Leon Polk Smith Paintings

American, 1906-1996

Leon Polk Smith (1906 -1996) holds a unique place in a long tradition of American geometric abstract painting, which includes such artists as Bourgoyne Diller, Fritz Glarner, Al Held, and Ellsworth Kelly. Born near Chikasha, a Native American territory later annexed by the U.S. as the state of Oklahoma, Smith’s parents, who were of Cherokee ancestry, raised him with both a strong sense of his heritage and an abiding respect for the land. Art would eventually draw Smith to New York where he would quickly embrace elements of geometric abstraction in his work. His visual vocabulary was influenced by such historical figures as Hilla Rebay, both an abstract painter and the first director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Dutch De Stijl painter Piet Mondrian. However, many of Smith’s hard-edge compositions could be viewed as distillations of imagery drawn from the Oklahoma landscape and Native American art forms of his youth. Polk Smith’s exploration of non-objective imagery in the late 1950s put him at the forefront of movements including Color Field, Minimalist, and Hard Edge painting. Robert Buck, former director of the Brooklyn Museum, described Polk Smith as “an influential pioneer in the development of American Modernism”, adding, “He created a new vocabulary in painting that has had a far-reaching influence on subsequent generations of artists.” One of Smith’s earliest and most successful forays into printmaking came in 1968 when he received a grant to work at June Wayne’s Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles. Smith would create sixteen untitled prints at Tamarind. These bold and vibrant prints incorporate a variety of his painting motifs, many of which relate to his Correspondence Series of 1960-1967, with their interplay of organic forms on solid color backgrounds. Prints would continue to be an important aspect of Smith’s creative output. The artist would go on to make over 50 print editions in this country and Europe.

Artist: Leon Polk Smith

Leon Polk SmithConstellation Blue Violet Green Red - Post War Abstract Shaped Acrylic Painting, 1968

$175,000

Constellation Blue Violet Green Red - Post War Abstract Shaped Acrylic Painting

By Leon Polk Smith

Located in Palm Desert, CA

"Constellation Blue Violet Green Red” is a Post-War Abstract, shaped canvas painting by Hard-Edge American Painter, Leon Polk Smith. The artwork is signed verso, “Leon Polk Smith Con...

Category

Mid-20th Century Hard-Edge Leon Polk Smith Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Naohiko Inukai No. 16 painting by Naohiko Inukai, 1966

$9,000

H 40 in W 40 in

No. 16 painting by Naohiko Inukai

Located in Hudson, NY

A great strong-edge painting by Naohiko Inukai, No. 16 is part of a series the artist created in the mid 1960s. Many from this series were shown at Inuk...

Category

1960s Hard-Edge Leon Polk Smith Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Robert Glick"The Cove" - Contemporary Vibrant Geometric Coastal Seascape with Jagged Clouds, 2024

$8,500

H 40 in W 60 in D 1.5 in

"The Cove" - Contemporary Vibrant Geometric Coastal Seascape with Jagged Clouds

Located in Carmel, CA

Robert Glick (American, born 1950) "The Cove" 2024 Acrylic paint, Canvas, Stretcher bars The artist signed the bottom right and the back of the painting. This painting by Robert Gli...

Category

2010s Hard-Edge Leon Polk Smith Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Stretcher Bars

Domenick Capobianco Black Center, circa 1970

$3,800

H 60.25 in W 60.25 in D 2 in

Black Center

Located in New York, NY

This work is large and has strong presence and vibe! Great for a contemporary space that wants a bold and graphic and alive feel to it. Provenance: Private collection, NY Circles w...

Category

1970s Hard-Edge Leon Polk Smith Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Linda King FergusonEQUIVALENCE 124- Acrylic on cut Linen - Red, Pink Abstract Geometric Painting, 2020

$1,620Sale Price|20% Off

H 17 in W 17 in

EQUIVALENCE 124- Acrylic on cut Linen - Red, Pink Abstract Geometric Painting

By Linda King Ferguson

Located in Signal Mountain, TN

This painting on cut linen canvas by Linda King Ferguson depicts a diamond shape that is dominated by a horizontal vesica piscis shape. The two intersecting circles are a dark salmon orange and a deep wine red (left to right). The canvas at the intersection of the two circles has been cut and peeled back to reveal that the back of the painting has been painted pink. While the trangular shape above the interseccting circles has been painted an ashy brown, the lower section has been left raw. Her Equivalence Series began as a feminist project; works that subvert the historically male gaze and a material language speaking of gendered concerns. Her color choices first came from Helen Molesworth’s essay, Painting With Ambivalence, published in WACK! Art of the Feminist Revolution. The Essay includes a large reproduction of Mary Heilmann’s 1979 painting...

