David Smith’s Sculptural Practice: Art Talk with Sarah Kianovsky

“Art is not divorced from life,” wrote sculptor David Smith in 1950. In this talk, curator Sarah Kianovsky takes a closer look at the sculpture “Doorway on Wheels” (1960) to learn how David Smith shaped his home and studio and harnessed modern materials and techniques, building artistic practice that transformed what sculpture could be.
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK:
David Smith, “Doorway on Wheels,” 1960, steel with paint, 1994.15. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Lois Orswell. © 2020 The Estate of David Smith / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. hvrd.art/o/303411
“David Smith: Sculpting Master of Bolton Landing” from the series “Art: New York,” produced for Channel 13/WNDT-TV, 1964. • David Smith: Cubes and...
Learn more about David Smith via the Estate of David Smith: davidsmithesta...
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Speaker: Sarah Kianovsky, Curator of the Collection, Division of Modern and Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museums.
This video is part of our Harvard Art Museums From Home: Art Talk series in which curators, conservators, fellows, and graduate students share short, informal videos that offer an up-close look at works from our collections.
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All works by David Smith © 2020 The Estate of David Smith. Archival images permission courtesy of the Estate of David Smith. Video excerpt comes from “David Smith: Sculpting Master of Bolton Landing,” the filmed interview of David Smith with Frank O'Hara from the series “Art New York,” produced by Colin Clark, (associate producer William Berkson), and directed by Bruce Minnix, for Channel 13/WNDT-TV, c. 1964. First televised 11 November 1964. 16mm., color, 29 minutes. Permission courtesy of the David Smith Estate and Maureen Granville-Smith, executor of the Estate of Frank O'Hara.
© President and Fellows of Harvard College. Video: Sarah Kianovsky. For questions related to permission for commercial use of this video, please contact the Department of Digital Imaging and Visual Resources at [e-mail].