“They become kind of personages and sometimes they cry out to me that I should have been better or bigger, and mostly they tell me that I should have done that twelve years before—or twenty years before.”

— David Smith

David Smith (1906–1965). Running Daughter, 1956-60. Painted steel, 255 x 86.4 x 50.8 cm. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 50th Anniversary Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Kolin. © Estate of David Smith / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

During the 1950s the upright “figure” became one of Smith’s dominant themes. These works are linked by a common verticality and suggestion of the human figure heightened by horizontal divisions that can be interpreted as head, torso, and limbs without resembling them specifically. Their verticality and presence make us think of them as personages sometimes confrontational, sometimes playful, not as mere upright assemblages of metal.

Smith produced and named several series that included figural works. The Agricolas (1951–59) were made from salvaged farm implements, the Sentinels (1956–61) imply an attentive and watchful presence. The Forgings (1955) are single slim columns of steel, given gesture by the blows of a hammer on red-hot metal. Another series of sculptures known as Tanktotems (1952–60) incorporate the ends of industrial boiler tanks, and suggest creatures from the world of science fiction. Smith referred to them as “monsters.”

Running Daughter may have been inspired by Smith’s own daughter running across the fields of Bolton Landing. Throughout his career, Smith repeatedly rendered moving figures—identified as dancers, bathers, and running figures—in various media. Forward movement was suggested by the extension of one leg, or on some works, the addition of actual wheels to the base.

Smith spent much of his time living and working in solitude at his home and studio at Bolton Landing. It has been suggested that the great number of large sculptures he produced in the last ten years of his life can be interpreted as a way of literally filling this aloneness. When his studio was full he began to set sculptures on the land surrounding his house, eventually filling the north and south fields with his works.

• Look carefully at Running Daughter. How has Smith suggested the figure is running? Which way might she be moving? Which parts of this figure can you identify? Are there parts that are puzzling or seem to be missing? What are they? How has the artist suggested that his subject is a young girl?
• If you did not know the title that Smith had given this work, what would you title it? Look carefully at the sculpture for clues and think of several possibilities. Compare titles with your classmates.

• Running Daughter suggests a figure in action. With your classmates brainstorm two lists. The first will be a list of personages, the second a list of actions. For example:
  
  Select a word from each list and make a sketch for a sculpture that expresses how that personage and action could be expressed in one sculpture. Make several drawings that explore ways to depict a person in motion. Look at these together with your classmates to determine which drawings are the most successful. Create a sculpture that synthesizes these two concepts into one work.
  Visual Arts


• Look through your own family photos, newspapers, or magazines to find an image that you would like to use as the basis for an abstract sculpture. Why did this photo appeal to you? If you were to create a sculpture that used this image as inspiration, what materials would you use? How large would it be? What title would you give it? Where would the final work be situated?
  Visual Arts


• Through Internet research or by photocopying images from books find as many reproductions of Smith’s figural sculptures as you can, including those from his Agricolas, Forgings, Sentinels, and Tanktotems series. Lay them out on a table. Without consulting the object labels create groupings that seem to have similar characteristics. Write down descriptions of the similarities that seem to connect works to the series. Don’t worry if your final groupings are not exactly in keeping with Smith’s. Even art historians have sometimes had difficulty understanding his system of categorization.
  English / Language Arts


• Pick one of the Smith sculptures that you found during your research and write a story about this character. What aspects of the sculpture helped you to determine your character’s traits?
  English / Language Arts