Category

2010s Hard-Edge Leon Polk Smith Paintings

Materials

Linen, Acrylic

Milly RistvedtC Major - green, blue, yellow, hard-edged, geometric abstract, acrylic on canvas, 2020

$14,000

H 60 in W 48 in

C Major - green, blue, yellow, hard-edged, geometric abstract, acrylic on canvas

By Milly Ristvedt

Located in Bloomfield, ON

Ristvedt works as comfortably in a hard-edge methodology as she does in a fluid, more gestural style. The hard-edge painting, C Major is tuned perfectly. A master at letting go and a...

Category

2010s Hard-Edge Leon Polk Smith Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

James KoenigHot Triangles, 1975

$4,200

H 42 in W 42 in

Hot Triangles

By James Koenig

Located in Buffalo, NY

An original American Modern hard edge abstraction by James Koenig. This work titled "Hot Triangles" is part of the Draw Near exhibition currently on view at Benjaman Gallery.

Category

1970s Hard-Edge Leon Polk Smith Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

Susan Cantricksbc 195 (Abstract painting), 2016

$4,159

H 28.75 in W 45.67 in D 0.2 in

sbc 195 (Abstract painting)

By Susan Cantrick

Located in London, GB

sbc 195 (Abstract painting) Acrylic on Linen - Unframed Like sbc 194, this acrylic painting on medium-weave linen deviates from Cantrick’s habitual formats. Indeed, the seascape f...

Category

2010s Hard-Edge Leon Polk Smith Paintings

Materials

Linen, Acrylic

James KoenigMid Century Hard Edge Abstraction James Koenig Ribbon Structure 1971, 1971

$4,000

H 48 in W 48 in

Mid Century Hard Edge Abstraction James Koenig Ribbon Structure 1971

By James Koenig

Located in Buffalo, NY

An original hard edge abstraction by American artist James Koenig titled "Ribbon Structure". This work created in 1971 will be featured in the u...

Category

1970s Hard-Edge Leon Polk Smith Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

James KoenigSun, 1970

Unavailable|~~$7,000~~

H 30 in W 30 in

Sun

By James Koenig

Located in Buffalo, NY

An original hard edge abstraction by American artist James Koenig. This work titled "Sun" is part of the Draw Near exhibition currently on view at Benjaman Gallery.

Category

1960s Hard-Edge Leon Polk Smith Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

James KoenigCool Triangles, 1974

$3,300

H 30 in W 30 in

Cool Triangles

By James Koenig

Located in Buffalo, NY

An original hard edge abstraction by American artist James Koenig titled "Cool Triangles. This work is part of Draw Near exhibition which opened at Benjaman Gallery on March 11. Th...

Category

1970s Hard-Edge Leon Polk Smith Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

Susan Cantricksbc 195 (Abstract painting), 2016

$4,159

H 28.75 in W 45.67 in D 0.2 in

sbc 195 (Abstract painting)

By Susan Cantrick

Located in London, GB

sbc 195 (Abstract painting) Acrylic on Linen - Unframed Like sbc 194, this acrylic painting on medium-weave linen deviates from Cantrick’s habitual formats. Indeed, the seascape f...

Category

2010s Hard-Edge Leon Polk Smith Paintings

Materials

Linen, Acrylic

Linda King FergusonEQUIVALENCE 123- Acrylic on cut Linen - Pink, Red Abstract Geometric Painting, 2020

$2,025

H 17 in W 17 in

EQUIVALENCE 123- Acrylic on cut Linen - Pink, Red Abstract Geometric Painting

By Linda King Ferguson

Located in Signal Mountain, TN

This painting by Linda King Ferguson, like all of her work, Depicts an abstaction of the female body. An oblong pink shape jutts out from the top of the diamon-shaped canvas. A teard...

Category

2010s Hard-Edge Leon Polk Smith Paintings

Materials

Linen, Acrylic

Leon Polk Smith paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Leon Polk Smith paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Leon Polk Smith in acrylic paint, canvas, fabric and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 1990s and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Leon Polk Smith paintings, so small editions measuring 38 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Patricia A Pearce, Erle Loran, and Clifford Singer.