Explore the abstract of this artwork.
She Who Must Be Obeyed is a minimalist sculpture 33 feet (10 m) wide and 16 feet (4.9 m) deep made by Tony Smith in 1975. It is located at the Frances Perkins Building, in downtown Washington, D.C. The piece consists of nine geometric rhomboid units, bolted and welded together and painted blue.
Tony Smith's career encompassed architecture, painting, and sculpture. The General Services Administration commissioned the 21 foot (6.4 m) high steel construction that is painted blue in 1974 for its Art in Public Places program. Smith said that he was willing to forgo the standard honorarium for the sculpture. "I felt very honored to do something in the national capital...As far as I was concerned, I would be perfectly willing to supply it at cost….it’s right near the Capitol, and it’s a very nice place to be." 
The $98,000 fee he was awarded was consumed by the production of the imposing work.
Frances Perkins Building downtown Washington, D.C. Tony Smith rhomboid minimalist General Services Administration