Art Smith (jeweler)

Arthur George "Art" Smith (1917–1982) was one of the leading modernist jewelers of the mid-20th century, and one of the few Afro-Caribbean people working in the field to reach international recognition. He trained at Cooper Union, NYU, and under Winifred Mason.^[1][2]

Spiral necklace, 1958 ca.

Style

Galaxy Necklace, ca. 1962, from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum

Model wearing a Smith bracelet designed c. 1948

Smith's jewelry has been described as:

Inspired by surrealism, biomorphicism, and primitivism ... dynamic in its size and form.^[3]

Many of his pieces were designed to be worn by avant-garde dancers, which influenced his style. The pieces were often large. Of his own work, he said:

A piece of jewelry is in a sense an object that is not complete in itself. Jewelry is a ‘what is it?’ until you relate it to the body. The body is a component in design just as air and space are. Like line, form, and color, the body is a material to work with. It is one of the basic inspirations in creating form.^[4]

Alexander Calder was also an influence.^[5] Smith was friend and contemporary to many in the downtown New York City arts and fashion scene, such as sandal maker Barbara Shaum and Knobkerry's Sara Penn.^[6]

Biography

Smith was born in Cuba, after his parents emigrated there from Jamaica. They moved to New York City when he was three years old.^[7][8]

As an adult, Smith worked in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, running a shop there from 1946 until 1979 (shortly before his death). Smith was a gay Afro-Caribbean, and as a result was subject to attacks shortly after his store opened.^[9] A fan of jazz and modern dance, he was personally acquainted with musicians of the period including Lena Horne, Harry Belafonte, Eartha Kitt, Talley Beatty, and Duke Ellington.^[9][10][11]

Smith died in 1982 of heart disease.^[12]

Exhibitions and holdings

During his life, Smith's work was featured in Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, and exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts.^[9] Posthumously, Smith's work was the subject of an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in 2008-2011,^[3] and is held in the permanent collection of the Cooper Hewitt Museum, Museum of Art and Design, and Boston Museum of Fine Arts.^[1][13] His papers and several of his pieces are part of the permanent collection and main galleries at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.^[11]

One piece of Smith's sold for $22,000,^[12] and a cufflink collector told the New York Times that Smith's cufflinks were the most expensive pieces in his collection.^[14]