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Tony Smith (September 23, 1912 – December 26, 1980) was an American sculptor, visual artist, and a noted theorist on art. He is primarily known for his influential Minimalist sculpture.


Education

Anthony Peter Smith, "Tony," was born in South Orange, New Jersey to a waterworks manufacturing family started by his namesake and grandfather, A. P. Smith. Tony contracted TB as a youth and his family constructed an isolation ward in the backyard in an effort to protect his fragile immune system. He was attended to by a nurse to maintain his health and tutors to keep up with his schoolwork. The medicine he was given came in little boxes which he used to form cardboard constructions and when he could, he visited the waterworks factory to marvel at the machines and fabrication processes. After the TB cleared up, Tony attended a Jesuit high school and spent two years at Georgetown University. He was disillusioned and felt no direction at Georgetown so he returned to New Jersey and opened a bookstore, worked at the family factory and attended courses in the evening at the Art Students League of New York. In 1937, he moved to Chicago to attend the New Bauhaus but again found himself disillusioned. He began working for Frank Lloyd Wright as an office clerk, was introduced to Wright's modular concrete blocks and discovered himself in Wright's creative studio.

Career

While with Wright, Smith worked with other apprentice's on the Gunning House aka Glenbrow before deciding to strike out on his own. Despite his lack of formal architectural training or a license, he was commissioned to design and build several homes including studios for Theodoro Stamos, Betty Parsons and a sprawling compound for Fred Olsen. Despite these successes, the architect/client relationship frustrated Smith enough that he gravitated toward his artwork. Smith continued to paint in abstract geometric composition and found himself teaching a basic design course at Hunter College. One class assignment consisted of forming maquettes out of cigarette box cardboard, he then asked his students to increase the scale of their designs by 5 times with regular cardboard which startled students and teacher alike as powerful objects began to take shape. In 1956, while sitting in a colleagues office, he was drawn to form of a simple file cabinet. He phoned a local fabricator and commissioned a box 2' x 3' x 2' in size. Although the welders assumed he was crazed, they treated the project with the utmost craftmanship and the result was a stunning form to Smith. He had discovered a sculpting process that he continued to hone. His first exhibitions were in 1964.

Allied with the minimalist school, Tony Smith worked with simple geometrical modules combined on a three-dimensional grid, creating drama through simplicity and scale. During the 1940s and 1950s Smith became close friends with Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Clyfford Still, and his sculpture shows their abstract influence.

Smith was also a teacher in various institutions including New York University, Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, Bennington College and Hunter College and was a leading sculptor in the 1960s and 1970s. Smith is considered a pioneer of the American Minimal art movement. He was asked to anchor the seminal 1966 show at the Jewish Museum in New York entitled Primary Structures.

Smith was asked to teach a sculpture course at the University of Hawaii in Manoa during the summer of 1969. He designed two unrealized works, Haole Crater(a recessed garden) and Hubris but eventually created The Fourth Sign that was sited on the campus. His Hawaii experience also generated fodder for his "For..." series whose initials are friends and artists he met during his time in Manoa.

A major retrospective, "Tony Smith: Architect, Painter, Sculptor," was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1998.

Tony met his wife, opera singer, Jane Lawrence, in New York in 1943. They were married in Santa Monica with Tennessee Williams as his best man.

He was the father of artists Chiara "Kiki" Smith, Seton Smith and the underground actress Beatrice (Bebe) Smith (Seton's twin), who died in 1988.

In 1961, Smith was injured in a car accident and subsequently developed a blood condition which produces a large number of red blood cells called polycythemia. His health was always questionable and deteriorated until he succumbed to a heart attack at age 68.

The Estate of Tony Smith is represented by the Matthew Marks Gallery in New York.

