David Smith

The definitive biography of David Smith, the trailblazing American sculptor who pioneered Abstract Expressionism in three dimensions.
"An essential account of America's greatest sculptor . . . [A] magnum opus." —Marjorie Perloff, The Times Literary Supplement
David Smith: The Art and Life of a Transformational Sculptor is the first comprehensive biography of the visionary artist who revolutionized American sculpture. Michael Brenson traces Smith's journey from his Midwestern roots to his groundbreaking early years in Manhattan and his permanent studio in upstate New York, where he created iconic works like the Cubis, Tanktotems, and Zigs.
Brenson explores Smith's complex personal life, marked by deep friendships with fellow artists like Helen Frankenthaler and Robert Motherwell, as well as marriages, divorces, and fallings-out. He delves into the enormous, contradictory vitality that defined both Smith and his work, capturing the essence of an artist who entranced critics and admirers wherever he exhibited.
A master welder, painter, photographer, and writer, Smith challenged the stability of identity and position in his art, seeking out the unbounded, unbalanced, and unexpected. By age forty, he had already earned the accolade of "the greatest sculptor this country has produced" from influential critic Clement Greenberg.
With this definitive biography, Brenson confirms Smith's singular place in the history of American art and introduces his transformative vision to a new generation.