Leon Polk Smith

Smith was born near Chickasha, a year before Oklahoma became a state. His parents, William and Samantha Smith, had arrived in present-day Oklahoma from Tennessee at the end of the 19th century, and had settled on land with the Chickasaw Nation and Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory. Smith was the eighth of nine children and labored on his parents' modest homestead throughout an impecunious childhood. After high school, he worked as a ranch-hand in Oklahoma, then built roads and constructed telephone systems in Arizona. During this period Smith sent money home to help his parents with the mortgage on their land, but even the aggregate of the family's funds proved insufficient to avoid foreclosure.[https://leonpolksmithfoundation.org/life/bio/ Buck, Robert T., Leon Polk Smith Foundation: Biography,] (2006) Retrieved 2020-3-20

After the foreclosure, and released from the burden of familial financial support, Smith enrolled at Oklahoma State College (now East Central University), in Ada, Oklahoma, with the intention of becoming a teacher. Following graduation, he moved to New York City (1936), where he attended the Columbia University Teacher's College. Smith's artistic development was set in motion during his first semester at Columbia, when one of his teachers took him to see the Gallatin Collection, then at New York University. The sight of paintings by Mondrian and sculpture by Constantin Brâncuși and Jean Arp was a formative experience.[https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/07/arts/leon-polk-smith-91-artist-loyal-to-geometry-is-dead.html Smith, Roberta, Leon Polk Smith, 91, Artist Loyal to Geometry, Is Dead.] (1996). The New York Times: Obituaries. Retrieved 2020-3-20

Smith had his first show in New York City at the Uptown Gallery in 1941. In the decade that followed, Smith moved through preliminary explorations of neo-plasticism and began to paint in a more hard-edge style, typified by geometric lines, curving shapes of color, and the use of tondo (disk-shaped) canvases. A review for a 1956 solo show at the Camino Gallery noted Smith as a Geometric painter, who had "extended De Stijl principles to include tonal variations and nonrectilinear elements."[https://www.nytimes.com/1956/11/16/archives/group-display-at-tanager-gallery.html?searchResultPosition=25 About Art and Artists,] (1956) The New York Times: Arts. Retrieved 2020-3-21. Smith acknowledged his debt to the De Stijl movement and to Mondrian, but stated that he was looking in his work to take the road beyond: "people said [Mondrian] had hit a dead end, or a stone wall and I said I don't think so."[https://web.archive.org/web/20090829235836/http://geocities.com/wntltiacnet/artdeal/leon.html Parks, Addison, Interview with Leon Polk Smith,] Arts Magazine, (1985). Retrieved 2020-3-22.

As late as 1962, he continued to receive notifications for derivative influence: the "flawlessly executed" bas-reliefs of his exhibition for Eleanor Ward at the Stable Gallery were typified as "Arpish."[https://www.nytimes.com/1962/01/13/archives/summary-of-recent-art-show-openings-in-citys-galleries.html?searchResultPosition=8 Summary of Recent Art Show Openings in City's Galleries,] (1962) The New York Times: Arts. Retrieved 2020-3-21.

But with the support of prominent gallerists in the late 1950s, by the mid-60s Smith had found an audience for his work as an independent voice. His artwork was included in two important group exhibitions, The Responsive Eye at the Museum of Modern Art (1965) and Systemic Painting at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1966). His two important series of the period, Correspondences and Constellations impressed reviewers with their interplay of form, color, and space.{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Roberta |title=Leon Polk Smith Goes Beyond His Inspiration |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1995/09/29/748795.html |work=New York Times |date=1995}}

He introduced his Constellation series at the Galerie Chalette in 1969.

In 1995, the Brooklyn Museum curated Leon Polk Smith: American Painter, a retrospective exhibition of Smith's career.[https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/leon-polk-smith-papers-6162/biographical-note ''Leon Polk Smith papers, 1938-1997: Biographical Note,"] Archives of American Art, The Smithsonian, Washington, DC. Retrieved 2020-3-22

He was affiliated with numerous prominent dealers, including Sidney Janis, Charles Egan, Betty Parsons, Galerie Chalette, and Denise René.

From 1939 to 1948, Smith supported himself via teaching and teaching administration. He was State Supervisor of Art Education in Delaware, Assistant Professor of Art at the TC University System of Georgia, and accepted university teaching positions at Rollins College in Florida, New York University, and Mills College of Education in New York.[https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/leon-polk-smith-papers-6162/subseries-2-1/box-2-folder-19 Lewja, Arthur Precis of the Artist,] (1969). Leon Polk Smith papers, Archives of American Art, The Smithsonian, Washington, DC. Box 2, Folder 19. Retrieved 2020-3-22

