“His own image; no longer a dark, gray bird, ugly and disagreeable to look at, but a graceful and beautiful swan. To be born in a duck’s nest, in a farmyard, is of no consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a swan’s egg.”
― Hans Christian Andersen, The Ugly Duckling

David Smith
American 1906-1965
Leda
1938
Painted Steel

Museum of Fine Arts
Houston, Texas

From the label text:
David Smith learned the technique of welding steel from working in a car factory, and he applied this skill to the art of sculpture. Leda is based on the Greco-Roman myth about a god who takes the form of a swan and then seduces a woman. Here, Smith offers a witty interpretation of the unlikely act of lovemaking between a bird and a woman.