David Smith Exhibition to Open
at the Nasher Sculpture Center
Numerous works on public display for the first time
Dallas, Texas, March 2, 2005 — The Nasher Sculpture
Center will present David Smith: Drawing and Sculpting
from April 16 through July 17, 2005. Co-organized by the
Nasher Sculpture Center and the David Smith Estate, the
exhibition assembles approximately fifteen seminal sculpturesand
seventy major drawings and paintings from the Nasher Collection,
the David Smith Estate, and other public and private collections.
Featuring many works that have never been publicly displayed
before, the exhibition will illustrate not only the range
and quality of Smith’s work as a draftsman, but
also the complex ways that his drawings and paintings
inform his three-dimensional work.
Smith has long been recognized as one of the most important
sculptors of the 20th century. His protean career single-handedly
brought new maturity and international ambition to American
sculpture. Forty years after his death, his works still
astonish in their variety, technical mastery and brawny
creative energy. So powerful is Smith’s legacy as
a sculptor, however, that other, highly accomplished aspects
of his art exist in a shadowy realm of limited acknowledgement
and investigation. Such is the case with his drawings.
Smith drew regularly throughout his career for many different
reasons: to make notes, plans culptures, jot down observations,
explore graphic techniques, relax, and make beautiful,
independent works of art. His vast output of works on
paper provides a telling record of his visual thought
and experimentation and in themselves represent a great
aesthetic accomplishment. But they have never received
the recognition they deserve. David Smith: Drawing
and Sculpting willfocus on Smith’s history
and talents as a draftsman and explore the fascinating
interaction between his drawings, paintings, and sculptures.
Works exhibited will span from Smith’s early development
in the 1930s under the influence of European modernism
to the powerful and evocative constructions in iron and
steel from his maturity, and the drawings that accompanied
them.
“This is one of the few exhibitions ever mounted
to examine the interactions between Smith’s work
in different media,” said Dr. Steve Nash, Director
of the Nasher Sculpture Center. “We want to spotlight
the power and beauty of Smith’s drawings and also
contribute to the understanding of his working methods.
It will be a pleasure and honor to exhibit in Dallas so
many outstanding works by this great artist.”
Two special public programs will be offered to Center
guests in conjunction with the exhibition. First, a 28-minute
film, David Smith: American Sculptor, 1906-1965,
will be shown continuously in a viewing room adjacent
to the exhibition. Smith’s ideas about art and his
methods are revealed in archival footage of the artist,
through reminiscences of the sculptor by his daughters,
and by fellow artists Helen Frankenthaler and the late
Robert Motherwell.
Secondly, on Thursday, May 5 at 7 p.m., Candida Smith,
daughter of the artist and representative of The Estate
of David Smith, and Peter Stevens, Executive Director
of The Estate of David Smith will present illustrated
lectures entitled Remembering David Smith. Following
the presentations, Nash will moderate an informal discussion
including audience participation.
Nash and Smith are co-curators for the exhibition. Both
are contributing essays to the show’s catalogue,
which features full-page illustrations of all works in
the show, many historical photographs of David Smith and
his art and studio, and a compendium of statements by
Smith on drawing.
About the Nasher Sculpture Center
Open since October 2003, the Nasher Sculpture Center is
dedicated to the display and study of modern and contemporary
sculpture. The Center is located on a 2.4-acre site adjacent
to the Dallas Museum of Art in the heart of the Dallas
Arts District. Renzo Piano, a world-renowned architect
and winner of the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 1998,
is the architect of the Center’s 55,000 square foot
building. Piano worked in collaboration with landscape
architect Peter Walker on the design of the two-acre sculpture
garden.
The Nasher Sculpture Center is a longtime dream of Raymond
Nasher and his late wife Patsy, who together formed one
of the finest collections of modern and contemporary sculpture
in the world. The Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection
includes masterpieces by Calder, de Kooning, di Suvero,
Giacometti, Hepworth, Kelly, Matisse, Miró, Moore,
Picasso, Rodin, and Serra, among many others, and continues
to grow and evolve.
The Nasher Sculpture Center presents rotating exhibitions
of works from the NasherCollection as well as special
exhibitions drawn from other museums and private collections.
In addition to indoor gallery space, the Center contains
an auditorium, education and research facilities, a café,
and a store. The Nasher Sculpture Center is open Tuesday
through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Thursday
from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Center will also remain open
until 11 p.m. during the Thursday Night in the Center
and Saturday Night in the City programs. Admission is
$10 for adults, $7 for seniors, $5 for students, and free
for membersand children under 12. The price of admission
includes an audio tour. For more information, visit www.NasherSculptureCenter.org.
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For more information, please contact:
Brette Peyton
Richards/Gravelle on behalf of the
Nasher Sculpture Center 214.891.2970
brette_peyton@richards.com
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