Skip to main content

Enid Smiley Art

American, 1921-2004

Enid Smiley born as Enid Ginsberg and later the family name changed to Gilbert. Attended Yale University and found herself designing costumes for plays and operas. In the late 1930s, Smiley approached Macy's, Bloomingdales and other famous New York retailers soliciting her artistic talents. Began visiting Venice Italy in the 1940s. Schooled with Guido Cadorin in Venice and Raphael Soyer in New York. Smiley and her husband became best friends with John and Dora Koch. They are noted in John’s famous painting Cocktail Party. The two couples frequented each other home for dinner gatherings of other famous artists and professionals. Smiley secured a studio overlooking Central Park for several decades. Her artistic style and subjects reflect her natural affection to be alone in her studio and her life. John Koch was instrumental in motivating Smiley over the years to continue to hone her painting skills. Smiley was hesitant throughout her life to exhibit her work. John Koch over years occasionally dropped by Smiley's studio to purchase her oil paintings for his own collection. Levy Galleries in Manhattan consigned several of Smiley's still life oil paintings during the 1960s and had success. A quote from Smiley's journal "I hate painting these still lifes but this is what they buy.” Smiley's artistic talent was rewarded in 1962. Hirschl & Adler Galleries appointed John Koch to select a group of paintings and sculptures for an exhibition titled "The Continuing Tradition of Realism in American Art". Smiley's #81 White Dawn graced the walls of the gallery along with American Masters like Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth.

to
1
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
11,628
2,881
2,492
1,596
1
Artist: Enid Smiley
A Day in Venice

Enid SmileyA Day in Venice, 1970

$2,695Sale Price|20% Off

A Day in Venice

By Enid Smiley

Located in Buffalo, NY

An original oil on canvas painting by American female artist Enid Smiley. Enid Smiley (1924-2004) American New York. Born as Enid Ginsberg and later the family name changed to Gilb...

Category

1970s Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Related Items
“Washington Square Park, 1938” NYC Social Realism Female American Artist Oil
“Washington Square Park, 1938” NYC Social Realism Female American Artist Oil

“Washington Square Park, 1938” NYC Social Realism Female American Artist Oil

By Dorothy Eisner

Located in Yardley, PA

An exceptional, large, early work by American artist Dorothy Eisner (1906-1984). This painting was recently exhibited at Gracie Mansion in 2019 as part of “She Persists” - a show de...

Category

1930s American Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Winter Landscape" William Lester Stevens, Cape Ann Snowy Landscape
"Winter Landscape" William Lester Stevens, Cape Ann Snowy Landscape

"Winter Landscape" William Lester Stevens, Cape Ann Snowy Landscape

By William Lester Stevens

Located in New York, NY

William Lester Stevens Winter Landscape Signed lower right Oil on canvas 32 x 36 inches Born on June 15, 1888, in Rockport, Massachusetts, Stevens displayed his artistic abilities ...

Category

1920s Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Neighbors

Norman BarrNeighbors, 1939

$3,250

H 22 in W 26 in D 1 in

Neighbors

By Norman Barr

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Neighbors, 1939, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, 22 x 26 inches Norman Barr was an American Scene painter and muralist known for his poignant depictions of working-clas...

Category

1930s American Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A Laborer Resting

Robert GilbertA Laborer Resting, 1930

$8,500

H 36 in W 30 in D 2 in

A Laborer Resting

By Robert Gilbert

Located in Los Angeles, CA

A Laborer Resting, 1930, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower center, 36 x 30 inches, inscribed verso “July – 1930 / Title – A Laborer Resting / Artist – Robert Gilbert / Price - $2...

