Cubi

Cubi
CUBI VI (1963), Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Cubi is a series of stainless steel sculptures that are made up of cubes, rectangular solids and cylinders with spheroidal or flat endcaps. This series of 28 sculptures was the last of the artistic output of the American sculptor David Smith. On May 23rd, 1965, David Smith died from injuries sustained in an automobile accident, soon after the completion of Cubi XXVIII, which may or may not have been the last sculpture in this series he intended to create. Smith's assistant, Leon Pratt, did complete several sculptures that were underway at the time of Smith's death;[1] however, none of these sculptures were from the Cubi series.

The first eleven Cubi sculptures were not completed in the order in which they are numbered, as evidenced by the following inscriptions Smith welded onto the base of each Cubi.[1]

  • Cubi I March 4-63
  • Cubi II 25-10-63
  • Cube III 11.10.1961 (Not Cubi III)
  • Cubi IV 1/17/63
  • Cubi V Jan 16 1963
  • Cubi VI 3/21/63
  • Cubi VII March 28, 1963
  • Cubi VIII Dec 24 1962
  • Cubi IX Oct.26 1961
  • Cubi X April 4 '63
  • Cubi XI 3-30-1963
  • Cubi XII April 7 1963
  • Cubi XIII March 25-1963
  • Cubi XIV 9-25-63
  • Cubi XV September 27 1963
  • Cubi XVI 11.4-63
  • Cubi XVII Dec. 4-'63
  • Cubi XVIII February 14, 1964
  • Cubi XIX 2-20-64
  • Cubi XX 2-20-64
  • Cubi XXI April 4, 1964
  • Cubi XXII June 5-1964
  • Cubi XXIII November 30 1964
  • Cubi XXIV December 8, 1964
  • Cubi XXV Jan 9 1965
  • Cubi XXVI January 12 1965
  • Cubi XXVII Mar 5 1965
  • Cubi XXVIII 5-5-65

Contents

Cubi XXVIII

Cubi XXVIII, executed in 1965, is the name given to a large metal sculpture created by David Smith. Formerly housed at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, on November 9, 2005, the sculpture became the most expensive work of contemporary art ever sold at auction, selling for $23.8 million at Sotheby's New York auction house to art dealer Larry Gagosian who was acting on behalf of billionaire art collector Eli Broad. "This exceedingly rare work was the pinnacle of a four-decade career," said Tobias Meyer, Sotheby's worldwide head of contemporary art.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Rosalind E. Krauss, The Sculpture of David Smith: A Catalogue Raisonne, 1977.

External links