Selected Exhibitions

David Smith. Cubi XII. 1963. Stainless steel, 109 5/8 x 49 1/4 x 32 1/4 in. (278.4 x 125.1 x 81.9 cm). Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation, 1972. Courtesy Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. © 2024 The Estate of David Smith / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.

 
 

David Smith: The Nature of Sculpture

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI

September 23, 2024 - March 2, 2025

David Smith: The Nature of Sculpture will be the first exhibition to focus on Smith's deep engagement with the natural world as source, subject, and site for his art. Celebrated for his pioneering incorporation of industrial techniques into his practice, Smith's enlistment of nature as a material and prime setting for sculpture was equally innovative. Spanning Smith's full career, the exhibition will feature some 40 sculptures, along with related paintings, reliefs, and works on paper to reclaim the primacy of nature within the artist's richly inventive oeuvre. This exploration of sculpture and nature will have particularly strong resonance at Meijer Gardens, where Smith's work will be in direct dialogue with the natural environs, including larger pieces situated outdoors to commune with the elements as the artist intended. Curated by Suzanne Ramljak, the Meijer's Vice President of Collections & Curatorial Affairs.

Installation view, Hauser & Wirth, New York, No One Thing. David Smith: Late Sculptures, February 1 - April 13, 2024. Photo: Thomas Barratt courtesy Hauser & Wirth

 
 

No One Thing. David Smith: Late Sculptures

Hauser & Wirth, New York, NY

February 1 - April 13, 2024

No One Thing. David Smith: Late Sculptures, features large painted sculptures made within the last five years of Smith's life. During this period, Smith radically enlarged the scale of sculpture, deploying his welding skills to fuse large steel plates and other industrial elements while allowing for improvisation. His innovations would forever change the art-historical paradigm of sculpture-making. The title of the exhibition, curated by Alexis Lowry and composed of seven sculptures, pays homage to Smith's versatility, stylistic ingenuity, and relentless experimentalism. As Smith said in 1951, "My reality...is not one thing; it is a chain of interlocking visions."

David Smith. Untitled (Piat). 1946. Tempera on calendared paper mounted on masonite, 23 1/2 x 29 5/8 in. (59.7 x 75.2 cm). © 2023 The Estate of David Smith / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.

 
 

Songs of the Horizon: David Smith, Music, and Dance

The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY

June 24 - September 17, 2023

Songs of the Horizon: David Smith, Music, and Dance is the first museum exhibition to focus exclusively on the influence of music and dance in David Smith's work. It features rarely seen sculptures, paintings, and drawings on loan from major private and public collections, as well as art and archival materials from the Estate of David Smith in addition to works from the Hyde's permanent collection. Music and dance played significant roles in David Smith's life. Through his first wife, artist Dorothy Dehner, modern dance became one of his first introductions to avant-garde expression. He enjoyed jazz clubs and classical concerts in New York City and among a vibrant artistic community in the southern Adirondack region. Musicians and dancers absorbed in their practice provided a frontier of formal and psychological exploration for Smith, which he registered in painting, drawing, and sculpture.

Installation view, Hauser & Wirth New York, David Smith: Follow My Path, April 27 - July 30, 2021. Photo: Thomas Barratt courtesy Hauser & Wirth

 
 

David Smith: Billiard Players

Neuberger Museum of Art

November 17, 2021 - February 20, 2022

David Smith: Billiard Players focuses on a group of works Smith made from 1935 to 1945 that depict a billiards player as he takes aim at the ball. The implied potential kineticism of the subject underscores Smith's sculptures, drawings, and paintings on the theme, while he worked through the aesthetic styles of Expressionism, Cubism, and Surrealism during this early and fertile period of his career. Seen together, the Billiards Players provoke questions involving motion, time, masculinity, personal iconography and the space between representation and abstraction. 

