HUGHIE LEE-SMITH (1915 - 1999) Untitled (Floral Still Life).
Oil on masonite board, 1952. 603x483 mm; 23 3/4x19 inches. Signed and dated in oil, upper right.
Provenance: private collection, Ohio.
Untitled (Floral Still Life) is a scarce example of Hughie Lee-Smith's still life painting from his years in Detroit during the late 1940s and 1950s. In 1938, Lee-Smith graduated from the Cleveland School of Art with honors, where he studied under Clarence Carter, and won a scholarship to continue studying for a fifth year. He also attended Karamu House in Cleveland, joining Charles Sallée, Elmer Brown, and William E. Smith. After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, he used funds from the G.I. Bill to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1953. Lee-Smith worked in Detroit automobile factories in 1945 and 1947 between teaching stints.
