. Phaidon Focus is a brand new series that offers accessible, up-to-date, authoritative, enjoyable andthought-provoking books on internationally renowned modern masters. Written by experts in their field, each of these lively and beautifully illustrated books, covers the fullspan of the artist's work, exploring its origins, development, style and themes. Stimulating and a pleasure to read, each book consists of a chronological essay accompanied by'Focus' sections that delve into specific themes and important groups of work, and ends with a shortchronology and a bibliography. These compact and affordable hardback books are the perfect introductions to the artists, essentialreading for students and rewarding for anyone curious about art. One of the best-known American sculptors of the modern period, David Smith (1906-1965)was a pioneer of abstract sculpture. He revolutionized the possibilities of metalsculpture by introducing the industrial process of welding, enabling him to create the mostextraordinarily balanced compositions - using metal to 'draw in space'. Predominantly knownas a sculptor, the book also sheds light on his prolific practice of drawing, sketching, writingand photographing his sculptures.