Cubi
Encyclopedia
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
s that are made up of cube
Cube
In geometry, a cube is a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, facets or sides, with three meeting at each vertex. The cube can also be called a regular hexahedron and is one of the five Platonic solids. It is a special kind of square prism, of rectangular parallelepiped and...
s, rectangular solids and cylinders with spheroidal or flat endcaps. This series of 28 sculptures was the last of the artistic output of the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sculptor David Smith
David Smith (sculptor)
David Roland Smith was an American Abstract Expressionist sculptor and painter, best known for creating large steel abstract geometric sculptures.-Biography:...
. 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; 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.
- 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
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 MuseumSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
, on November 9, 2005, the sculpture became the most expensive work of contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
ever sold at auction, selling for $23.8 million
Million
One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106...
at Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
auction house to art dealer Larry Gagosian
Larry Gagosian
Lawrence Gilbert "Larry" Gagosian is an American art dealer who owns the Gagosian Gallery chain of art galleries, with three locations in New York City Lawrence Gilbert "Larry" Gagosian (born April 19, 1945) is an American art dealer who owns the Gagosian Gallery chain of art galleries, with three...
who was acting on behalf of billionaire art collector Eli Broad
Eli Broad
Eli Broad is an American businessman from Detroit, Michigan who resides in Los Angeles, California.-Life and career:An only child, Broad was born in the Bronx to Lithuanian Jewish immigrant parents. His father was a housepainter, his mother was a dressmaker. His family moved to Detroit when he...
. "This exceedingly rare work was the pinnacle of a four-decade career," said Tobias Meyer, Sotheby's worldwide head of contemporary art.
See also
- Cubi VIICubi VIICubi VII is a sculpture by David Smith in the Art Institute of Chicago North Stanley McCormick Memorial Court north of the Art Institute of Chicago Building in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. It is...
in the Art Institute of ChicagoArt Institute of ChicagoThe School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either... - Cubi XICubi XICubi XI is an abstract sculpture by David Smith. It is a part of the Cubi series of sculptures.Constructed in 1963, it was installed on April 21, 1964 at 1875 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. near Sheridan Circle....
in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture GardenNational Gallery of Art Sculpture GardenThe National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden is the most recent addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Completed and opened to the public on May 23, 1999, the location provides an outdoor setting for exhibiting a number of pieces from the Museum's contemporary sculpture... - Cubi XIICubi XIICubi XII is an abstract sculpture by David Smith.Constructed of stainless steel, completed on April 7 1963, it was purchased from his estate by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in 1968. It is a part of the Cubi series....
in the Hirshhorn Museum - Cubi XXVICubi XXVICubi XXVI is an abstract sculpture by David Smith, in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. Constructed of stainless steel on January 12 1965, it was purchased in 1978. It was on loan to the White House. It is a part of the Cubi series....
in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture GardenNational Gallery of Art Sculpture GardenThe National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden is the most recent addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Completed and opened to the public on May 23, 1999, the location provides an outdoor setting for exhibiting a number of pieces from the Museum's contemporary sculpture...
External links
- Cubi I at the Detroit Institute of ArtsDetroit Institute of ArtsThe Detroit Institute of Arts is a renowned art museum in the city of Detroit. In 2003, the DIA ranked as the second largest municipally owned museum in the United States, with an art collection valued at more than one billion dollars...
- Cubi II in the collection of Candida and Rebecca Smith http://www.davidsmithestate.org/
- Cubi III at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los AngelesMuseum of Contemporary Art, Los AngelesThe Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles is a contemporary art museum with three locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near Walt Disney Concert Hall...
- Cubi IV at the Milwaukee Art MuseumMilwaukee Art MuseumThe Milwaukee Art Museum is located on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Beginning around 1872, multiple organizations were founded in order to bring an art gallery to Milwaukee, as the city was still a growing port town with little or no facilities to hold major art exhibitions...
