David Smith

David Smith was an American painter and sculptor. He studied art and poetry at the George Washington University. When he moved to New York he met his wife at the time, and he joined her in her painting studies at the Art Students League of New York. David made his first sculpture out of coral in the virgin island which I found very interesting because he found the material on the beach. He also made sculptures in three dimension from wood, wire, coral, soldered metal. Some of David Smith's work were influenced by Surrealism. I also found it interesting that he made his sculptures from scratch by welding together pieces of steel and other metals with a torch. He is best known for the Cubi which are 28 sculptures made of stainless steel. The Cubi works consist of arrangements of geometric shapes and its burnished surfaces catches and reflects the lighting in its surroundings.