{"product_id":"david-smith-the-art-and-life-of-a-transformational-sculptor-paperback","title":"David Smith: The Art and Life of a Transformational Sculptor - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMichael Brenson\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"An essential account of America's greatest sculptor . . . [A] magnum opus.\" --Marjorie Perloff, \u003ci\u003eThe Times Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe landmark biography of the inscrutable and brilliant David Smith, the greatest American sculptor of the twentieth century.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDavid Smith, a pioneer of Abstract Expressionism, did more than any other sculptor of his era to bring the plastic arts to the forefront of the American scene. Central to his project of reimagining sculptural experience was challenging the stability of any identity or position--Smith sought out the unbounded, unbalanced, and unexpected, creating works of art that seem to undergo radical shifts as the spectator moves from one point of view to another. So groundbreaking and prolific were his contributions to American art that by the time Smith was just forty years old, Clement Greenberg was already calling him \"the greatest sculptor this country has produced.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMichael Brenson's \u003ci\u003eDavid Smith: The Art and Life of a Transformational Sculptor\u003c\/i\u003e is the first biography of this epochal figure. It follows Smith from his upbringing in the Midwest, to his heady early years in Manhattan, to his decision to establish a permanent studio in Bolton Landing in upstate New York, where he would create many of his most significant works--among them the \u003ci\u003eCubis\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTanktotems\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eZigs\u003c\/i\u003e. It explores his at times tempestuous personal life, marked by marriages, divorces, and fallings-out as well as by deep friendships with fellow artists like Helen Frankenthaler and Robert Motherwell. His wife Jean Freas described him as \"salty and bombastic, jumbo and featherlight, thin-skinned and Mack Truck. And many more things.\" This enormous, contradictory vitality was true of his work as well. He was a bricoleur, a master welder, a painter, a photographer, and a writer, and he entranced critics and attracted admirers wherever he showed his work. With this book, Brenson has contextualized Smith for a new generation and confirmed his singular place in the history of American art.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMichael Brenson \u003c\/b\u003eis a former member of the sculpture faculty at Bard College's Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts and is the author of \u003ci\u003eVisionaries and Outcasts: The NEA, Congress, and the Place of the Visual Artist in America\u003c\/i\u003e. He holds a doctorate in art history from Johns Hopkins University and was an art critic for \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e. He is a Getty Scholar, Guggenheim Fellow, and Clark Fellow, and he is currently the artistic director of the Jonathan and Barbara Silver Foundation. He lives in Accord, New York.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 864\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.6 x 8.7 x 5.7 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 23, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51764159643936,"sku":"9781250872555","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/2b43213dfe8e121c3cab6d545457eb78.webp?v=1780244300","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/david-smith-the-art-and-life-of-a-transformational-sculptor-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}