Category

1930s American Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Six O'Clock

Thomas CraigSix O'Clock

$12,500

H 20 in W 30 in D 2 in

Six O'Clock

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Six O-Clock, c. 1942, oil on canvas, 30 x 20 inches, signed and titled several times verso of frame and stretcher (perhaps by another hand), marked “Rehn” several times on frame (for the Frank K. M. Rehn Galleries in New York City, who represented Craig at the time); Exhibited: 1) 18th Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings from March 21 to May 2, 1943 at The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. #87, original price $450 (per catalog) (exhibition label verso), 2) Craig’s one-man show at the Frank K. M. Rehn Galleries, New York City, from October 26 to November 14, 1942, #10 (original price listed as $350); and 3) Exhibition of thirty paintings sponsored by the Harrisburg Art Association at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg in March, 1944 (concerning this exhibit, Penelope Redd of The Evening News (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) wrote: “Other paintings that have overtones of superrealism inherent in the subjects include Tom Craig’s California nocturne, ‘Six O’Clock,’ two figures moving through the twilight . . . .” March 6, 1944, p. 13); another label verso from The Museum of Art of Toledo (Ohio): original frame: Provenance includes George Stern Gallery, Los Angeles, CA About the Painting Long before Chris Burden’s iconic installation outside of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Urban Light, another artist, Tom Craig, made Southern California streetlights the subject of one of his early 1940s paintings. Consisting of dozens of recycled streetlights from the 1920s and 1930s forming a classical colonnade at the museum’s entrance, Burden’s Urban Light has become a symbol of Los Angeles. For Burden, the streetlights represent what constitutes an advanced society, something “safe after dark and beautiful to behold.” It seems that Craig is playing on the same theme in Six O-Clock. Although we see two hunched figures trudging along the sidewalk at the end of a long day, the real stars of this painting are the streetlights which brighten the twilight and silhouette another iconic symbol of Los Angeles, the palm trees in the distance. Mountains in the background and the distant view of a suburban neighborhood join the streetlights and palm trees as classic subject matter for a California Scene painting, but Craig gives us a twist by depicting the scene not as a sun-drenched natural expanse. Rather, Craig uses thin layers of oil paint, mimicking the watercolor technique for which he is most famous, to show us the twinkling beauty of manmade light and the safety it affords. Although Southern California is a land of natural wonders, the interventions of humanity are already everywhere in Los Angeles and as one critic noted, the resulting painting has an air of “superrealism.” About the Artist Thomas Theodore Craig was a well-known fixture in the Southern California art scene. He was born in Upland California. Craig graduated with a degree in botany from Pomona College and studied painting at Pamona and the Chouinard Art School with Stanton MacDonald-Wright and Barse Miller among others. He became close friends with fellow artist Milford Zornes...

Category

1940s American Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Pair of Landscapes with Views of Ancient Rome - Oil on Canvas - Mid 19th century
Pair of Landscapes with Views of Ancient Rome - Oil on Canvas - Mid 19th century

Pair of Landscapes with Views of Ancient Rome - Oil on Canvas - Mid 19th century

Located in Roma, IT

Landscapes with Views of Ancient Rome is an original pair of oil on canvas realized in the Second Half 19th Century. Mixed colored oil on canvas, mounted on panel. Minor damage to ...

Category

Mid-19th Century Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

La Rue Solitaire
La Rue Solitaire

Charles LevierLa Rue Solitaire

$6,000

H 45.5 in W 33.5 in

La Rue Solitaire

By Charles Levier

Located in Sheffield, MA

Charles Levier French, 1920-2004 La Rue Solitaire Oil on canvas 36 X 24 in. w/ frame 45 ½ X 33 ½ in. Signed lower right Inventory Number: 01747 Charles Levier was born in 1920 fro...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A Large 1930s Modern Painting of Jackson Square, New Orleans, St. Lous Cathedral
A Large 1930s Modern Painting of Jackson Square, New Orleans, St. Lous Cathedral

