Douglass Crockwell — ‘Profoundly grieved’
For artist/illustrator Douglass Crockwell, the untimely death of sculptor David Smith of Bolton Landing, was the loss of a long-time friend and kindred creative spirit.
“America has lost her foremost sculptor. We are profoundly grieved,” Crockwell said, according to a report May 25,1965 in The Post-Star.
Often, when a friend or relative dies, neighbors drop by with casseroles to comfort the mourners.
Crockwell arranged a potluck art exhibit, of sorts. of Smith’s early works, smaller and more surrealistic than his later works, at The Hyde Collection art museum in Glens Falls, where Crockwell was acting director.
Crockwell and his wife loaned works from their personal collection.
Others who loaned works were Mrs. Minerva Burns of Saratoga Springs, Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Greenburg of Lake George, Dr. and Mrs. Andrew Brown and Mr. and Mrs. Thure Krarup.
Crockwell, from his long-time friendship with Smith, obviously knew who were patrons of Smith’s early work.
The memorial exhibit opened on June 12, and would run indefinitely.
Smith died May 23 in an automobile crash at Shaftsbury, Vt.
The June 11 issue of Life magazine eulogized Smith in an article “Farewell to the Vulcan of American Art.”
“He seemed indestructible, and his sculptures — often cryptically named — still stand as living monuments to their maker.”
According to the Life article, Smith often worked on a half-dozen different sculptures at a time at his Bolton Landing workshop.
“He worked steadily, all day, into the night, building sculptures whose variety and originality were astonishing.”
The Glens Falls Times eulogized Smith in a May 25 editorial.
“The death of David Smith is a tragedy for American art. …An automobile accident snuffed the life of a genius. A 58-year-old man, in the prime of his creative state, has been stopped. … As Douglass Crockwell, a long-time friend who has witnessed the development of Mr. Smith’s ability put it: ‘America has lost her favorite sculptor. We are profoundly grieved.’”
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