Howard Smith

Howard Smith’s practice is rooted in an ongoing study of method and pattern. An abstract painter, he was a member of the Radical Painting movement in the 1980s, seeking to distill painting to its essence. True to the movement’s focus on intention and creation, Smith prioritizes the interaction between brushstroke and the canvas, carefully applying and reapplying paint to build and vary the depth of color. An interest in the coalescence of form and space is apparent in his practice and particularly stands out in the diversity of his watercolor paintings. All of Smith’s artwork is intent on exploring process and has led to an evolving methodology. 

Howard Smith (b. 1943, Chicago, IL) lives and works in New York City and Pine Bush, NY. Smith earned his B.A. from Colorado College (1965) and went on to graduate school at Stanford University (1966). He has taught at the University of Colorado, Pratt Institute, School of Visual Arts, New York University and CUNY College of Staten Island, where he continues to teach. He was a long-term artist-in-residence at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Studio Residency in New York, NY, and was selected as a grantee of The Esther & Adolph Gottlieb Foundation. Smith’s work has been exhibited at Museum Line, Switzerland; the Design Museum, Finland; Kunstmuseum Villa Zanders, Germany; Kimmel Galleries, New York University, New York; Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Noyes Museum of Art, Atlantic City; Williams College Art Museum, Williamstown, Massachusetts; The Culture Center, New York; The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado; The Milton Resnick and Pat Passlof Foundation, New York; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Grenoble, France’ Magazzini di Palazzo Gatti, Italy.