1966.43: Three Birds; verso: Bird

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1966.43

People

David Smith, American (Decatur, IN 1906 - 1965 Bennington, VT)

Title

Three Birds; verso: Bird

Classification

Drawings

Work Type

drawing

Date

c. 1945

Culture

American

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/308871

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Black ink and blue-gray watercolor on cream wove paper (recto and verso)

Dimensions

actual: 25.4 x 18.4 cm (10 x 7 1/4 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription: upper edge, graphite: Show opposite
• inscription: verso, l.r., graphite: 1785-5

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

David Smith, Bolton Landing, New York, gift; to Lois Orswell, Pomfret Center, Connecticut, 1961, gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 1966.

NOTE: See correspondence from Mrs. Orswell in curatorial file for 1966.16: "Some time ago, David gave me the sketches saying they were early ones and would I give them to the Fogg "some time."... I think my name should not be used for the purposes of labels etc., and that they should be "gift of David Smith"."

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of David Smith

Copyright

© The Estate of David Smith / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Accession Year

1966

Object Number

1966.43

Division

Modern and Contemporary Art

Contact

am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description

Sheet has been cut; part of another bird shows at right edge.

Publication History

• Jeanne L. Wasserman, Six Sculptors and Their Drawings, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1971), no. 31
• James Harper, Verso: The Flip Side of Master Drawings, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2001), cat. no. 29, repr. (recto and verso), pp. 13, 16
• Marjorie B. Cohn and Sarah Kianovsky, Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2002), cat. no. 236, pp. 267 note 76, 349, 379
• Richard Mulholland, "Of Dreams and Visions and Things Not Known: Looking at David Smith's Drawing Media" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, 2003), Unpublished, pp. 1-43 passim

Exhibition History

• Six Sculptors and Their Drawings, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 05/07/1971 - 06/07/1971
• David Smith: "This work is my identity", Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 06/03/1995 - 05/05/1996
• Verso: The Flip Side of Master Drawings, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 05/19/2001 - 08/12/2001

Verification Level