Tony Smith

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Smith, Tony (1912–1980). American sculptor, painter, and architect, born at South Orange, New Jersey. After studying at the Art Students League, New York, 1933–6, and the New Bauhaus, Chicago, 1937–8, he served an apprenticeship in architecture as clerk of works to Frank Lloyd Wright and practised as an architect from 1940 to 1960, during which time he also painted. He began to take an interest in sculpture around 1940, but although he taught at various colleges in the 1940s and 1950s (in addition to his architectural career) and was closely associated with leading avant-garde figures such as Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Clyfford Still, he did not exhibit sculpture publicly until 1964. From that time he quickly emerged as one of the leading exponents of Minimal art. His work was sometimes very large in scale, composed of bold geometrical shapes (often repeated modular units) that he had industrially manufactured in steel. Many of his works were placed outdoors, helping to bring to American sculpture a new interest in the environment. A well-known example is Gracehoper (Detroit Institute of Arts, 1972), which one can walk through.

His daughter Kiki Smith (1954– ) is a sculptor and Body artist.

Smith, Tony (b South Orange, NJ, 23 Sept. 1912; d New York, 26 Dec. 1980). American sculptor, painter, and architect. He served an apprenticeship in architecture as clerk of works to Frank Lloyd Wright and practised as an architect from 1940 to 1960, during which time he also painted. He began to take an interest in sculpture around 1940, but although he taught at various colleges in the 1940s and 1950s (in addition to his architectural career) and was closely associated with leading avant-garde figures such as Newman, Pollock, Rothko, and Still, he did not exhibit sculpture publicly until 1964. From that time he quickly emerged as one of the leading exponents of Minimal art. His work was sometimes very large in scale, composed of bold geometrical shapes (often repeated modular units) that he had industrially manufactured in steel. Many of his works were placed outdoors, helping to bring to American sculpture a new interest in the environment. A well-known example is Gracehoper (1972, Detroit Inst. of Arts), which one can walk through. His daughter Kiki Smith (1954– ) is a sculptor and Body artist.

Smith, Tony (1912–80). American sculptor, painter, and architect. He served an apprenticeship in architecture as clerk of works to Frank Lloyd Wright and practised as an architect from 1940 to 1960, during which time he also painted. He began to take an interest in sculpture around 1940, but although he taught at various colleges in the 1940s and 1950s (in addition to his architectural career) and was closely associated with leading avant-garde figures such as Newman, Pollock, Rothko, and Still, he did not exhibit sculpture publicly until 1964. From that time he quickly emerged as one of the leading exponents of Minimal art. His work was sometimes very large in scale, composed of bold geometrical shapes (often repeated modular units) that he had industrially manufactured in steel. Many of his works were placed outdoors, helping to bring to American sculpture a new interest in the environment. A well-known example is Gracehoper (1972, Detroit Inst. of Arts), which one can walk through. His daughter Kiki Smith (1954– ) is a sculptor and Body artist.

Tony Smith 1912-80, American sculptor, b. South Orange, N.J., studied Art Students League, New York City (1933-37), New Bauhaus, Chicago (1937-38). Trained as a painter and architect and for a time associated with Frank Lloyd Wright , Smith had his own architectural firm during the 1940s. He turned to sculpture in the 1950s, applying architectural principles to his monumental black steel constructions. Allied with minimalism , he worked with simple geometrical modules combined on a three-dimensional grid, creating drama through simplicity and scale. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, N.Y.C., National Gallery, Washington, D.C., and other leading museums. The artist Kiki Smith is his daughter.

Bibliography: See studies by L. R. Lippard (1972), K. Kertess and J. Rachner (1996), R. Storr, ed. (1998), and R. Tuttle (2002).