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
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]