David Smith - Editions & Works on Paper New York Tuesday, April 20, 2021 | Phillips

Editions & Works on Paper

New York Auction 20 - 22 April 2021

  • Provenance

    Associated American Artists, New York, 1981

  • Literature

    Alexandra Schwartz 21 (this impression illustrated)

  • Catalogue Essay

    Smith's notebooks are filled with recipes for etching solutions favored by Callot, Piranesi and Whistler. Yet despite his fascination with process, Smith's own prints are technically unsophisticated. The zinc plates use for making etchings abound with false biting and scratches. The stones used for making lithographs had uneven edges and were frequently chipped. Rarely was a work printed squarely on the sheet of paper. This very lack of polish, however, accounts for much of the appeal of Smith's prints. They are spontaneous and expressive works unburdened by an obsessiveness with technical perfection. Alexandra Schwartz, David Smith: The Prints, Pace Prints, New York, 1987.

Property from a Midwest Collection This lot is to be Sold with No Reserve

168

Lot offered with No Reserve

David Smith

Juliette (S. 21)

1938
A very rare engraving, on Japanese paper, with full margins.
I. 7 x 5 in. (17.8 x 12.7 cm)
S. 12 3/8 x 7 3/8 in. (31.4 x 18.7 cm)
The first state (of three), signed, titled, dated and numbered '1Proof' in pencil, (one of two known proofs, there is also one known unsigned proof of the second state and two known proofs numbered from the edition of 10 in the final state), unframed.

Estimate
$1,500 - 2,500 •

Sold for $2,394

Contact Specialist

Editions@phillips.com

212 940 1220

 

Editions & Works on Paper

New York Auction 20 - 22 April 2021