Documenting the extraordinary breadth of sculptural production by American artist Tony Smith (1912-1980), this comprehensive book reveals the depth and complexity of Smith's oeuvre as well as the vast range of his intellectual pursuits. Tony Smith Catalogue Raisonné Sculpture, with more than 500 full-color illustrations, is the first in a multi-publication project to reveal the depth and complexity of Smith's oeuvre while positioning its transdisciplinary nature in dialogue with contemporary voices. Often made of steel and painted black, Smith's large-scale sculptures demonstrate a committed experimentation in how geometric shapes can be modeled into holistic sculptural compositions. The ever-shifting qualities of his imposing works engage spectators in phenomenological experiences that continually change in relation to motion, position, sightline, and perspective, amid a panoply of shapes that generate and regenerate anew with each incremental shift in viewpoint.
Born in South Orange, New Jersey, Tony Smith (1912-1980) occupies an important place in the history of twentieth-century art and design. His intellectual and creative pursuits, encompassing sculpture, architecture, drawing, painting, and writing, were informed by his close study of biology, mathematics, philosophy, and literature, blending the improvisational with the analytical. His artistic process was both intellectual and instinctual relying upon rational structures inherent in polygonal forms, complemented by creative intuition, to shape his visions into what may be considered irrational objects--sculptures.
This volume serves as a comprehensive record of Smith's sculpture, providing an archival foundation for future study, interpretation, and analysis. A companion book,
Against Reason: Tony Smith, Sculpture, and Other Modernisms, is published alongside to explore the ongoing vitality of Tony Smith, with newly commissioned essays and artist projects by practitioners working in a range of visual arts. These books will, for the first time, capture the depth, influence, and diversity of Smith's understudied oeuvre, establishing new ground for future interpretations and readings of his monumental work.
記錄美國藝術家Tony Smith（1912-1980）雕塑創作的非凡廣度，這本綜合性書籍揭示了Smith作品的深度與複雜性，以及他廣泛的智識追求。《Tony Smith Catalogue Raisonné Sculpture》擁有超過500幅全彩插圖，是一個多出版計畫中的第一本，旨在揭示Smith作品的深度與複雜性，同時將其跨學科的特性與當代聲音進行對話。Smith的大型雕塑通常由鋼材製成並塗成黑色，展現了他在幾何形狀如何被塑造成整體雕塑構圖方面的堅定實驗。他那令人印象深刻的作品不斷變化的特質，讓觀眾在現象學的體驗中參與其中，這些體驗隨著運動、位置、視線和視角的變化而不斷改變，並在一系列形狀中生成和再生，隨著每一次觀點的微小變化而變化。
Tony Smith出生於新澤西州南奧蘭治，在20世紀藝術與設計的歷史中佔有重要地位。他的智識與創作追求涵蓋雕塑、建築、繪畫、素描和寫作，受到他對生物學、數學、哲學和文學的深入研究的啟發，將即興創作與分析結合在一起。他的藝術過程既是智識性的也是本能的，依賴於多邊形形式中固有的理性結構，並輔以創造性的直覺，將他的視野塑造成可被視為非理性的物件——雕塑。
本卷作為Smith雕塑的綜合記錄，為未來的研究、詮釋和分析提供了檔案基礎。一本伴隨書籍《Against Reason: Tony Smith, Sculpture, and Other Modernisms》也隨之出版，探討Tony Smith持續的活力，並包含新委託的文章和藝術家項目，這些作品來自於在各種視覺藝術領域工作的實踐者。這些書籍將首次捕捉到Smith未被充分研究的作品的深度、影響力和多樣性，為未來對他宏偉作品的詮釋和解讀奠定新的基礎。
James Voorhies is a curator and historian of modern and contemporary art based in New York. He is the author of Postsensual Aesthetics and Beyond Objecthood: The Exhibition as a Critical Form since 1968 (both MIT Press), and has taught at Bennington College and Harvard University.
Sarah Auld has served as Director of the Tony Smith Estate since 1990.