Installation view, Hauser & Wirth New York, David Smith: Follow My Path, April 27 - July 30, 2021. Photo: Thomas Barratt courtesy Hauser & Wirth

 
 

David Smith: Follow My Path

Hauser & Wirth New York, 69th Street Gallery

April 27 - July 30 2021

Installation View, David Smith. Sprays. 2020. HWVR.

Installation View, David Smith. Sprays. 2020. HWVR.

 
 

David Smith. Sprays

Hauser & Wirth Virtual Reality

September 28, 2019 – January 5, 2020





Untitled (Candida). 1965. Stainless steel, 103 x 120 x 31 in. (261.6 x 304.8 x 78.7 cm). Private collection. Photo: Jonty Wilde, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Untitled (Candida). 1965. Stainless steel, 103 x 120 x 31 in. (261.6 x 304.8 x 78.7 cm). Private collection. Photo: Jonty Wilde, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park

 
 

David Smith: Sculpture 1932–1965

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK

June 22, 2019 - January 5, 2020

Untitled (Candida). 1965. Stainless steel, 103 x 120 x 31 in. (261.6 x 304.8 x 78.7 cm). Private collection. Photo: Jonty Wilde, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Installation view, Bolton Landing Historical Museum, Landscapes Lost and Found, May 25 - October 14, 2019. Photo courtesy Bolton Historical Museum

 
 

Landscapes Lost and Found

Bolton Historical Museum, Bolton Landing, NY

May 25 – October 14, 2019

 
Installation view, Frist Art Museum, Monsters and Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s, June 21 - September 29, 2019. Photo: John Schweikert, courtesy Frist Art Museum

Installation view, Frist Art Museum, Monsters and Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s, June 21 - September 29, 2019. Photo: John Schweikert, courtesy Frist Art Museum

 

Monsters and Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT

October 20, 2018 – January 13, 2019

Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD

February 24 – May 26, 2019

Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN

June 21 – September 29, 2019

 
25 Planes. 1958. Stainless steel, 138 x 66 3/4 x 15 3/4 in. (350.5 x 169.5 x 40.0 cm). National Gallery of Australia. Photo courtesy National Gallery of Australia

David Smith. 25 Planes. 1958. Stainless steel, 138 x 66 3/4 x 15 3/4 in. (350.5 x 169.5 x 40.0 cm). National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Purchase (1978.31)

 
 

American Masters: 1940–1980

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia

August 24 – November 11, 2018

Untitled. 1957. Egg ink and tempera on paper, 17 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. (44.4 x 57.2 cm). Private collection. Photo: Damian Griffiths

Untitled. 1957. Egg ink and tempera on paper, 17 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. (44.4 x 57.2 cm). Private collection. Photo: Damian Griffiths

 
 

The Sculptor’s Drawings

Museo Novecento, Florence, Italy

April 20 – July 12, 2018

 
Untitled (Rectangular Bronze Relief). 1956-57. Bronze, 5 11/16 x 9 3/4 x 1 3/8 in. (14.4 x 24.8 x 3.5 cm). Private collection. Photo: EPW Studio

Untitled (Rectangular Bronze Relief). 1956-57. Bronze, 5 11/16 x 9 3/4 x 1 3/8 in. (14.4 x 24.8 x 3.5 cm). Private collection. Photo: EPW Studio

 
 

Sumer and the Modern Paradigm

Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

November 3, 2017 – January 21, 2018

Untitled. c. 1958-59. Steel, metal, and paint, 30 5/8 x 16 11/16 x 5 7/16 in. (77.8 x 42.4 x 13.8 cm). Private collection. Photo: Christopher Burke Studio, courtesy of Hauser & Wirth

Untitled. c. 1958-59. Steel, metal, and paint, 30 5/8 x 16 11/16 x 5 7/16 in. (77.8 x 42.4 x 13.8 cm). Private collection. Photo: Christopher Burke Studio, courtesy of Hauser & Wirth

 
 