Public artworks

United States

California

* Marriage, 1961, Clos Pegase Winery, Calistoga
* Fermi, 1973, South Coast Plaza Town Center, Costa Mesa
* For J.C., 1969, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
* Smoke, 1967/2005, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
* Willy(maquette), 1969, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
* Die (full scale maquette), 1967, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach
* Throwback 2/3, 1976–77, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
* Spitball, 1961, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
* For D.G.[1] 2/6, 1969, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Stanford
* For J.W.[2] 2/6, 1969, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Stanford


Connecticut

* Olsen House, 1953, Guilford
* Untitled, 1967, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven
* For D.G. 1/6, 1969, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven
* For P.N.[3] 2/6, 1969, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven


District of Columbia

* Moondog, 1998–99, National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, Washington
* The Snake is Out AP, 1962, National Gallery of Art - East, Washington
* Wandering Rocks 4/5, 1967, National Gallery of Art - East, Washington
* Die 2/3, 1962, National Gallery of Art, Washington
* Throwback 3/3, 1978–79, Hirschhorn Sculpture Garden, Washington
* She Who Must Be Obeyed (maquette), 1975, Luce Foundation Center, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington
* She Who Must Be Obeyed, 1975, Frances Perkins Federal Building, Washington


Florida

* Throwback, 1976–79, The Marguiles Collection at the WAREhOUSE, Miami


Georgia

* The Keys to. Given! 1/3, 1965, High Museum of Art, Atlanta


Hawaii

* The Fourth Sign, 1976–77, University of Hawaii campus, Honolulu


Iowa

* Marriage, 1961, Pappajohn Sculpture Garden, Des Moines
* WIlly, 1962, Pappajohn Sculpture Garden, Des Moines


Kentucky

* Gracehoper 2/3, 1971, Kentucky Center for the Arts, Louisville


Louisiana

* Lipizzaner, 1976–78, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans
* Lipizzaner (maquette), 1976–78, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans


Maryland

* Spitball 3/3, 1961, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore
* Smug, 1967/1973, Glenstone Museum, Potomac


Massachusetts

* For Marjorie, 1961–77, MIT campus, Cambridge
* Throwback (study), 1976–79, Harvard University Art Museum, Cambridge
* Stinger, 1967–68, Arts on the Point, UMass, Boston
* For V.T., 1969, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston


Michigan

* Spitball 50/50, 1970, University of Michigan Art Museum, Ann Arbor
* Gracehoper 1/3, 1971, Detroit Institute of the Arts, Detroit
* Spitball, 1970, Detroit Institute of the Arts, Detroit
* For J.W., 1969, Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids


Minnesota

* Amaryllis 2/3, 1965, Walker Sculpture Garden, Minneapolis


Missouri

* Free Ride 2/3, St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis


Nebraska

* Willy, 1/3, 1962, University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus


New Jersey

* Moses, 1/3, 1969, Princeton University campus, Princeton
* Moses (model), 1967–68, Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton
* New Piece 2/3, 1966, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
* For J.C.[4], 1969, Newark Museum, Newark
* For J.C. (maquette), 1969, Newark Museum, Newark
* 81 More (model), Kean College of New Jersey, Union
* Tau,1962,Meadowland Park[the Lennie Pierro Memorial Arts Foundation, South Orange Village and the Estate of Tony Smith], South Orange, NJ [5]


New York

* The Snake is Out[6] 1/3, 1962, Empire State Plaza, Albany
* Cigarette 1/3, 1961, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
* Stamos Studio, 1959, East Marion
* Die, 1962, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
* Cigarette (maquette), 1973, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
* Cigarette 2/3, 1961, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
* Free Ride 3/3, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
* Amaryllis AP, 1965, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
* Tau 1/3, 1961–62, Hunter College, New York
* For W.A. 1/6, 1969, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
* Die 1/3, 1962, The Whitney Museum of Art, New York
* One-Two-Three 1/3, 1976, The Whitney Museum of Art, New York
* Duck 1/3, 1962, Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Garden, Pepsico Co., Purchase
* Playground, 1962–66, Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester
* Parsons Studio, 1960, Southold


Ohio

* For P.C. 2/6, 1969, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland
* Source 1/3, 1967, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland
* Last, 1979, Frank J. Lausche State Office Building, Cleveland
* Spitball 2/3, 1961, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland
* Moses, 3/3, 1969, Toledo Art Museum, Toledo


Pennsylvania

* Night, 1962, Haverford College, Haverford
* We Lost 1/3, 1962, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
* Light Up, 1971, Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh