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Cubi VPrivate collectionA private collection is a privately owned collection of works, usually a collection of art. If seen in a museum alongside a work or describing said work, it signifies that piece of art in a museum is not actually owned by that museum, but is on loan from an independent source. This source will...
owned by the Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation - Cubi VI at the Israel MuseumIsrael MuseumThe Israel Museum, Jerusalem was founded in 1965 as Israel's national museum. It is situated on a hill in the Givat Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem, near the Bible Lands Museum, the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
in Jerusalem, Israel - Cubi VII at the Art Institute of ChicagoArt Institute of ChicagoThe School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, Chicago, Illinois - Cubi VIII at the Meadows MuseumMeadows MuseumThe Meadows Museum is a museum in Dallas, USA. A division of the Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts, houses one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain, with works dating from the 10th to the 20th century...
at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas - Cubi IX at the Walker Art CenterWalker Art CenterThe Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
in Minneapolis, Minnesota - Cubi X at the Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York, New York - Cubi XI owned by the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, on display at the National Gallery of ArtNational Gallery of ArtThe National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
in Washington, D.C. - Cubi XII at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C.
- Cubi XIII at the Princeton University Art MuseumPrinceton University Art MuseumThe Princeton University Art Museum is Princeton University's gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1882, it now houses over 72,000 works of art that range from antiquity to the contemporary period...
, in Princeton, New Jersey - Cubi XIV at the Saint Louis Art MuseumSaint Louis Art MuseumThe Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the principal U.S. art museums, visited by up to a half million people every year. Admission is free through a subsidy from the cultural tax district for St. Louis City and County.Located in Forest Park in St...
in St. Louis, Missouri - Cubi XV at the San Diego Museum of ArtSan Diego Museum of ArtThe San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego on February 28, 1926, and changed its name to the San...
in San Diego, California - Cubi XVI at the Albright-Knox Art GalleryAlbright-Knox Art GalleryThe Albright-Knox Art Gallery is an art museum located in Delaware Park in Buffalo, New York. The gallery is a major showplace for modern art and contemporary art. It is located directly across the street from Buffalo State College.-History:...
, Buffalo, New York - Cubi XVII at the Dallas Museum of ArtDallas Museum of ArtThe Dallas Museum of Art is a major art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, USA, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In 1984, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Arts District, Dallas, Texas...
- Cubi XVIII at the Museum of Fine Arts, BostonMuseum of Fine Arts, BostonThe Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
- Cubi XIX at the Tate GalleryTate GalleryThe Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
- Cubi XX at the UCLA Hammer Museum
- Cubi XXI at the Storm King Art CenterStorm King Art CenterThe Storm King Art Center in Mountainville, New York is an open air museum which has extended the concept of a "sculpture garden" to become a "sculpture landscape." Founded in 1960 by Ralph E. Ogden as a museum for Hudson Valley painters, it soon expanded into a major sculpture venue with the...
owned by the Lipman Family Foundation - Cubi XXII at the Yale University Art GalleryYale University Art GalleryThe Yale University Art Gallery houses a significant and encyclopedic collection of art in several buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Although it embraces all cultures and periods, the Gallery possesses especially renowned collections of early Italian painting,...
- Cubi XXIII at the Los Angeles County MuseumLos Angeles County MuseumThe Los Angeles County Museum may refer to:* Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County* Los Angeles County Museum of Art...
- Cubi XXIV at the Carnegie Museum of ArtCarnegie Museum of ArtThe Carnegie Museum of Art, located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an art museum founded in 1895 by the Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie...
, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Cubi XXV owned by Jane Lang Davis
- Cubi XXVI at the National Gallery of ArtNational Gallery of ArtThe National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
in Washington, D.C. - Cubi XXVII at the Solomon R. Guggenheim MuseumSolomon R. Guggenheim MuseumThe Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
- Cubi XXVIII purchased at auction in 2005 by Eli BroadEli BroadEli Broad is an American businessman from Detroit, Michigan who resides in Los Angeles, California.-Life and career:An only child, Broad was born in the Bronx to Lithuanian Jewish immigrant parents. His father was a housepainter, his mother was a dressmaker. His family moved to Detroit when he...
