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Don Quixote

1952
(American, 1906–1965)
America
lithograph; hand-colored with blue gouache
Sheet: 52.8 x 67.4 cm (20 13/16 x 26 9/16 in.); Image: 37.5 x 60.1 cm (14 3/4 x 23 11/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1999.177
© The Estate of David Smith / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Catalogue raisonné: Schwartz 30
State: I/II
Edition: about 14 of I, about 13 of II
Location: not on view
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

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Description

Smith composed only seven lithographs in the early 1950s, all printed in small editions, indicating that he made prints simply to experiment with the media rather than for any commercial purpose. The prints are technically unsophisticated, yet their spontaneity and expressiveness makes them appealing. This impression of the first state of Don Quixote (only about 14 impressions were printed) was colored with blue gouache by Smith to accentuate the lively three-dimensional quality of the image. Don Quixote, written by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605 to satirize contemporary chivalric romances, recounts the adventures of Don Quixote who, inflamed by romantic novels, fantasizes that he is a knight errant but is sadly forced to face reality.
Don Quixote

Don Quixote

1952

David Smith

(American, 1906–1965)
America

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