Texas

* Willy, 2/3, 1978, Dallas Museum of Art courtyard, Dallas
* For Dolores/Flowers for the Dead/Flores para los muertos, 1973–75, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas
* One-Two-Three 2/3, 1976, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas
* The Snake is Out 3/3, 1962, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas
* Ten Elements 2/3, 1975–79, Raymond Nasher Estate, Dallas
* The Elevens Are Up[7] 1/3, 1963, Loretto Park, The Menil Collection, Houston
* Wall 1/3, 1964, Loretto Park, The Menil Collection, Houston
* New Piece 1/3, 1966, Loretto Park, The Menil Collection, Houston
* The Snake is Out 2/3, 1962, Menil Collection, University of Texas, Houston
* Asteriskos/Little Star, 1968, Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio
* Amaryllis, 1965, "Landmarks" public art project, University of Texas, Austin


Vermont

* Smog, 1969–70, McCardell Bicentennial Hall, Middlebury College, Middlebury


Virginia

* Untitled, 1966, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond


Washington

* Stinger/One Gate 1/3, 1967-1968(wood), 1999(steel), Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle
* Wandering Rocks AP, 1967, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle
* Moses, 2/3, 1969, Seattle Center (Space Needle), Seattle


Wisconsin

* Wandering Rocks 2/5, 1967, The Bradley Family Foundation Sculpture Garden, Milwaukee


International

Canada

* Black Box, 1962, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa


Japan

* Amaryllis 3/3, 1965, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka


Netherlands

* Wandering Rocks 5/5, 1967, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo


Norway

* Marriage 1/3, 1961, Oslo

AP = artist's proof

Other Work

* Throne, 1956
* Cross, 1960–62
* Light Box 9 cast, 1961
* Beardwig, 1962
* Tower of Winds, 1962
* Memphis, 1962–63
* Mistake 9 cast, 1963
* Generation, 1965
* Arm, 1968 (destroyed)
* Seed, 1968
* Trap 9 cast, 1968
* Trunk, 1968 (destroyed)
* For D.C.[8], 1969
* For M.S.[9], 1969
* 81 More, 1970, (destroyed)

1. ^ David Gregory, writer and mutual friend of Tennessee Williams per Amy Canonico, Museum Assistant, Modern & Contemporary Art, Yale University Art Gallery
2. ^ John Wisnosky, University of Hawaii Prof of Art, later chairman of the Art Departmment per Heidi Holst, Curator of Arts Education at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI
3. ^ Prithwish Neogy, chairman of the University of Hawaii Art Department, worked with MS to site "The Fourth Sign"
4. ^ Jean Charlot, the French Cubist painter per Mary-Kate O'Hare, Ph.d., Assoc. Curator of American Art at the Newark Museum
5. ^ http://www.pierrofoundation.org/index.html
6. ^ see Storr pg. 28, taken from John McNulty's Third Ave Medicine, a term that bartenders use describing a small vein that begins to protrude on a man's left temple when they have had too much to drink
7. ^ see Storr pg. 28-29, taken from John McNulty's Third Ave Medicine, a term that bartenders use describing the two cords that stand out on the back of an alcoholic's neck
8. ^ Dominique Charlot, John Charlot's wife, Jean's daughter in law...nicknamed Broomstick
9. ^ Mamoru Sato, University of Hawaii, Prof of Art and Sculpture. Hired as a consultant to supervise fabrication and installation of "The Fourth Sign"


References

* Busch, Julia M., A Decade of Sculpture: the New Media in the 1960s (The Art Alliance Press: Philadelphia; Associated University Presses: London, 1974) ISBN 0-87982-007-1
* Charlot, John, Tony Smith in Hawai'i, The Journal of Intercultural Studies, University of Hawai'i Press, No. 30 2003
* Shortliffe, Mark (coordinator), Not an Object. Not a Monument. The Complete Large-Scale Sculpture of Tony Smith (Matthew Marks Gallery: New York; 2007) ISBN 978-3-86521-313-6
* Storr, Robert, Tony Smith: Architect Painter Sculptor (Museum of Modern Art: New York; 1998) ISBN 0-87070-071-5

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