Jun 25, 2020 - Sale 2539

Sale 2539 - Lot 1

Unsold
Estimate: $ 7,000 - $ 10,000
DAVID SMITH
Untitled.

Etchings, 2 impressions, circa 1934. Both 180x235 mm; 7 1/4x9 1/4 inches, full margins. One impression signed, dated, inscribed "trial proof" and annotated in pencil, lower margin. Very good impressions of these exceedingly scarce etchings.

According to Schwartz, this etching shows Smith's (1906-1965), "Natural tendency to develop bold patterns by fusing individual elements into a dynamic whole. The figural source for this has been made anonymous and flattened, interlocked with its background, and rendered in either linear or planar shapes. The textures for its various panels support the requirements of the composition, not the subject matter." The composition suggests two figures at a table, perhaps in an interior, and like another untitled etching by Smith from the same period (Schwartz 15), the forms are sculptural, derived from Cubism and employ counterbalanced cross-hatchings on geometric planes. Schwartz 14.