Tony Smith Maquette (Study) for Generation 1958, Painted foam board. Hand signed by the artist with personal inscription

In 2018, this work was exhibited at Hirschl Adler Galleries in Manhattan, in a show entitled "The Masters: Art Students League Teachers and their Students." It is also reproduced as Plate #58 in the elegant catalogue with die-cut cover which accompanied this scholarly exhibition. (see photos attached). This is a rare early maquette from the late 1950s for Tony Smith's monumental, well known outdoor work "Generation". This unique work has fine provenance as it was gifted by Smith to fellow sculptor and printmaker Peter Grippe (whom Smith scholar Joan Pachner confirms was a good friend of his) and bears a special handwritten personal inscription from the artist. Grippe was also the first professor of sculpture at Brandeis University -- and this very work was in fact exhibited at the renowned Rose Art Museum at University. Many of Tony Smith's studies and maquettes were not signed, but as this was a personal gift, it features a special, signed inscription. This work was originally exhibited at the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA Tony Smith, father of renowned contemporary artist Kiki Smith, was an important Minimalist sculptor, designer and theorist. His Estate is represented by PACE Gallery - the same gallery that represents his daughter.

Peter Grippe (August 11, 1912 – October 18, 2002) was an American sculptor, printmaker, and painter. As a sculptor, he worked in bronze, terracotta, wire, plaster, and found objects. His "Monument to Hiroshima" series (1963) used found objects cast in bronze sculptures to evoke the chaotic humanity of the Japanese city after its incineration by atomic bomb. Grippe, a member of the American Abstract Artists group. While primarily known as a sculptor working in bronze and clay, he created a portfolio of etchings by 21 artists (examples include Willem de Kooning, Jacques Lipchitz, and Peter Grippe himself) and 21 poets (including Frank O'Hara, Dylan Thomas, and Thomas Merton) in a work entitled 21 Etchings and Poems. The collective work took three years to print and was published by New York's Morris Gallery in 1960.

SIGNATURE

Signed and inscribed on the underside 'Generation for Peter Grippe Tony Smith'. Many of Tony Smith's maquettes aren't signed, but because this was a gift, it bears this beautiful inscription.

PROVENANCE

Estate of Peter and Florence Grippe