In the context of this artwork, explain the Mercury of the Further information.
The sculpture has been described by curators at the National Gallery of Art as "making a direct reference" to Mercury as attributed to Adrian de Vries and "that this Mercury variation is not an isolated instance in Smith's career," referring to other works such as Circles, Wagons and Sentinels by Smith, which are all variations upon work by another artist. Deemed a "parody" by The Washington Post, in the catalog of the National Gallery's 1982-1983 exhibition, "David Smith," Agricola is renamed "Mercury variant" for the duration of the publication. In 1982, NGA curator E.A. Carmean Jr., stated that the Hirshhorn's Agricola I was a must have for NGA if the work was ever to be deaccessioned. Art historian and critic Rosalind Krauss describes Agricola I as being "a hieratic image, rigid, frontal, and planar to the point of existing almost solely as a silhouette; whereas Mercury is a Mannerist work of combined elegance and muscularity..." She also points out that Mercury has nothing to do with the agricultural theme of Agricola I.
Adrian de Vries National Gallery of Art The Washington Post sculpture Rosalind Krauss Mannerist David Smith silhouette hieratic