Untitled 1957

David Smith made this untitled work using brush and ink on paper, and it’s a great example of art as a kind of dance. Look at those bold, confident strokes! They remind me of calligraphy, where each mark carries so much energy. There's something deeply satisfying about the way the black ink sits on the page – not quite soaking in, but definitely present. The texture is palpable, you can almost feel the drag of the brush across the paper. It feels intuitive, like Smith was working in the moment, responding to the evolving composition with each gesture. There’s a particular looping shape near the bottom right that keeps catching my eye. It feels both deliberate and accidental, a perfect encapsulation of the whole piece. Smith's work, especially his sculptures, often had this sense of immediacy, this feeling that you're witnessing the act of creation. It’s a conversation, an ongoing exploration. Like Franz Kline, he understood how to turn simple gestures into powerful statements.