Gondola
Artist
David Smith
(American, 1906-1965)
CultureAmerican
Date1961
MediumPainted steel
DimensionsOverall: 69 x 61 x 18 in. (175.3 x 154.9 x 45.7 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated on base: David Smith 4-12;
1961
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number77.419
Collections
On View
Not on viewLabel TextDavid Smith American, 1906–1965 Gondola, 1961 Painted steel David Smith used a blowtorch to cut this sculpture’s chunky central form from a sheet of steel. He then welded this form to a wheeled trolley, anchored it in space with a rectangle of steel bars, and painted it black and red. Gondola emerges as a kind of freestanding action painting. Like the railway hopper cars after which the work is titled, Gondola rolls into our space, boldly asserting its presence and power. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 77.419 ProvenanceM. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York; Richard LiBrizzi, Kew Gardens, New York, 1975; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1977. Exhibition History"Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. "Large or Small, Bronze or Wood, Painted or Plain: Problems and Solutions in Sculpture", The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, July 9, 1981 - September 13, 1981. "David Smith: Seven Major Themes," National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., November 7, 1982 - April 24, 1983. Published ReferencesRosalind E. Krauss, _Terminal Iron Works: The Sculpture of David Smith_ (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1971), 1, 9; illustration 3a. Dennis R. Anderson, "New American Contemporary Masterworks," _Chrysler Museum Bulletin_ 4, no. 12 (December 1975): inside cover. Dennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1975, 227. Rosalind E. Krauss, _The Sculpture of David Smith: A Catalogue Raisonné_ (New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1977), 94, figure 514. David W. Steadman, _Large or Small, Bronze or Wood, Painted or Plain: Problems and Solutions in Sculpture_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., The Chrysler Museum, 1981, 20. _The Chrysler Museum: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Norfolk, Virginia_, (Norfolk: Chrysler Museum, 1982), 104. E.A. Carmean, Jr., _David Smith_, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1982, 46-47, 172-173, 177-179, 183. ISBN: 0894680617 Chrysler Museum staff, "Trip to Washington," _The Chrysler Museum Bulletin_ 12, no. 11 (November 1982), back cover. Karen Wilkin, _David Smith_ (New York: Abbeville Press, 1985), 104. ISBN: 0896594297, 0896594300 Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_ (Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1991), 193, plate 147. ISBN: 0-940744-59-7, 0-940744-62-7 Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 226-227, no. 139. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6
