Documented artwork / monumental steel sculpture
Gracehoper
Credit as documented: Tony Smith
Gracehoper is represented here by Tony Smith's large steel edition at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The estate identifies it as edition 1/3 and documents an installation view dated August 11, 1972. Smith described the work as something people could circle, enter and pass underneath. Its title arose after the form: a funnel-like feature suggested a railroad loading hopper, which led him to the ant-and-gracehoper episode in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. The resulting name connects the sculpture with an argument about spatial order and dynamic experience.
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At a glance
- Year / version
- 1962 design; Detroit installation documented August 11, 1972
- Materials
- black-painted steel
- Documented setting
- unknown
- Dimensions
- 22 ft 8 in. × 24 ft × 43 ft 11 in. (6.91 × 7.32 × 13.39 m)
- Dimensions apply to
- Estate dimensions specifically attached to Detroit steel edition 1/3; axes are not labeled.
- Availability
- Unconfirmed
Places & versions
Installation history
Historical presentations. A past installation does not establish the current location or suitability for a new site.
Installation image dated August 11, 1972
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan — steel edition 1/3
Materials and construction
The estate lists black-painted steel and an overall extent exceeding forty-three feet. Its bronze and cardboard examples are separate objects; their sizes and materials are excluded from this Detroit-edition record.
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Sources
- www.tonysmithestate.com ↗ · Checked 2026-10-17