A Large 1930s Modern Painting of Jackson Square, New Orleans, St. Lous Cathedral

By Walter Burt Adams

Located in Chicago, IL

A Large, Striking 1930s Modern Painting of the Historic St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square, New Orleans by Notable Chicago Artist, Walter Burt Adams (Am. 1903-1990). A painterly view of the historic landmark and park located in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Completed circa 1938 during one of the artist's painting trips to New Orleans, and most likely painted in the quiet hours after dawn before any pedestrians or sight-seers walk the typically bustling city square. Artwork size: 36 x 30 inches, oil on canvas (framed size: 36 1/2 x 30 1/2 inches). Unsigned. Provenance: Estate of the artist. Walter Burt Adams was a dedicated painter of the American Scene and a singular personality among his peers in the Chicago Modern Art community. His no-nonsense manner, devotion to his craft and sardonic sense of humor characterize a man whose paintings capture life in and around Chicago between the early 1920s and the late 1970s. Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin just after the turn of the last century, Walter Burt Adams spent his childhood in Fargo, North Dakota and began his artistic education there through a correspondence cartooning class as a boy. After finishing high school in Fargo, Adams moved to Chicago in 1922 in order to enroll at the school of the Art Institute of Chicago. Adams’ instruction at the school with artists such as George Oberteuffer, Frederick V. Poole, Charles Wilimovsky...

Category

1930s American Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Coney Island, Fourth of July

Coney Island, Fourth of July

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Coney Island, Fourth of July, c. 1940s, oil on canvas applied to Masonite, signed upper right, 26 x 21 1/2 inches, presented in its original frame During the 1930s and 40s, Coney I...

Category

1940s American Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Board

"New Hampshire Winter" Georgina Klitgaard, Female WPA, Northeastern Landscape
"New Hampshire Winter" Georgina Klitgaard, Female WPA, Northeastern Landscape

"New Hampshire Winter" Georgina Klitgaard, Female WPA, Northeastern Landscape

By Georgina Klitgaard

Located in New York, NY

Georgina Klitgaard New Hampshire Winter Signed lower right Oil on canvas 38 x 28 inches Georgina Klitgaard’s art has sometimes gotten lost in the critical propensity to assign arti...

Category

Early 20th Century American Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vieille France -Painting by Jean Lereu - 19th Century
Vieille France -Painting by Jean Lereu - 19th Century

Vieille France -Painting by Jean Lereu - 19th Century

Located in Roma, IT

Vieielle France is an original oil painting on canvas realized by Jean Lereu, in the late 19th century. Hand-signed in red, in the lower left margin. 49.5x69 cm with frame. Good...

Category

19th Century Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Previously Available Items
Self Service Laundry

Self Service Laundry

By Enid Smiley

Located in Buffalo, NY

An original oil on canvas painting by American female artist Enid Smiley. Enid Smiley (1924-2004) American New York. Born as Enid Ginsberg and later the family name changed to Gilb...

Category

1970s Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Ghost In the Shadow

Ghost In the Shadow

By Enid Smiley

Located in Buffalo, NY

An original oil on canvas painting by American female artist Enid Smiley. Enid Smiley (1924-2004) American New York. Born as Enid Ginsberg and later the family name changed to Gilb...

Category

1970s Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Staircase

The Staircase

By Enid Smiley

Located in Buffalo, NY

An original oil on panel by female modernist Enid Smiley. An exhibiting contemporary of Edward Hopper, Smiley created engaging surrealist portraits of everyday life.

Category

1960s Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Wood, Oil

Shadows in Central Park

Shadows in Central Park

By Enid Smiley

Located in Buffalo, NY

An original oil on canvas painting by Enid Smiley depicting a large oak tree casting shadows in front of Central Park with the New York City skyline in the background.

Category

1960s American Realist Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Tree Lined Path
Tree Lined Path

Tree Lined Path

By Enid Smiley

Located in Buffalo, NY

A modern realist painting by American female artist Enid Smiley depicting a path lined with trees which cast a beautiful dramatic shadow on the ground.

Category

1950s American Realist Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Ventian Courtyard

Ventian Courtyard

By Enid Smiley

Located in Buffalo, NY

An original oil on canvas by listed New York female artist Enid Smiley.

Category

1950s American Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

City Builders

City Builders

By Enid Smiley

Located in Buffalo, NY

A modernist painting by American female artist Enid Smiley depicting busy construction workers in New York City.

Category

1960s American Modern Enid Smiley Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Enid Smiley art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Enid Smiley art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Enid Smiley in canvas, fabric, oil paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Enid Smiley art, so small editions measuring 14 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Harold Vincent Skene, Irving Amen, and Pearl Took. Enid Smiley art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $795 and tops out at $2,695, while the average work can sell for $2,098.

Artists Similar to Enid Smiley