David Smith: Origins & Innovations

Hauser & Wirth, New York, NY

13 November – 23 December 2017

 
Installation view, Hauser & Wirth Zürich, Alexander Calder / David Smith. June 10 - September 16, 2017. Photo courtesy Hauser & Wirth

Installation view, Hauser & Wirth Zürich, Alexander Calder / David Smith. June 10 - September 16, 2017. Photo courtesy Hauser & Wirth

 
 

Alexander Calder / David Smith

Hauser & Wirth, Zürich, Switzerland

June 10 – September 16, 2017

Primo Piano II. 1962. Steel, bronze, stainless steel, and paint, 85 x 158 x 15 in. (215.9 x 401.3 x 38.1 cm). Private collection. Photo: Jerry L. Thompson

Primo Piano II. 1962. Steel, bronze, stainless steel, and paint, 85 x 158 x 15 in. (215.9 x 401.3 x 38.1 cm). Private collection. Photo: Jerry L. Thompson

 
 

David Smith: The White Sculptures

Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, NY

May 13 — November 12, 2017

 
Installation view, Hauser & Wirth, Serialities, February 15 - April 8, 2017. Photo courtesy Hauser & Wirth

Installation view, Serialities Hauser & Wirth, New York, February 15 - April 8, 2017. Photo courtesy Hauser & Wirth.

 
 

Serialities

Hauser & Wirth, New York, NY

February 15 – April 8, 2017

 

David Smith. Forging IX. 1955. Steel and metal, 72 1/2 x 7 5/8 x 7 5/8 in. (184.2 x 19.4 x 19.4 cm). Private collection. Photo: Rob McKeever

 
 

Nothing and Everything: Seven Artists, 1947 - 1962

Hauser & Wirth, New York, NY

February 2 – April 1, 2017

David Smith. Blackburn, Song of an Irish Blacksmith. 1949–50. Steel, bronze, paint, metal; marble base, 46 1/16 x 40 3/4 x 22 7/8 in. (117 x 103.5 x 58.1 cm). Base: h. 8 in. (20.3 cm), diam. 7 1/2 in. (19.1 cm). Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg (1232/1968).

 
 

Abstract Expressionism

Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK

September 24, 2016 – January 2, 2017

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

February 3 – June 4, 2017

 

David Smith. Anchorhead. 1952. Steel, paint, metal, 76 3/4 x 25 3/4 x 21 1/2 in. (194.9 x 65.4 x 54.6 cm). Private Collection. The Estate of David Smith, New York.

 
 

Giacometti-Smith

Ordovas Gallery, London, UK

February 6 — April 11, 2015

 

David Smith. Primo Piano III. 1962. Steel, paint, 124 × 146 × 19 in. (315 × 370.8 × 48.3 cm). The Estate of David Smith, New York. Shown installed in Raw Color: The Circles of David Smith, Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Mass., July 4 - October 19, 2014. Photo courtesy Clark Art Institute.

 
 

Raw Color: The Circles of David Smith


Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA
July 4, 2014 — October 19, 2014

 

David Smith. Running Daughter. 1956; 1960. Steel, paint, 100 1/2 × 34 × 20 1/4 in. (255.3 × 86.4 × 51.4 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 50th Anniversary gift of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Kolin (81.42).

 
 

The Whitney's Collection

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

September 28 – April 4, 2016

 

Installation view, Encounters with the 1930s, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, October 3, 2012 - January 7, 2013. Photo courtesy Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.

 
 

Encounters with the 1930s

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain

October 3, 2012 – January 7, 2013

 

Installation view, David Smith: Cubes and Anarchy, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, April 3 – July 24, 2011. Photo courtesy Los Angeles County Museum.

 
 

David Smith: Cubes and Anarchy

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA

April 3 – July 24, 2011

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

October 6, 2011 – January 8, 2012

Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH

January 28 – April 15, 2012

 

Installation view, David Smith: A Centennial, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, February 3 - May 14, 2006. Photo courtesy Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

 
 

David Smith: A Centennial

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY

February 3 – May 14, 2006