Art Smith

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.

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

Smith's jewelry has been described as:Inspired by surrealism, biomorphicism, and primitivism ... dynamic in its size and form. Alexander Calder was also an influence. 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.

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.

As an adult, Smith worked in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, where he opened his first shop, on Cornelia Street, in 1946; 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.

Smith died in 1982 of heart disease.

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. and is held in the permanent collection of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Museum of Arts and Design, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 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.