Label Text:
Smith is recognized for his early development of hard-edge abstraction (a style defined by geometric, monochromatic shapes and defined edges) in the 1950s. Though celebrated during his lifetime and today, Smith often resided outside the spotlight. He didn’t accept invitations to join the American Abstract Artists, an organization in New York City created to promote abstraction, preferring to follow his own creative path. His goal, he said, was to “liberate form, shape, and concept,” which he did by looking to artists like Piet Mondrian and then working beyond this form of abstraction. On his association with Mondrian, Smith remarked that “writers have made too much out of Mondrian with me, and I’ve resented that.” Smith acknowledged that his experiences of landscape and Native American art in Oklahoma, where he grew up, surface in his art.

Lisa Crossman (2020)

Tags:
abstract; nonrepresentational art; red; blue; collages; suns

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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2017.29

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