Hear the Curator (y1969-104)

Tony Smith came from a South Orange, New Jersey, family of builders and had an earlier career as an architect; smoothly welded planes were a characteristic of his work. As with all of Smith’s works, this piece was conceived as an abstract geometric sculpture and was given its title, Moses, only after the artist had fabricated a mock-up. Here, the parallel upright forms suggested to Smith the horns in Michelangelo’s Moses. As the artist explained: “Mistranslation resulted in Michelangelo’s peculiar presentation of a horned Moses. My sculpture, without previous intent, perpetuates this curiosity.” In contrast to the Cor-Ten steel often seen in Princeton’s sculpture, Smith preferred “mild” steel, which is lighter and more easily manipulated and joined.