Collection Information

Size: 23 items.

Summary: Six letters and postcards from David Smith to Adams, Mar.-Dec. 1951; photographs, including 4 of Smith and his sculpture taken by Adams at Smith's studio at Bolton Landing, N.Y. during the summer of 1950 and several of his sculpture and exhibit installation at the Junior Art Gallery, Louisville (Ky.) Public Library, 1951. Also included is an announcement for a Smith exhibition from the Willard Gallery in New York, ca. 1951. The letters and postcards relate to upcoming exhibitions, financial problems, teaching positions and other topics.

Biographical/Historical Note

Adams (b. 1900), and art historian and gallery director, Louisville, Ky., was acquainted with the sculptor David Smith. In Jan. 1951, the Louisville Public Library's Junior Art Gallery, where she served as director, hosted a traveling exhibition from the Museum of Modern Art, "Carvers-Modelers-Welders" which included a piece by Smith. Adams augmented the Louisville stop with sketches and studies loaned by Smith, whom she had visited the previous summer.

Provenance

Donated 1997-1998 by Harriet Dyer Adams.

Restrictions on Access

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.

How to Cite This Collection

Harriet Dyer Adams papers relating to David Smith, ca. 1950-1951. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.