smith: the Cult of the Solar Nude'', Sculpture, vol. 13, no. 3 (May-June 1994), p. 35, illustrated
Steven C. Munson, ``David Smith's Vision'', Commentary, vol. 121, no. 5 (May 2006), pp. 62-64

This sculpture is in very good condition. The steel appears to have been treated with a pigmented lacquer by the artist, achieving a warm honey brown color with some blackish undertones. There are some drips inherent to the application. This pigmented layer does show some signs of wear, revealing the underlying steel, at the tips and high points in some areas, such as the horizontal figures' ribcage (on the reverse as illustrated)and the small cylindrical form above the horizontal figure and 5 inches from the left. There is a 1 ¼ in. scratch and scattered tiny spots of loss to this layer on the back of the vertical arced shape, located 8 ½ to 9 ½ inches from the base. There is a cloudy white aqueous accretion on the font of the ``w''-shaped bottom form, located 5 inches from the left of the sculpture as illustrated. The base is the artist's original and bears the artist's signature. It appears to be varnished with some possible signs of old wear at the corners. There is a horizontal crack on one of the longest faces which bears evidence of attempts to fill and color match.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.