GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Born in Indian Territory (near present day Chickasha) Oklahoma, Leon Polk Smith was trained in New York and France. In the 1930s, he came to know the work of European modernists Constantin Brancusi, Jean Arp, and, most notably, Piet Mondrian. He introduced geometric abstraction and a nonobjective vocabulary into his own paintings. Smith was not particularly interested in the theories of Mondrian, but he responded to the visual impact of his grid and the sense of extension beyond the edge of the canvas. In fact, Smith never met Mondrian; nonetheless, in 1946 he painted several works in tribute to him, beginning with the Dutch artist's unfinished opus Victory Boogie Woogie (1942-44, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag). Unlike Mondrian, Smith's own work is not confined by any strict rules concerning color and line. Rather the floating color planes in Homage to Victory Boogie Woogie #1 imply a response to the urban landscape, a dizzying bird's-eye view, perhaps, from the height of a skyscraper.
Adapted from
Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 282.
NOTES
Entered provenance and exhibition history according to documentation in object file.
FUN FACT- source-
[Quote used in justification, found in the press release for Leon Polk Smith: American Painter, Sept 29, 1995 through Jan 7, 1996, Brooklyn Museum, online at http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/exhibitions/1185/Leon_Polk_Smith:_American_Painter#. The quote appears in the catalogue for this show, Carter Ratcliff, "Leon Polk Smith: The Geometry of Optimism," in Leon Polk Smith: American Painter (Brooklyn Museum, 1996), 4. (Citation gives original source as, Leon Polk Smith, statement (1979), in Leon Polk Smith, exh cat (Ludwigshafen am Rhein: Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, 1989, page 98.)]
Add artist geographies:
Geography - Nationality
Chickasha (Oklahoma): TGN: 2083003
Indian Territory (Oklahoma): DMA
trained- France: TGN: 1000070
This note was routed and reviewed by Sue who made no changes to the draft. I am removing the routed tag and adding the completed tag because the GDoc has been moved to Queta's folder for review. (2/13/2017)
Catalogue essays specific to object
Artist/designers
Leon Polk Smith: ULAN: 500030927
Cultures
Geography
Depicted- NYC
Process/materials
canvas : AAT
oil paint : AAT
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
painting
Constantin Brancusi : ULAN
Jean Arp: ULAN: 500031000
Piet Mondrian : ULAN
geometric abstraction : AAT
nonrepresentational: AAT
grids (layout features): AAT: 300200010
urban landscape: AAT: 300132447
skyscrapers: AAT: 300004809
plane figures: AAT: 300159060
De Stijl: AAT
Neo-Plastic: AAT
linear forms: AAT: 300234452
abstract: AAT
primary colors: AAT
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
By 1996: Leon Polk Smith Foundation-Trust (Washburn Gallery), New York, NY. [1]
2000: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from the Leon Polk Smith Foundation-Trust (Washburn Gallery), New York, NY
[1] Leon Polk Smith (20 May 1906 - 4 December 1996). No record on the Washburn Gallery documentation of owner prior to the Leon Polk-Smith Foundation Trust.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- Leon Polk Smith, Homage to Victory Boogie Woogie #2 (1946-47)~Check out this related work in the collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and notice how the artist made significant changes in shape, color, and composition between the two.
- Piet Mondrian, Victory Boogie Woogie (1942-44)~See the work that inspired Leon Polk Smith to create this tribute.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- Smith wrote in 1979 about his connection to NYC: "New York City revealed its physical self to me through the mountains and canyons of the Southwest. There were the ups and downs—the high peaks, the in-betweens, or the canyons, and topped with the great dome. ...I felt the city to be a perfect equation for a great abstraction."
TEACHING IDEAS
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Apply to objects where number equals 2000.391
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General Description
Born in Indian Territory (near present day Chickasha) Oklahoma, Leon Polk Smith was trained in New York and France. In the 1930s, he came to know the work of European modernists Constantin Brancusi, Jean Arp, and, most notably, Piet Mondrian. He introduced geometric abstraction and a nonobjective vocabulary into his own paintings. Smith was not particularly interested in the theories of Mondrian, but he responded to the visual impact of his grid and the sense of extension beyond the edge of the canvas. In fact, Smith never met Mondrian; nonetheless, in 1946 he painted several works in tribute to him, beginning with the Dutch artist's unfinished opus Victory Boogie Woogie (1942-44, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag). Unlike Mondrian, Smith's own work is not confined by any strict rules concerning color and line. Rather the floating color planes in Homage to Victory Boogie Woogie #1 imply a response to the urban landscape, a dizzying bird's-eye view, perhaps, from the height of a skyscraper.
Adapted from
Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 282.
Fun Facts
- Smith wrote in 1979 about his connection to NYC: "New York City revealed its physical self to me through the mountains and canyons of the Southwest. There were the ups and downs—the high peaks, the in-betweens, or the canyons, and topped with the great dome. ...I felt the city to be a perfect equation for a great abstraction."
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Leon Polk Smith, Homage to Victory Boogie Woogie #2 (1946-47)~Check out this related work in the collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and notice how the artist made significant changes in shape, color, and composition between the two.
- Piet Mondrian, Victory Boogie Woogie (1942-44)~See the work that inspired Leon Polk Smith to create this tribute.
Notes
Entered provenance and exhibition history according to documentation in object file.
FUN FACT- source-
[Quote used in justification, found in the press release for Leon Polk Smith: American Painter, Sept 29, 1995 through Jan 7, 1996, Brooklyn Museum, online at http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/exhibitions/1185/Leon_Polk_Smith:_American_Painter#. The quote appears in the catalogue for this show, Carter Ratcliff, "Leon Polk Smith: The Geometry of Optimism," in Leon Polk Smith: American Painter (Brooklyn Museum, 1996), 4. (Citation gives original source as, Leon Polk Smith, statement (1979), in Leon Polk Smith, exh cat (Ludwigshafen am Rhein: Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, 1989, page 98.)]
Add artist geographies:
Geography - Nationality
Chickasha (Oklahoma): TGN: 2083003
Indian Territory (Oklahoma): DMA
trained- France: TGN: 1000070
This note was routed and reviewed by Sue who made no changes to the draft. I am removing the routed tag and adding the completed tag because the GDoc has been moved to Queta's folder for review. (2/13/2017)
Catalogue essays specific to object
Artist/designers
Leon Polk Smith: ULAN: 500030927
Cultures
Geography
Depicted- NYC
Process/materials
canvas : AAT
oil paint : AAT
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
painting
Constantin Brancusi : ULAN
Jean Arp: ULAN: 500031000
Piet Mondrian : ULAN
geometric abstraction : AAT
nonrepresentational: AAT
grids (layout features): AAT: 300200010
urban landscape: AAT: 300132447
skyscrapers: AAT: 300004809
plane figures: AAT: 300159060
De Stijl: AAT
Neo-Plastic: AAT
linear forms: AAT: 300234452
abstract: AAT
primary colors: AAT
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
By 1996: Leon Polk Smith Foundation-Trust (Washburn Gallery), New York, NY. [1]
2000: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from the Leon Polk Smith Foundation-Trust (Washburn Gallery), New York, NY
[1] Leon Polk Smith (20 May 1906 - 4 December 1996). No record on the Washburn Gallery documentation of owner prior to the Leon Polk-Smith Foundation Trust.
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number
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2000.391
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