Smith, Alvin, 1978 November 14

Born in Gary, Indiana in 1933, Alvin Smith was largely influenced by the Abstract Expressionism of the 1950s. This form of painting prioritised dramatic brushstrokes and explored ideas about organic nature, spirituality and the sublime. Much of the focus was on the formal techniques of painting, and ideas of action painting were unified with the political freedom of the United States society. Important Europeans who came to New York and provided inspiration for American artists included Piet Mondrian, Josef Albers and Hans Hoffmann, who between them set the foundations for much of the United States’ explosive cultural growth in the subsequent decades. Influential artists of the Abstract Expressionist Generation included Jackson Pollock (who innovated his famed drip, splatter and pour painting techniques), Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Frank Kline, Barnett Newman, Clyfford Still and Adolph Gottlieb. It was a male dominated environment, but necessary reassessment of this period has emphasised the contributions of female artists such as Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, and Louise Bourgeois, amongst others. Smith is known for his mixed media painting, teaching, illustration and lives in New York.

[https://www.askart.com/artist/Alvin_Smith/10050110/Alvin_Smith.aspx / https://americanart.si.edu/artist/alvin-smith-5884 / https://www.artforum.com/print/197503/alvin-smith-36082 / https://www.artland.com/artists/alvin-smith]