Hughie Lee-Smith

American, 1915 - 1999

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African American artist (1915-1999)

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A brown-skinned man stands on a beach among poles driven into the sand, near a line of six rowboats pulled onto the shore near a slate-blue body of water in this horizontal painting. The scene is loosely painted in some areas so brushstrokes are visible, especially in the landscape. The man stands to our left, facing away from us with his head bowed. He has broad shoulders, muscled arms, and a narrow waist. His left arm is bent so that hand tucks into the waistband of his olive-green pants. His right elbow is bent so his body obscures his hand. He wears a white, sleeveless undershirt tucked into his pants. Wind blows the wide cuffs of his pants to our right. Seventeen gray, irregularly spaced poles, at least half again as tall as the man, stand upright around the man and along the beach. Pink ribbons hang between the poles, connecting many of them. The six rowboats sit in a line to our right, with the far end of the boats slightly tipped up so we can look down into them. The beach is made of rough mounds of peach and caramel-brown sand, with oyster-white rocks casting dark shadows. Beyond the shore, the flat surface of the water stretches to the horizon, which comes just over halfway up the composition. Horizontal strokes of flint-gray along the right half of the horizon could be distant hills or land. The sky above is streaked with dove gray against slate blue, with a few touches of pale, butter yellow. The scene is lit low from our left, highlighting the white stones, the man’s white shirt, and the front ends of the rowboats. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower right: “Lee-Smith ‘57.”
Hughie Lee-Smith, Reflection, 1957, oil on particle board, Corcoran Collection (The Evans-Tibbs Collection, Gift of Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Jr.), 2015.19.207

Reflection

Hughie Lee-Smith · 1957 · oil on particle board ·  Accession ID  2015.19.207

Hughie Lee-Smith, Coat Hanger, 1939, woodcut, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Florian Carr Fund and Gift of the Print Research Foundation, 2008.115.186

Coat Hanger

Hughie Lee-Smith · 1939 · woodcut ·  Accession ID  2008.115.186

Hughie Lee-Smith, Elliottorians, 1947, screenprint, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Florian Carr Fund and Gift of the Print Research Foundation, 2008.115.187

Elliottorians

Hughie Lee-Smith · 1947 · screenprint ·  Accession ID  2008.115.187

Hughie Lee-Smith, The Kite Flyer, 1939, etching, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Florian Carr Fund and Gift of the Print Research Foundation, 2008.115.188

The Kite Flyer

Hughie Lee-Smith · 1939 · etching ·  Accession ID  2008.115.188