Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 13
David SmithUntitled1936
1936
About the Item
"Untitled" is a painting by artist David Smith. The work is signed and dated in the upper left "David Smith (symbol) 1936".
When David Smith set up a workshop on the Brooklyn Navy Pier in 1933 to learn direct-metal techniques, he shared the space not with artists, but with professional welders. Yet as he stated in 1964, ‘…all my early friends were painters…I never conceived of myself as anything other than a painter because my work came straight through the raised surface.’
Picasso and Cubism would be dominant influences in Smith’s work. He understood that Picasso imagined the world as a sculptor might, and not necessarily limited to the unavoidable impact of Cubism. In addition to pursuing a kind of rethinking of the world in three-dimensionality on his own terms, by the late 1920s, Picasso had shown interest in surrealism. That meant drawing not as a depiction of reality, but rather as a reconfiguration of the body in an assemblage of often precariously balanced, interconnected forms — some expressed in a three-dimensional form, others as drawings or paintings.
Those processes are reflected in this work by David Smith; three fanciful totemic assemblages set within a landscape perspective of ground, mountains, and sky and whose presence is surreal enough to cast shadows under a presumed solar presence. Untitled, 1936 embraces surrealism, yet also serves to demonstrate the extent to which his thought processes are inextricably linked to sculpture and related to scale, spatial orientation, and three-dimensionality. With that in mind, it is not surprising to know that Smith saw no demarcation between sculpture and painting, or that a painting such as Untitled (1936) can exist outside of planning or design for future three-dimensional work.
Provenance:
Estate of David Smith, New York
Hauser & Wirth
Private Collection
Exhibition:
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, ‘David Smith: Skulptureen, Zeichnungen [David Smith: Sculpture and Drawings]’
Dusseldorf/DE, March 14 – April 27, 1986 (travelled to: Städtische Galerie im Stäelschen Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt/DE, June 19 – September 28, 1986: Whitechapel Art Gallery, London/UK, November 7, 1986 – January 4, 1987)
Hauser & Wirth New York, ‘David Smith: Origins & Innovations’, New York NY, November 13 – December 23, 2017
Literature:
Galerie Hans Strelow, David Smith, Die reifen Jahre 1951-1965. Skulpturen und Zeichnungen’, Dusseldorf/DE: Galerie Hans Strelow, 1986, no. 51 (exh. cat.)
- Creator:David Smith (1906-1965, American)
- Creation Year:1936
- Dimensions:Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Width: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Palm Desert, CA
- Reference Number:
About the Seller
4.8
Recognized Seller
These prestigious sellers are industry leaders and represent the highest echelon for item quality and design.
Established in 1996
1stDibs seller since 2011
101 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 6 hours
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Jackson, WY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
More From This SellerView All
- UntitledBy David SmithLocated in Palm Desert, CA"Untitled" is a painting by American artist David Smith. David Smith’s paintings from the 1930s rarely come to market, and when Untitled (Billiard Players) surfaced at a Christie’s auction in 2018, it created quite a stir, realizing an impressive price of $1.15 million. Painted around the same time, Untitled shares many similarities with Untitled (Billiard Players). Both paintings affirm Smith’s place among the American artists when ideas and style began to intermingle and coalesce around Picasso’s innovations. Uniquely positioned in temperament and ability, Smith was a man of considerable ambition whose direct-metal configurations would have much to do with achieving new ideas about abstraction. Yet all along, he insisted he was a painter, not a sculptor who painted. Paintings by Smith...Category
1930s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- MaskBy Nathan OliveiraLocated in Palm Desert, CAA painting by Nathan Oliveira. "Mask" is a Post-War painting, acrylic, earth, and oil on canvas by Bay Area Figurative artist Nathan Oliveira. The artwork is signed and dated in the ...Category
Late 20th Century Post-War Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic
- L'epreuveBy Roberto MattaLocated in Palm Desert, CAA painting by Roberto Matta. "L'epreuve" is a surrealist painting, oil on canvas in palette of grays, greens, and yellows by Latin American artist Roberto Matta. It is signed in the ...Category
Mid-20th Century Surrealist Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Flooded Small RoomBy Ryoko KatoLocated in Palm Desert, CAA painting by Ryoko Kato. "Flooded Small Room" is an acrylic on canvas executed in a bright palette primarily of blues, whites and pinks and depicts a young girl, dressed in a white ...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Acrylic
- Last Civil War VeteranBy Larry RiversLocated in Palm Desert, CA"Last Civil War Veteran" is an oil painting on panel made by Larry Rivers in 1961. The artwork size is 9 1/2 x 7 inches. The framed size is 12 3/4 x 10 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches. The work i...Category
Mid-20th Century Pop Art Abstract Paintings
MaterialsOil, Panel
- CoupleBy Constance MallinsonLocated in Palm Desert, CAA oil on paper painting by contemporary artist Constance Mallinson. "Couple" depicts a man in a woman standing side by side, their bodies comprised of organic materials, bark, leaves...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Paintings
MaterialsOil, Paper
You May Also Like
- EscandaloLocated in Miami, FLJohannes Boekhoudt is a Dutch artist born on October 20, 1966. In 1973, Boekhoudt immigrated with his parents to Costa Rica, eventually working as a commercial and air ambulance pilo...Category
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsOil, Canvas
- Last DanceBy Frank ArnoldLocated in Fresno, CALast Dance is an Oil on Canvas painting in soft, light aqua tones with red/brown accents. Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract...Category
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Moving 5By Frank ArnoldLocated in Fresno, CA“Moving 5” is 60”x 48”. The vibrant yellow surface tones of this piece are broken in several places allowing random glimpses of Arnold’s dreamlike underpainting for a multi-dimension...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Studio 1528By Frank ArnoldLocated in Fresno, CA"Studio 1528" Oil on Canvas presents a bold visage in blues and white on a mixed field dominated by blues and green tone. Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost ab...Category
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Freed 58By Frank ArnoldLocated in Fresno, CA"Freed 58" Oil on Canvas is full range of blues from near white to Blu Black surrounding central figure. Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract figurative...Category
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Z58By Frank ArnoldLocated in Fresno, CA"Z58" Oil on Canvas with heavy impasto range of Blue pigments. Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculptors of our time. He is...Category
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil