Sentinel I 1956

This is David Smith's 'Sentinel I', a sculpture made out of welded steel. Imagine Smith in his studio, surrounded by metal scraps, sparks flying as he pieces together this standing form. There's something so immediate about the physicality of metal work, it's heavy and solid. You can feel the heat and force that shaped it. The surface is rough and uneven, telling a story of labor and improvisation. Look at the way Smith uses these flat planes near the top, like flags or signals, and how they balance with the linear elements below. I imagine Smith thinking about Picasso and Gonzalez, about how to make space visible through constructed form. There's a conversation happening here, between sculptors and painters, about how to make something that feels both grounded and impossibly light. These are not simple forms, but rather, these shapes and lines are charged with meaning, and invite our curiosity.