Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art

"Lois Orswell (1904-1998) was a pioneering collector of abstract expressionist art and modern sculpture. A native of New England she was notable not only for the quality of her acquisitions but also for her exceptional position as a woman collector at a time when men dominated the art world. Unlike most of her contemporaries, Orswell focused her attention on sculpture and drawings, rather than paintings, and her collection features the work of such canonical artists as Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Auguste Rodin, Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Louise Nevelson, and many others. Of all these artists, none was more important than David Smith - arguably the greatest American sculptor of the twentieth century - and the book highlights the close connection between collector and artist.". "This illustrated volume publishes for the first time the correspondence between Orswell and Smith, which sheds important new light on the sculptor's personality and professional practice. The book also tells the history of the Orswell Collection, which numbers over 340 objects and is housed at the Harvard University Art Museums."--BOOK JACKET.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.