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Label Text Tony Smith’s earliest sculptures date to his days spent quarantined from his family while he recovered from tuberculosis. The ample supply of medicine boxes used to treat his illness provided the medium for his small scale models and his imagination. Smith’s long career in architecture was also highly influential on his output as a sculptor, evidenced most directly in the large scale of his work and the building-like manner in which his shapes interact with their surrounding space. Willy is one of Smith’s important early large-scale works and masterfully combines abstract geometric forms with human characteristics. Willy involves complex polyhedral shapes. The flat black planes of steel twist into each other, suggesting an anthropomorphic (or human) form. The title comes from a Samuel Beckett play Happy Days (1961), in which the character “Willie” crawls submissively around his wife, who is buried waist deep in mud.
Published References"John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park", Lea Rosson DeLong, ed., Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa, 1923, pp. 130, 132-133
Fabricator
Lippincott Sculpture
DimensionsOverall: 91 1/4 × 224 × 135 in., 4000 lb. (231.8 × 569 × 342.9 cm, 1814.4 kg.)
Accession Number 2015.25
Classificationssculpture
CopyrightARS
InscriptionsOn metal plate on bottom of sculpture: T. SMITH WILLY 1962 A.P. LIPPINCOTT/ MERRIFIELD-ROBERTS, 2005
EditionAP
ProvenanceLippincott Sculpture [fabricated, 2005]. Matthew Marks Gallery, New York [by 2008]; John and Mary Pappajohn [purchased from previous, 2008]; Des Moines Art Center [gift from previous, 2015]

Images (2)

Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: © Cameron Campbell 2009

Audio (1)

Willy
Photo Credit: © Cameron Campbell 2009
Photo Credit: © Cameron Campbell 2009
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Tony Smith
1961, fabricated 1989
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Mark di Suvero
1987
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
David Smith
1961
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Ugo Rondinone
2005
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Ugo Rondinone
2006
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Tony Feher
2012
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Jaume Plensa
2007
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Robert Smithson
1966
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Tony Cragg
1988
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Tony Cragg
1989