Artist

Tony Smith

born South Orange, NJ 1912-died New York City 1980
Born
South Orange, New Jersey, United States
Died
New York, New York, United States
Biography

As a child, Tony Smith was bedridden with tuberculosis. Spending some years isolated from his sister and five brothers, Smith entertained himself by making Pueblo villages from the small boxes his medicines came in. Smith decided to pursue art seriously after his sophomore year of college, withdrawing from Georgetown University to attend night classes in New York. He spent a year studying architecture at the New Bauhaus in Chicago and landed a job helping Frank Lloyd Wright develop low-cost housing. For the next twenty years, he was a practicing architect but also taught art and design and maintained friendships with artists such as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Smith grew frustrated with his architecture clients and turned toward expressive painting. After a serious car accident in 1961, the artist returned to his childhood practice of making small cardboard models. These small maquettes motivated Smith to focus his efforts on larger sculptures for the remainder of his career. Smith drew inspiration from nature and believed that pure geometric forms could convey the underlying order of the world.

Works by this artist (61 items)

Elihu Vedder, The Cup of Death, 1885 and 1911, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of William T. Evans, 1912.3.3
The Cup of Death
Date1885 and 1911
oil on canvas
On view
Elihu Vedder, Volterra, 1860, oil on canvas mounted on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1977.105
Volterra
Date1860
oil on canvas mounted on canvas
On view
Elihu Vedder, (Illustration for Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám) Theology, 1883-1884, chalk, pencil and ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase and gift from Elizabeth W. Henderson in memory of her husband Francis Tracy Henderson, 1978.108.15
(Illustration for Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám) Theology
Date1883-1884
chalk, pencil and ink on paper
Not on view