Smith died in Manhattan in 1996, with an acknowledged position in the development of American geometric abstraction. He had arrived at geometry before others and remained steadfastly loyal to its principles, cultivating aspects of scale and simplicity that presaged the Hard-Edge and Minimal painting styles of the late 1950s and '60s. Younger painters like Ellsworth Kelly, Jack Youngerman and Al Held visited his studio and came away inspired.[https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/07/arts/leon-polk-smith-91-artist-loyal-to-geometry-is-dead.html Smith, Roberta, Leon Polk Smith, 91, Artist Loyal to Geometry, Is Dead.] (1996). The New York Times: Obituaries. Retrieved 2020-3-20 But he cultivated a maverick attitude as a New York outsider that resisted definition as part of any single contemporary movement on the arts scene. This challenged his reviewers, as they looked for soundbites to describe his status and his work.[https://www.nytimes.com/1973/12/08/archives/leon-polk-smiths-maverick-attitude.html?searchResultPosition=108 Mellow, James R., Leon Polk Smith's Maverick Attitude,] The New York Times: Arts, (1975). Retrieved 2020-3-21. When asked for his inspirations at a post-commencement speech roundtable, Smith cited the two professors of English who opened his mind to the beauty of Middle-English and Poetry, rather than name-dropping his contemporaries or artistic mentors.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWlRNUZiJl0 American Masterpieces: Leon Polk Smith,] Post Commencement Interview, ECU Arts Department YouTube), East Central University, Ada, Oklahoma. Retrieved 2020-3-23.

The Leon Polk Smith Foundation was established by the artist before his death to "preserve and promote the art and legacy of Leon Polk Smith."[https://leonpolksmithfoundation.org/the-foundation/ Leon Polk Smith Foundation], Retrieved 2020-3-23.

• The Responsive Eye at the Museum of Modern Art (1965)
• Systemic Painting at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1966)

• Paintings & Sculpture, the Stable Gallery (1962)[https://www.nytimes.com/1962/01/07/archives/gallery-openings-museum-exhibitions.html?searchResultPosition=47 Gallery Openings & Museum Exhibitions,] The New York Times: Arts, (1962). Retrieved 2020-3-21.
• Torn Drawings, Galerie Chalette (1965)[https://www.nytimes.com/1965/10/23/archives/art-drawings-bolster-gallery-fare-the-shickman-opens-with-a-fine.html?searchResultPosition=59 Drawings Bolster Gallery Fare,] The New York Times: Arts, (1965). Retrieved 2020-3-21.
• Constellations, Galerie Chalette, (1969)
• Leon Polk Smith: Retrospective, Galerie Denise Rene, (1975)[https://www.nytimes.com/1973/12/08/archives/leon-polk-smiths-maverick-attitude.html?searchResultPosition=108 Mellow, James R., Leon Polk Smith's Maverick Attitude,] The New York Times: Arts, (1975). Retrieved 2020-3-21.
• Recent Work, Washburn Galleries, Uptown & Downtown (1981)[https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/20/arts/art-leon-polk-smith-uptown-and-downtown.html?searchResultPosition=2 Russell, John, Leon Polk Smith, Uptown and Downtown,] The New York Times: Arts, (1981). Retrieved 2020-3-21.
• Leon Polk Smith: American Painter, the Brooklyn Museum (1995)

• Leon Polk Smith, Joan T. Washburn Gallery (2005)[https://brooklynrail.org/2005/03/artseen/leon-polk-smith Buhmann, Stephanie, Leon Polk Smith at the Joan T. Washburn Gallery,] ArtSeen, The Brooklyn Rail (Mar 2005), retrieved 2020-3-25
• Leon Polk Smith: Hiding in Plain Sight, Heard Museum (2021)[https://heard.org/exhibit/leon-polk-smith-hiding-in-plain-sight Leon Polk Smith: Hiding in Plain Sight,] Heard Museum. Retrieved 2021-2-18
• Leon Polk Smith: Big Form, Big Space, Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver) (2021)[https://www.contemporaryartgallery.ca/exhibitions/leonpolksmith/ Leon Polk Smith: Big Form, Big Space,] Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver). Retrieved 2022-2-1

"It is very important that the dealer understands the artist's work and [has the] ability to talk about it intelligently. I have heard dealers say: 'I know what I like and I think that is enough.' Enough for a cow but not a dealer."[https://collections.si.edu/search/detail/edanmdm:AAADCD_item_13402 Smith, Leon Polk, Notes on what makes a good or bad gallery,] (1965), Leon Polk Smith papers, 1938-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Record No. (DSI-AAA)13402. Retrieved 2020 3-23.

{{Reflist}}

• Rapaport, Brooke Kamin, et al. Leon Polk Smith: American Painter. The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, (1995).
• Yau, John. Leon Polk Smith. Lisson Gallery, New York, NY (2017).

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090829235836/http://geocities.com/wntltiacnet/artdeal/leon.html Leon Polk Smith interview from Artdeal Magazine]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070310195307/http://www.arithmeum.uni-bonn.de/en/events/61 Leon Polk Smith - Leon Polk Smith in the Arithmeum]
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060830020055/http://www.thebrooklynrail.org/arts/march05/10.html Article about Leon Polk Smith]}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140812155027/https://www.ecok.edu/administration/academic-affairs/academic-affairs-programs/academics/colleges-schools/college-liberal-arts-and-social-sciences/school-fine-arts/department-of-art/scholarships Art Department Scholarships - Leon Polk Smith Scholarship]
• [http://leonpolksmithfoundation.org/ Leon Polk Smith Foundation]
• [http://www.lissongallery.com/artists/leon-polk-smith Lisson Gallery Artist page]

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Category:1906 births

Category:1996 deaths

Category:20th-century American painters

Category:American male painters

Category:Minimalist artists

Category:American abstract painters

Category:American modern sculptors

Category:Abstract sculptors

Category:People from Grady County, Oklahoma

Category:Painters from Oklahoma

Category:East Central University alumni

Category:20th-century American male artists