David Smith Invents

Abstract Expressionist artist David Smith (1906-1965) was one of the most important American sculptors of the 20th century, and yet few publications dedicated to his creative output currently exist. "David Smith Invents" is the first book to focus on the artist's later works, including paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculpture, produced during the 1950s when he was fascinated by the interplay of concave and convex forms. Among the most famous examples of Smith's endeavours from this period are his steel sculptures of monumental scale-like his series Tank Totems, open, personage-like forms welded from steel tanks and pipes bought by the railcar load as industrial waste. Susan Behrends Frank opens a window onto the unusual working process employed by Smith, who was once a welder on an automobile production line. In spite of his industrial methods and materials, his works blurred the boundaries between sculpture, painting, and drawing, and his sculptures during this period were created in a pictorial fashion, in a single plane. One of his practices was to draw a white rectangle on the floor and position the metal parts of his sculpture within its boundaries. Featured throughout the book are extraordinary photographs taken by Smith of his sculptures, along with an enlightening essay on the photos by Sarah Hamill. Peter Stevens discusses Smith's materials and surfaces.