Leon Polk Smith
1906-1996
Untitled
1945
17 x 13 1/2 inches (43.2 x 34.3 cm)
Brush and ink over graphite pencil on paper.
2010.9
Gift of the Leon Polk Smith Foundation.
© Leon Polk Smith / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Notes
Abstract painter Leon Polk Smith developed a distinct formal vocabulary that combined Native American motifs, reflective of his Cherokee heritage, with European modernism---notably the art of Mondrian, whose work Smith first saw in 1936 while attending summer school in New York City. Later, Smith moved beyond the constraints of Neoplasticism to explore a wide range of geometric compositions, often based on interlocking forms. These hard-edged geometric compositions with vast expanses of color anticipated the Minimalist movement of the 1960s.
Inscriptions/Markings
Initialed (LPS) and dated ('45), lower right.
Artist
Classification
Century Drawings
Catalog link
Department