HUGHIE LEE-SMITH (1915 - 1999) Untitled (The Dancer).
Oil on masonite board, 1948. 760x605 mm; 23½x17¾ inches. Signed and dated in oil, upper left.
Provenance: private collection, California.
This beautiful painting is a scarce 1940s figurative painting by Hughie Lee-Smith. His depiction of a resting ballet dancer is a fascinating subject. The painting stands apart from the figurative paintings, primarily nude studies, that are known from this period. The austere space, cool palette and subtle tonal brushwork show Lee-Smith's growing sophistication and suggest the stylization and surrealism that characterize his mature work. This scene recalls Lee-Smith's early experiences in dance and theater while working at the Playhouse Settlement (named Karamu House in 1941) during the WPA period in Cleveland. Lee-Smith taught art at Karamu House in the late 1930s in return for the full scholarship to the Cleveland School of Art (now the Art Institute of Cleveland) that the Gilpin Players awarded him in 1935. Inspired by the Gilpin Players, a black acting troupe, Lee-Smith also co-founded an inter-racial modern dance troupe there.
While living in Detroit, Lee-Smith was actively exhibiting his work in Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit in the late 1940s - his first solo exhibition was at the Southside Community Art Center of Chicago in 1945. In 1948-49, Lee-Smith was working in the Ford factory at River Rouge in Dearborn, MI. After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, he used funds from the G.I. Bill to complete his bachelor's degree at Wayne State University in Detroit in 1953.
