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Lot Essay
The last fifteen years of David Smith's life were his most prolific, during which time he created sixteen seminal series of sculptures in addition to many unique works and hundreds of drawings and paintings. Most of these series were made over several years, and as a result the ideas and dominant forms overlapped and influenced one another. Smith saw his work as a continuum; each work developed from the last. Many of the series are named in relation to where they were created or originated; like the Albany series, the Menand group was named after the town from which he purchased his materials. Menands is a village north of Albany, New York.
Executed between September-October of 1963, the Menand series consists of eight sculptures that Smith composed with thick cuts of steel and then treated with acid and lacquer. Smith's development of the surface in this way created a patina similar to that of antique bronze, which seems appropriate for the imposing scale and character of the works. Menand III is among the largest and most architectural in the series. It is constructed around a central axis, with horizontal elements at the base supporting vertical elements. The forms intersect at right angles, and the elements grow smaller toward the top, not unlike the basic form of a pyramid. At the top rests a broken circle -a circle missing one quarter. The wedge of negative space within the circle somehow, unexpectedly, balances the composition. The circle is an important motif for Smith, and appears in every series. It represents the perfect utopian shape. In Smith's world, and Menand III in particular, perfection was elusive, however, and the circle is penetrated.
Clement Greenberg, the venerable critic and one of Smith's closest friends, wrote about Menand III in an article about the artist's later work for Art in America in 1966. Greenberg wrote:
"The eight painted steel sculptures in this [Menands] series form perhaps the artist's most consistently successful venture in small scale art. The pieces were all done in September and October of 1963. Their compact size evokes small bronzes, but this only helps to make one sense, by contrast, the weight and irreducible mass of the solid steel. Thanks to this -as well as to the trued and faired planing of its surfaces, Menand III seems to ask for much larger dimensions than it has. The frontal view here brings out its anthropomorphic aspect; this is diminished when the sculpture is seen from either side; then two relatively massive flanking buttresses come into view, to confer an effect on the whole that is more architectural than figurative. The three-dimensionality has an emphasis here that is not often seen in Smith's art" (C. Greenberg, "David Smith: Critical Comment," Art in America, 54, January-February 1966, p. 29).
Smith developed the Menand series after he had begun his first Cubi works, and the totemic compositions and monochromatic patina of the Menands presage the sublime grandeur of those sculptures. One feels Smith working within the comfortable confines of his personal vernacular while pursuing a groundbreaking course of physical expression. Menand III is a breathtaking example from a seminal series within Smith's oeuvre, and reveals his unique ability to unleash, even from the most abstract form, a dramatic and affecting expressiveness.
Executed between September-October of 1963, the Menand series consists of eight sculptures that Smith composed with thick cuts of steel and then treated with acid and lacquer. Smith's development of the surface in this way created a patina similar to that of antique bronze, which seems appropriate for the imposing scale and character of the works. Menand III is among the largest and most architectural in the series. It is constructed around a central axis, with horizontal elements at the base supporting vertical elements. The forms intersect at right angles, and the elements grow smaller toward the top, not unlike the basic form of a pyramid. At the top rests a broken circle -a circle missing one quarter. The wedge of negative space within the circle somehow, unexpectedly, balances the composition. The circle is an important motif for Smith, and appears in every series. It represents the perfect utopian shape. In Smith's world, and Menand III in particular, perfection was elusive, however, and the circle is penetrated.
Clement Greenberg, the venerable critic and one of Smith's closest friends, wrote about Menand III in an article about the artist's later work for Art in America in 1966. Greenberg wrote:
"The eight painted steel sculptures in this [Menands] series form perhaps the artist's most consistently successful venture in small scale art. The pieces were all done in September and October of 1963. Their compact size evokes small bronzes, but this only helps to make one sense, by contrast, the weight and irreducible mass of the solid steel. Thanks to this -as well as to the trued and faired planing of its surfaces, Menand III seems to ask for much larger dimensions than it has. The frontal view here brings out its anthropomorphic aspect; this is diminished when the sculpture is seen from either side; then two relatively massive flanking buttresses come into view, to confer an effect on the whole that is more architectural than figurative. The three-dimensionality has an emphasis here that is not often seen in Smith's art" (C. Greenberg, "David Smith: Critical Comment," Art in America, 54, January-February 1966, p. 29).
Smith developed the Menand series after he had begun his first Cubi works, and the totemic compositions and monochromatic patina of the Menands presage the sublime grandeur of those sculptures. One feels Smith working within the comfortable confines of his personal vernacular while pursuing a groundbreaking course of physical expression. Menand III is a breathtaking example from a seminal series within Smith's oeuvre, and reveals his unique ability to unleash, even from the most abstract form, a dramatic and affecting expressiveness.