Art Smith Copper and Brass Brooch, Circa 1950, Modernist Design, USA
By Art Smith
Located in New York, NY
Art Smith created this sculptural modernist copper and brass brooch in the 1950s. It represents a refined expression of mid-century modernist design, shaped in a bold, yin-yang-inspi...
Brass, Copper
Arthur Smith Sterling Silver Gold Vermeil New York Modernist Ring
By Art Smith
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Sterling Silver ring with golden ball design created by Art Smith of New York, New York. Ring is a finger size 6.75 and is signed Art Smith, Sterling. In very good vintage 1960s co...
Vermeil, Sterling Silver
$79,500 / set
Pair of Iconic Art Smith Modernette Cuffs
By Art Smith
Located in Riverdale, NY
Pioneering jeweler Art Smith created some of the most iconic designs in the Modernist period.
Sterling Silver
Art Smith 1950's Modernist Tiger's Eye Brass Sphere Vintage Collar Necklace
By Art Smith
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Designed as an organically textured curved brass form with tapered terminals With a natural oxidized patina - one end terminates with cable link chain Suspending a 37.0 mm round car...
Tiger's Eye, Brass
Mid-Century Modern Art Smith Sterling Silver Earrings
By Art Smith
Located in Winnetka, IL
A pair of hand-wrought sterling earrings by the New York jeweler Art Smith (1917-1982). Smith, who opened his first shop in Greenwich Village in 1946, was one of the leading propone...
Sterling Silver
Art Smith Mid-Century Modernist Silver Brooch
By Art Smith
Located in Chicago, IL
Circa 1960s very scarce Modernist Sterling Silver brooch by Art Smith, measuring 2 X 2 inch.
Sterling Silver
Art Smith Brass Copper American Modernist Abstract Pendant Brooch
By Art Smith
Located in Palm Springs, CA
A large handmade copper and brass pendant or brooch of abstract form created by Art Smith of New York. Pendant measures 4 1/4" in length by 2 3/4" wide and is in excellent vintage c...
Art Smith Copper Kinetic Mobile New York Modernist Earrings
By Art Smith
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Copper mobile screw back earrings created by Art Smith of New York City, New York. Smith worked in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, running a shop there from 1946 until 1979 just bef...
Copper
Art Smith Studio Brass American Modernist Earrings
By Art Smith
Located in Palm Springs, CA
A pair of 1950's curled brass earrings created by Art smith of New York City, New York. Earrings are of the screw back variety and measure 1 7/8" in length and are 1" at their wides...
Brass
ART SMITH 1960 Sculptural Circles Dangle Earrings In .925 Sterling Silver
By Art Smith
Located in Miami, FL
"Review: From the Village to Vogue, The Modernist Jewelry of Art Smith". Modern Silver. Archived from the original on 2015-11-13.
Silver, Sterling Silver
Art Smith Modernist Mobile Earrings
By Art Smith
Located in New York, NY
Art Smith Modernist Mobile Earrings in brass from the 1950's. Athough unsigned, this is a well recognized design of his (see Brooklyn Museum Collection) and the metal earring fixture...
Brass
Art Smith Brass American Modernist Earrings
By Art Smith
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Brass modernist earrings created by Art Smith of New York City, New York. Earrings are of the screw back variety and measure 1 3/8" by 1 1/8" and are signed Art Smith on v...
Brass
Art Smith Sterling Silver Abstract Modernist Earrings
By Art Smith
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Sterling silver modernist screw back earrings by Art Smith of New York, New York. Earrings resemble abstract cat forms and measure 1" in length by 3/4" in height. Signed Art Smith ...
Sterling Silver
Art Smith Copper Brass American Modernist Earrings
By Art Smith
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Pair of patinated copper and textured brass screwback earrings created by Art Smith of New York, New York. Earrings measure 2" by 1 1/2" and are signed Art Smith on verso. In very ...
Brass, Copper
Rare Art Smith American Modernist Copper and Brass Kinetic Earrings 1950s
By Art Smith
Located in Palm Springs, CA
The following was taken from Craft In America with thanks. Art Smith (1917–1982) was a highly acclaimed jewelry artist whose extraordinary avant-garde creations pushed the limits of...
Brass, Copper
Art Smith Vintage Cufflinks
By Art Smith
Located in New York, NY
Rare sterling silver Modernist cufflinks, circa 1960, by renowned Greenwich Village artist Art Smith, these sculptural cufflinks are fabricated without solder, front measures 1" x 5/...
Sterling Silver
ART SMITH Modernist Necklace (1950s)
By Art Smith
Located in New York, NY
An abstract modernist necklace by renowned Greenwich Village jeweler, Art Smith (born Cuba 1917-died New York City 1982). The textured form shows Smith's hand hammering and includes...
ART SMITH Sterling and Citrine Modernist Neckpiece (1960's)
By Art Smith
Located in New York, NY
A powerful, abstract sterling silver necklace by American modernist jeweler, Art Smith (1917-1982), with a faceted semi precious stone. The sterling has the original patinated surfa...
Citrine, Sterling Silver
ART SMITH 1960's Important Rare Multi Stone Sterling Necklace
By Art Smith
Located in New York, NY
This necklace is similar to the "Triangle" necklace designed in 1969, that was displayed at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, "From Village to Vogue: The Modernist Jewelry of Art Smith", ...
Art Smith Modernist Sterling Cuff Links
By Art Smith
Located in Phoenix, AZ
A fine pair Art Smith modernist cuff links. Signed hand constructed sterling silver items retain original finish. Outstanding mid-century design and execution. Pristine.
Sterling Silver
Vintage Modernist Art Smith Silver Chandelier Earrings
By Art Smith
Located in Stamford, CT
Signed Art Smith, modernist silver earrings are whimsical, highly unusual, and great fun to wear.
Sterling Silver
Fusing eclectic influences such as Surrealism and African art, Art Smith was a leading mid-century modernist jeweler and one of the few African American designers to break into the field. His oversize geometric pieces with their innovative use of wire, silver forms, brass, aluminum, stone and glass elements were boldly sculptural yet lightweight, becoming popular in the 1940s and ’50s as expressive statements of adornment.
Born in Cuba to Jamaican parents, Smith moved as a child to Brooklyn, New York, in 1920. After showing an early aptitude for art, he earned a scholarship to study at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan. He was especially inspired by the pioneering African American jeweler Winifred Mason, who hired Smith to work at her studio. There he witnessed how she engaged with West Indian folk art through bronze and copper.
After graduating, Smith opened his first shop in 1946 on Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village. Facing discrimination in the predominantly Italian area, he relocated to West Fourth Street where he would work until 1979. Smith developed relationships with stores like Bloomingdale’s as well as New York City’s vibrant Black cultural scene, from which his clients included Lena Horne and Duke Ellington. He also designed work for avant-garde Black dance companies such as those led by choreographers Talley Beatty and Pearl Primus and a brooch for Eleanor Roosevelt.
“The body is a component in design just as air and space are,” Smith once stated. Employing biomorphic shapes, he created works such as the Patina necklace that referenced Alexander Calder’s mobiles with its dangling silver cutouts as well as the Lava bracelet involving two layers of metal that undulate around the wrist.
Smith often used unconventional materials for fine jewelry that made it affordable to people beyond the elite, and he was a vocal advocate for Black and gay civil rights. In 2008, the Brooklyn Museum opened a retrospective of his work. His jewelry is included in the collections of major museums such as the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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