The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 29, 2023

Pilgrim

1957

David Smith

(American, 1906–1965)

America, 20th century

Steel

Overall: 206.9 cm (81 7/16 in.)

Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1966.385

© The Estate of David Smith / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Location

227 Abstract Expressionism

Fun Fact

The teenaged David Smith took a correspondence course in cartooning with the Cleveland School (now Institute) of Art.

Description

A former automobile assembly line worker, Smith welded locomotives and tanks for a manufacturer during World War II. Perhaps not surprisingly, he adopted industrial materials and techniques throughout his career as a sculptor. Regarding his preferred medium, Smith stated, "The material called iron or steel I hold in high respect . . .The metal itself possesses little art history. What associations it possesses are those of this century: power, structure, movement, progress, suspension, destruction, brutality."

Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 201 archive.org
Cleveland Museum of Art. Art of the Twentieth Century in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Dept. of Art History & Education, CMA, 1969. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 4 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 253 archive.org
Henning, Edward B. Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1987. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 135, no. 46
Exhibition history

Museum of Modern Art, NY, 1957: "David Smith"

Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, 1958: "Sculpture 1950-1958," Allen Memorial Art Museum Bulletin, XV (Winter 1958), p. 83, illus.

Sao Paulo Biennial, 1959

Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1966: "David Smith, 1906-1965: A Retrospective Exhibition," cat. #332, also to Washington Gallery of Modern Art, 1967

CMA 1975: "Traditions and Revisions," cat. #118

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA: Individuals: A Selected History of Contemporary Art, 1945-1986, December 6, 1986-June 10, 1987.

CMA 1987: "Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960," cat. #46, p. 135, repr.

Mountainville, NY: Storm King Art Center " The Fields of David Smith (Part II) 5/18 - 11/15/98; CMA mention p. 143.

Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967).

Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).

Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 16-November 8, 1987).

The Fields of David Smith (Part II). Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, NY (May 1-November 1, 1998).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.385