Artwork Details
15-5/8 x 22 x 6-1/2 inches (without mount) 17-3/4 x 22 x 6-1/2 inches (installed)
Mark DescriptionInscribed on verso at vertical post: David Smith 3-20-1954. F 383
Accession NumberGift of Mr. and Mrs. James W. Alsdorf
CopyrightArtist; (Martin Widdifield Gallery, New York, New York,) Sculpture by David Smith: Sculpture in Silver, 15 October - 02 November 1957. Purchased by Mr. and Mrs. James W. Alsdorf, Chicago, Illinois; given to the John Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana, now the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, in 1960.
David Smith referred to his sculptures of the 1950s, like Egyptian Barnyard, as “drawings in space.” Their open construction of lines and forms, here created from wrought and soldered silver, recall the gestural marks of his drawings. Smith’s forms allude to the contours of his natural surroundings. It has been suggested that they also refer to what only the mind’s eye could see—like the tracks of shooting stars, or the flight paths of birds that knife through a landscape.
Smith chose to work far away from cities. Over time, his 80-acre farm at Bolton Landing became the stage for his large-scale sculptures, which integrated completely with their natural surroundings, as can be seen in the image to the right.
Exhibition Name
Venue
Dates
Surrealism in American Art, Manifesta Biennal
Centre de La Vieille Charité
May 11, 2021 - September 26, 2021
The Fields of David Smith
Storm King Art Center
May 17, 1999 - November 15, 1999
David Smith Spray Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture
The Arts Club of Chicago
June 1, 1983 - June 30, 1983
Sesquicentennial Exhibition
Anderson Fine Arts Center
January 1, 1967 - February 28, 1967
Sesquicentennial Exhibition
David Owsley Museum of Art at Ball State University
October 25, 1966 - December 31, 1966
East West in Art
Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Date Unknown - October 15, 1966
David Smith: Sculpture in Silver
Widdifield Gallery
October 15, 1957 - November 2, 1957
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