One the most influential artists of his generation, David Smith approached painting, drawing, and sculpture as indivisible practices each of which were integral in his art making. Executed in 1933, Untitled (Virgin Island Landscape with Brown Shell), presents an early venture into abstraction, conjuring the distinctive atmosphere of an unknown landscape though amorphous shapes and carefully combined colors. Through the exploration of the aesthetic precepts of negative and positive spaces–an interest developed throughout David Smith’s career— some figures are merely suggested by demarcated contours of white, yellows and ochres, while others are completely filled with the very same pigments. The effect is that of an immediate magnetic interaction, guiding the gaze through the lengths and depths of the artist’s imagination. An evocative artwork of a paradise, Untitled (Virgin Island Landscape with Brown Shell) allures our senses through an intellectual undertaking, exploring the advancements of painting and composition through the academic fascinations of the young American master.