East Hampton - Two sculptures by David Slivka (1914-2010) are on view at the Pollock-Krasner House this summer, courtesy of his estate and that of his former wife, the late Rose Slivka. His daughter, Charlotte, and Joan Ullman Schwartz enabled Stony Brook University to present this memorial tribute to David.

A native of Chicago, Slivka began studying art at a young age, taking junior classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. When he was 16 the family settled in San Francisco, where he studied sculpture at the California School of Fine Arts. At age 19 he was hired by the Public Works of Art Project, the first of the New Deal art patronage schemes, and he later worked on the WPA Federal Art Project and The San Francisco World's Fair. During the Second World War, he served as a ship's carpenter in the Merchant Marine.

After the war, Slivka moved to New York City and became a vital member of the burgeoning avant-garde. In the summer of 1945, he visited his friends Reuben and Barbara Kadish at Louse Point at the mouth of Accabonac Harbor, where they were sharing a cottage with Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner. He later visited Pollock and Krasner at what is now the Pollock Krasner House, and socialized with many of his colleagues who summered in the area.

The two pieces on display are "Galaxy II," 2005, Polychrome wood, lent by the Estate of David Slivka and "Untitled" (reclining woman), 1959 Bronze, lent by the Estate of Rose Slivka.

Originally Slivka concentrated on stone carving, but in the 1950s he began working in bronze. In the early 1960s he created a series of rapid ink paintings, some of which will be exhibited at David Findlay, Jr. Fine Art in Manhattan in August. They were not intended as plans for his bronze sculptures of this period, but took on a life of their own.

In the late 1970s, after finding it too costly to cast in bronze, Slivka began to construct in wood. He worked with cut pieces, scrap, found fragments, tree branches and rope, developing new concepts that made use of natural color and grain. In later decades he increasingly incorporated stain and applied color, as in "Galaxy II."

On Sunday, July 10 at 5 p.m., the art historian and sculpture expert Joan Marter will present an illustrated talk, "David Slivka: An Artist of Many Dimensions," at The Fireplace Project, 851 Springs-Fireplace Road, diagonally across from the Pollock Krasner House. Admission is $5, free for P-K House members. No reservations are required.