Hughie Lee-Smith

Hughie Lee-Smith (American, 1915-1999)

Surrealist-inspired painter Lee-Smith trained at Wayne State University (BS, 1953) and taught at Howard University and the Art Students League. He frequently garnered praise for his work, and was the second African American elected a NAD Member. His dream-like paintings, sometimes compared to those by Giorgio de Chirico, feature isolated figures set in desolate urban landscapes dominated by gloomy skies, cracked parapets and colored streamers. Highly theatrical, these haunting compositions are influenced by his love of dance and the circus and appear both familiar and enigmatic.

Important Source Material:

Brenson, Michael. Hughie Lee-Smith: An Overview 1949-1995. Princeton: The Gallery at Bristol-Myers Squibb, 1995.

King-Hammond, Leslie. Hughie Lee-Smith: A Retrospective. Ogunquit, ME: Ogunquit Museum of American Art, 1997.

King-Hammond, Leslie. Hughie Lee-Smith. San Francisco: Pomegranate, 2010.

NHS