Index Code:

ART-RAS-LPS

Orgin:

USA

Field Notes:

Curved divides and shaped canvases make figure and ground trade roles across the wall

Defining Moment:

The tondos and multi panel works where arcs cut through corners turning painting into suspended architectural signage

Leon Polk Smith

(

1906–1996

)

lee-on polk smith

Smith built a world where color fields hinge across curves — hard edges forming architectural partitions.

His paintings reveal precision as quiet force.

Structural Focus

Reduction with Atmosphere

Form is reduced without becoming cold or purely rational. Minimal means are used to produce calm, resonance, or emotional density.

In Leon Polk Smith’s work, this approach appears where quiet geometric shifts discipline form.

Position

Reduction with Atmosphere

Form is reduced without becoming cold or purely rational. Minimal means are used to produce calm, resonance, or emotional density.

In Leon Polk Smith’s work, this approach appears where quiet geometric shifts discipline form.

Chromatic Fields

Color fields operate as spatial and structural organizers.

Systems of Clarity

Order and coherence arise through disciplined systems and constraints.

Gesture

Gesture functions as structure through disciplined, repeatable action.

Proportion

Proportion organizes coherence through measured intervals, scale, and relation.

Art

Form operates as a site for material, perceptual, and conceptual inquiry.

Abstract

Form separates from representation to prioritize structure and perception.

Hard-Edge

Crisp boundaries and flat color emphasize precision and control.

Leon Polk Smith

Structural Focus

Reduction with Atmosphere

Position

Reduction with Atmosphere

Observartory

In Dialogue

Leon Polk Smith

Structural Focus

Reduction with Atmosphere

Position

Reduction with Atmosphere

Observartory

By Structural Focus

In Dialogue