David Smith

David Smith was an American Abstract Expressionist sculptor best known for creating large steel abstract geometric sculptures. His stints of studying at Ohio University, the University of Notre Dame, and George Washington, led to Smith dropping out to become a welder on an automobile production line in his home state of Indiana. However, after moving to New York, Smith joined the Art Students League in 1926 in New York to focus on painting. Later to be influenced by the welded sculptures of Julio Gonzalez and the paintings and drawings of Picasso, Smith started devoting himself entirely to metal sculptures, constructing compositions from steel and found material. He along with many other sculptors during the 1930's and 40's raised a new awareness for effectiveness of materials both fabricated and found.