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Alvin Smith lectures at the University of Connecticut

 Digital Record
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11134/20002:860688348

Dates

  • Creation: 1978 November 14

Summary

Artist Alvin Smith delivered a lecture on 11/14/1978 (2015-0002/RR268). Smith is a visual artist active in New York City. Smith's piece, St. Mary and Mississippi, is on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Hale Smith introduces painter and educator Alvin Smith. Alvin Smith speaks about Afro American art in general and about his own work as a creative artist.

RR 268 Hale Smith introduces painter and educator Alvin Smith. Alvin Smith speaks about Afro American art in general and about his own work as a creative artist.

Biographical / Historical

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]

Extent

1 Reels (Magnetic tape audio recording) : RR 268 1 reel, 1:04:02; tape speed 3¾ IPS; track position ½-Track Mono; Substrate: Polyester.

Existence and Location of Originals

Original audio recordings reside in the University of Connecticut, Black Experience in the Arts Collection, Archives & Special Collections, UConn Library.

Repository Details

Part of the Archives and Special Collections, University of Connecticut Library Repository

Contact:
University of Connecticut Library
405 Babbidge Road Unit 1205
Storrs Connecticut 06269-1205 USA US
860-486-2524