David Smith: Points of Power

David Points of Power is the first publication to trace the figurative impulse running throughout the oeuvre of Abstract Expressionist sculptor and painter David Smith (1906–1965). Beautifully designed and printed, it provides a broad overview of his figurative explorations in painting, sculpture, photography and ceramics, which intensified in the years before his death. Most of these are female nudes, worked by Smith into strong, calligraphic forms that often extend the viscous fluidity of enamel (on canvas or linen) into near-abstraction. Smith’s ceramic plates offer an even broader range of figurative treatments, from a few minimal incised lines to more defined nudes evoking Greek pottery. The catalogue features an introduction by the artist’s daughter, Candida Smith, as well as a scholarly essay by Sarah Hamill and a wealth of archival photographs by Alexander Liberman, taken during the last weekend of Smith’s life.