2 Circle IV
Artist: David Smith (American, 1906-1965)
Date: 1962
Dimensions:
with base: 9 ft., 11 in. x 65 in.x 28 in. (3 m x 165.1 cm x 71.1 cm)
Medium: painted steel
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 2001.3
Label Text:2 Circle IV is one of a series of sculptures in which David Smith, considered perhaps the greatest American sculptor of the 20th century, explored the interaction between shape, color, and gesture. Seen from afar it seems to be simply a round field of yellow over another circular blue field—creating a beautiful interaction between color and form. Coming closer reveals a surprise: 2 Circle IV’s surface is as painterly and full of gesture as a Willem de Kooning painting (see Lily Pond in this gallery). Smith experimented with automotive paint, but deliberately avoided the smooth finish characteristic of spray application. Instead, he applied the paint with a brush, treating the steel form almost as a shaped canvas.
Smith worked as a welder and riveter in a Studebaker factory in 1925 before studying to be a painter. When he turned to sculpture in the early 1930s, he brought both his knowledge of automotive assembly and his training as a painter to his conception of his work. For 2 Circle IV he used an acetylene torch to cut out the abstracted bird-in-flight shapes and welded the two imperfect circles together.
Smith worked as a welder and riveter in a Studebaker factory in 1925 before studying to be a painter. When he turned to sculpture in the early 1930s, he brought both his knowledge of automotive assembly and his training as a painter to his conception of his work. For 2 Circle IV he used an acetylene torch to cut out the abstracted bird-in-flight shapes and welded the two imperfect circles together.
Description2 Circle IV consists of two circles of steel plate welded together where the circles overlap slightly. The bottom circle is welded to a thick cross-shaped steel base lying on its flat side. The two circles each have a shape cut from the center. While abstract, each open shape resembles the form of a bird in flight. The top circle is painted yellow and the bottom one is painted blue.
2 Circle IV consists of two circles of steel plate welded together where the circles overlap slightly. The bottom circle is welded to a thick cross-shaped steel base lying on its flat side. The two circles each have a shape cut from the center. While abstract, each open shape resembles the form of a bird in flight. The top circle is painted yellow and the bottom one is painted blue.
2 Circle IV consists of two circles of steel plate welded together where the circles overlap slightly. The bottom circle is welded to a thick cross-shaped steel base lying on its flat side. The two circles each have a shape cut from the center. While abstract, each open shape resembles the form of a bird in flight. The top circle is painted yellow and the bottom one is painted blue.
Not on view
In Collection(s)