Spring 2026

Storm King opens with special presentation of David Smith

David Smith. Albany I. 1959. Steel, paint, 25 x 25 3/4 x 7 1/4 in. (63.5 x 65.4 x 18.4 cm). Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, NY. Photo: Jerry Thompson.

Storm King Art Center opened for the season on April 1, an annual sign of spring in the Northeast and opportunities to engage with outdoor sculpture in milder weather. Nine sculptures by David Smith that have been installed on Storm King's Museum Hill since 1967 have been joined by five additional sculptures and one drawing by Smith on the ground floor of the nearby Museum Building. Sculptures by Louise Bourgeois and Louise Nevelson are also on view in the gallery installation.

The indoor sculptures were previously installed on the second story of the building. They are now accessible to all and in visible dialogue with the outdoor work, yielding a deeper understanding of Smith's range of styles. The drawing relates to Portrait of a Lady Painter (1954-57), installed outdoors. This presentation of Storm King's complete collection of works by David Smith represents a remarkable opportunity not to be missed. The influence of David Smith on the founding of Storm King is the subject of a special online feature here. Follow Storm King's Instagram for announcements of temporary exhibitions by Anicka Yi, Saif Azzuz, and Liz Glynn.

David Smith in group exhibition celebrating Monumenta and artist Richard Fleischner in Newport, Rhode Island

Installation view, Full Circle: Richard Fleischner with David Smith, Christo, Claes Oldenburg, Barnett Newman, & Other Monumenta Artists.

Currently on view at Rosecliff, a historic mansion under the care of the Preservation Society of Newport County, Full Circle: Richard Fleischner with David Smith, Christo, Claes Oldenburg, Barnett Newman, & Other Monumenta Artists celebrates Monumenta, the landmark exhibition of large-scale sculpture held in Newport in 1974. Full Circle centers materials related to Fleischner's site-specific work Sod Maze at nearby Château-sur-Mer, as well as drawings, studies, maquettes, and other work by the above artists. Included are four David Smith drawings done in spray enamel on paper ranging in date from 1959 to 1963. These works belong to a larger group in which Smith masked out areas of the sheet then applied aerosol spray enamel to explore sculptural ideas, either by imagining new concepts or by studying completed works. Windtotem (1961) is a notable example of the latter methodology. It directly relates to a nearly 15-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture of the same name and made the same year.

Monumenta was a watershed moment for the public exhibition of large-scale contemporary sculpture, and a celebration of its irrepressible scale and optimism. The installation sprawled across Newport and featured no less than ten welded-steel works by David Smith, including Windtotem. Full Circle is organized by the Preservation Society of Newport County. It is on view through May 3.

Revisiting David Smith: A Centennial (2006)

Installation view, David Smith: A Centennial, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, February 3 - May 14, 2006. Photo: David Heald.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of David Smith: A Centennial, a major survey organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and curated by Carmen Gimenez. The exhibition, which celebrated the centennial of Smith’s birth, included around 120 sculptures and over 50 drawings. It occupied the Guggenheim’s iconic spiraling rotunda during the spring of 2006, then traveled to the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Tate Modern in London.

David Smith: A Centennial showcased the broad range of Smith’s sculptural oeuvre. Gimenez’s close attention to Smith’s early work illuminated the variety of influences Smith drew from modernism, and established the close relationship with the figure that would continue to inform his prodigious and inventive career. As the visitor ascended the museum's ramp, Smith’s later, larger work activated a “ballet” between art and architecture, Peter Schlejdahl wrote, “each showing the other off to maximum advantage in a rapture of complementary passions.” The exhibition featured most of Smith’s major sculptural series in addition to many of his most recognized works, including Australia (1951), Hudson River Landscape (1951), and Cubi I (1963) which welcomed visitors in the museum’s ground floor atrium.

David Smith: A Centennial was accompanied by a catalogue containing essays by Gimenez, David Anfam, Michael Brenson, Rosalind Krauss, and Paul Hayes Tucker. Copies are still available through the Guggenheim’s website. The Estate will share additional installation images on our Instagram in the coming weeks in celebration of this historic exhibition.

In memory of Melvin Edwards (1937-2026)

Melvin Edwards at Hauser & Wirth, NY, February 2024. Background: installation view of No One Thing: David Smith, Late Sculptures. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth.

The Estate of David Smith joins the art community in mourning the passing of Melvin Edwards. The celebrated sculptor passed away last month at 88 years old. Through his abstract steel sculptures and his many years as a teacher, Mr. Edwards exerted significant influence on generations of artists. He was the first Black sculptor to have a show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. His life was remembered in Artforum, the New York Times, and many other publications.

In February 2024, Mr. Edwards joined Alexis Lowry for a conversation on the occasion of No One Thing: David Smith, Late Sculptures at Hauser & Wirth, New York. The discussion focused on Smith's influence on Los Angeles artists in the 1960's and 1970's, where Mr. Edwards was based for many years, and on sculpture more broadly. A recording of the conversation is available here, courtesy of Hauser & Wirth.