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PROPERTY from a european collector TONY SMITH (1912-1980) TRAP stamped with signature edition and...

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PROPERTY from a european collector TONY SMITH (1912-1980) TRAP stamped with signature edition and...
PROPERTY from
a european collector
TONY SMITH
(1912-1980)
TRAP
stamped with signature edition
and dated "T. Smith 1968"
bronze with black patina
10 x 55 x 55 in.
(25.4 x 139.7 x 139.7 cm)
executed in 1968
this work is from an edition of nine
ESTIMATE: $70,000-90,000

PROVENANCE
Galerie Pierre Huber, GENEVA

EXHIBITED
NEW YORK, Paula Cooper Gallery and LOS ANGELES, Margo Leavin Gallery, TONY SMITH SELECTED SCULPTURES: 1961-1973 PART I, October 16-November 16, 1985 and October 26-November 30, 1985 (respectively), n.p. (other examples exhibited; illustrated)

LITERATURE
Xavier Fourcade, Inc., eds., TONY SMITH SELECTED SCULPTURES: 1961-1973 PART I, NEW YORK, 1985, n.p (illustrated)
J. Pachner, TONY SMITH: STINGER, NEW YORK, 1999, n.p. (illustrated)
TONY SMITH - ARCHITECT, ARTIST, TEACHER AND POET - CREATED A COMPLEX AND DIVERSE BODY OF WORK. ALTHOUGH HE IS KNOWN PRIMARILY FOR THE SCULPTURE HE PRODUCED DURING THE LAST TWENTY YEARS OF HIS LIFE, THE ORIGINS OF HIS IDEAS AND PROCESS WERE ROOTED FIRMLY IN ARCHITECTURE, WHICH HE PRACTICED FOR THREE DECADES BEGINNING IN THE LATE 1930s. WHILE THERE ARE MOMENTS IN SMITH'S ARCHITECTURAL CAREER THAT OFFER CLUES OF HIS PREDISPOSITION TOWARDS SCULPTURE, THE TRANSITION FROM ONE DISCIPLINE TO THE NEXT OCCURRED GRADUALLY. FOR SMITH THE TWO ACTIVITIES WERE CLEARLY SYMBIOTIC, EVEN THOUGH HE CONSIDERED THEM FUNDAMENTALLY DISTINCT: HIS ARCHITECTURE WAS TO DRAW FROM EARLIER ARCHITECTUAL EXPERImentS AND, IMPORTANTLY, HIS PERIODIC EXPERIENCES AS A BUILDER OF HIS OWN DESIGNS. THE LIFEWORK PRODUCED BY THIS INTELLECTUALLY RESTLESS ARCHITECT/ARTIST, WHEN VIEWED IN ITS ENTIRETY, IS POWERFUL, YET RESISTS QUICK ANALYSIS. THE WRITER TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, A LONGTIME FRIEND, WROTE OF THE COMPELLING NATURE OF SMITH'S WORK: "ITS INACCESSIBILITY TO AN EASY COMPREHENSION, OR PERHAPS TO ANY COMPREHENSION AT ALL, IS THE HEART OF THAT POWER."
R. Storr, TONY SMITH: ARCHITECT,
PAINTER, SCULPTOR, New York, 1998, p. 36