Leon Polk Smith
Untitled (Tondo) C
1968

Name: Untitled (Tondo) C
Brand: Leon Polk Smith
Price: 4000 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Leon Polk Smith (1906 -1996) holds a unique place in a long tradition of American geometric abstract painting. Born near Chikasha, a Native American territory later annexed by the U.S. as the state of Oklahoma, Smith’s parents, who were of Cherokee ancestry, raised him with both a strong sense of his heritage and an abiding respect for the land. Art would eventually draw Smith to New York where he would quickly embrace elements of geometric abstraction in his work. Many of Smith’s hard-edge compositions could be viewed as distillations of imagery drawn from the Oklahoma landscape and Native American art forms of his youth. Polk Smith’s exploration of non-objective imagery in the late 1950s put him at the forefront of movements including Color Field, Minimalist, and Hard Edge painting. This print shares the same lively, high-contrast color palette and dynamic interactive forms found in the artist’s paintings. Polk Smith’s work is included in the collections of major institutions such as the Art Institute of Chicago, IL; The Brooklyn Museum, NY; Cleveland Museum of Art, OH; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY; The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; Museum of Modern Art, NY among many others worldwide.

Creator:

Leon Polk Smith (1906-1996, American)

Creation Year:

1968

Dimensions:

Height: 25.5 in (64.77 cm)Width: 26 in (66.04 cm)

Medium:

Paper,Screen

Movement & Style:

Abstract Geometric

Period:

Mid-20th Century

Condition:

Gallery Location:

New York, NY

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU463525202

View Invoice

Shop All Leon Polk Smith

Leon Polk Smith

Leon Polk Smith (1906 -1996) holds a unique place in a long tradition of American geometric abstract painting, which includes such artists as Bourgoyne Diller, Fritz Glarner, Al Held, and Ellsworth Kelly. Born near Chikasha, a Native American territory later annexed by the U.S. as the state of Oklahoma, Smith’s parents, who were of Cherokee ancestry, raised him with both a strong sense of his heritage and an abiding respect for the land. Art would eventually draw Smith to New York where he would quickly embrace elements of geometric abstraction in his work. His visual vocabulary was influenced by such historical figures as Hilla Rebay, both an abstract painter and the first director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Dutch De Stijl painter Piet Mondrian. However, many of Smith’s hard-edge compositions could be viewed as distillations of imagery drawn from the Oklahoma landscape and Native American art forms of his youth. Polk Smith’s exploration of non-objective imagery in the late 1950s put him at the forefront of movements including Color Field, Minimalist, and Hard Edge painting. Robert Buck, former director of the Brooklyn Museum, described Polk Smith as “an influential pioneer in the development of American Modernism”, adding, “He created a new vocabulary in painting that has had a far-reaching influence on subsequent generations of artists.” One of Smith’s earliest and most successful forays into printmaking came in 1968 when he received a grant to work at June Wayne’s Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles. Smith would create sixteen untitled prints at Tamarind. These bold and vibrant prints incorporate a variety of his painting motifs, many of which relate to his Correspondence Series of 1960-1967, with their interplay of organic forms on solid color backgrounds. Prints would continue to be an important aspect of Smith’s creative output. The artist would go on to make over 50 print editions in this country and Europe.