ABOUT DAVID SMITH

One of the best-known American sculptors of the modern period, David Smith (1906–1965) was a pioneer of abstract sculpture. He revolutionized the possibilities of metal sculpture by introducing the industrial process of welding, enabling him to create the most extraordinarily balanced compositions – using metal to ‘draw in space’. Predominantly known as a sculptor, the book also sheds light on his prolific practice of drawing, sketching, writing and photographing his sculptures.

ABOUT PHAIDON FOCUS

These well-illustrated, short introductory books cover the full span of an artist’s work, exploring its origins, development, style, themes, meanings and media.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joan Pachner, a David Smith scholar since the 1980s, pioneered the study of the artist’s photographs in David Smith: Photographs 1931–1965 (1998). She has also contributed to A Sculptor’s Eye: David Smith & Photography (2006), and is a lecturer at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.