Title:
Voltri XIII
Creator/Contributor:
David Smith (artist)
Date:
1962
Identifier:
1968.45
Format:
steel
In the Italian town of Voltri, near Genoa, Smith made twenty-six large sculptures in thirty days with the help of a team of
Italian workers. These sculptures, comprised of metal scraps and abandoned tools, were inspired by the vacant metal shop where
they were fabricated. Voltri XIII is built from an ingot cart used by iron workers to carry hot oversized iron pieces from
ovens to hammers. Welded to the weight-bearing bar (or "spoon," or "tongue") of the cart are playful forms selected by Smith
from a scrap heap. In Smith's own words, "Voltri XIII is a circus wheel chariot with the spoon turned over, a solid guitar
forging with a punched hole-with a cloud part [rolled iron sheet] below and above its tongue." This work brings together Smith's
life-long experimentations with geometric composition, fanciful shapes, and an industrial aesthetic.