Tony Smith (American, 1912-1980), New Piece

1967, black lacquered wood, retains partial publisher label of Documenta Foundation, Kassel to the underside.

10 1/2 x 22 x 21 in.

From the Collection of the late Robert and Judith Weston, Detroit, Michigan

Tony Smith was an important painter, sculptor, architect, and designer allied with Minimalist School, and is known for his geometric works, many of them linear with great volume and composed of metal or wood.

Tony Smith was from South Orange, New Jersey. He first trained as an architect and in 1939 began working for Frank Lloyd Wright. He also did some painting as a part-time student at the Art Students League but did not begin sculpting until 1956 when he was age 44. His first exhibitions were in 1964.

Smith became close friends with Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Clyfford Still during the mid-20th century. His sculpture shows their abstract influence. One of Smith's unrealized architectural projects in 1950 was a plan for a church that was to have painted glass panels designed in collaboration with his friend Pollock. In 1962, he made Die, a 6' steel cube that helped established his reputation as one of the most influential and important artists of his time. After exhibiting massive, black-painted plywood and metal works at several sites across the United States and internationally, Smith was featured on the October 13, 1967 cover of Time with his plywood structure Smoke (1967) enveloping the atrium of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington.

Smith was also a teacher in various institutions including New York University, Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, Bennington College and Hunter College.

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

Scattered areas of paint wear (primarily to underside), and a few edge nicks.