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Mary Tillman Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1904 Brookhaven, Mississippi |
| Died | 1995 Hazelhurst, Mississippi |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Outsider Art |
Mary Tillman Smith (1904-1995) was a self-taught painter. Her work is shown throughout the world and collected by museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art[1] and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.[2] She lived and worked in Mississippi most of her life. She is considered an outsider artist.
Life
editSmith was the daughter of sharecroppers.[3] Smith was the third of thirteen children and at an early age had a serious hearing impairment.[4] She completed a fifth-grade education, despite the isolation and loneliness her handicap caused her.[5] Throughout her childhood, Smith "found an outlet in drawing."[4]
Smith married twice, once in a short marriage to Gus Williams[4] in 1922 and then to John Smith sometime in the 1930's.[3] Her second marriage was also short, ending when Smith saw that her tenant-farmer husband's year-end settlement was grossly short.[3][4] Her complaints about the mistake, a more than $1,000 difference, led to John Smith "sending her away."[4] Smith then moved to Hazelhurst, Mississippi, to live on her own. In 1941, she gave birth to her son, Sheridan L. Major, though she did not marry his father.[4] Smith worked as a gardener and did other domestic work until she retired in the 1970's.[6]
In 1985, Smith suffered a stroke that left her speech and writing impaired. She was slowed down to producing only two works a day after her stroke.[6] Her work output slowed, Smith made less money as time went on, and she stopped painting in 1991.[7] She died penniless in 1995.[4]
Work
editSmith began painting in the late 1970's. She transformed her home and garden, an area of approximately one acre into a "highly public form of spiritual autobiography."[6] Her work allowed to express the ideas that had been in her head for years.[4] Once Smith's work was discovered by art collectors, she struggled to keep up with the demand.[3]
Smith's work was often created on readily available materials, such as plywood, corrugated tin and other recycled parts.[3] In her earlier work, she often used only one or two colors of paint. Her stylized imagery "recalls West African ceremonial masks" and many are allegorical.[6] Her art has been likened to artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat.[8] He work was also very personal in nature, one of her favorite themes was to paint portraits of family, friends and neighbors.[4]
Smith's later work consisted of geometric compositions with more colors and interesting juxtapositions of positive and negative space.[4] Her work sometimes incorporated text along with her imagery. These textual parts of her work were cryptic and created a "personal painting vocabulary" which "documented and celebrated her world, both religious and secular."[5]
References
edit- ^ Williams, Paige (4 December 2014). "The Met Embraces Neglected Southern Artists". The New Yorker. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Mary T. Smith". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Crawford, Rob (30 May 2014). "Smith, Mary Tillman". MSGen Web. USGen Web. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Arnett, William; Alexander, Elizabeth; Major, S. L. (1995). "Her Name is Someone". Souls Grown Deep. Souls Grown Deep Foundation. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ a b Wehnert, Jay. "Self Portrait by Mary T. Smith". Intuitive Eye. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d Maresca, Frank; Ricco, Roger, eds. (1993). American Self-Taught. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 220–225. ISBN 0394582128.
- ^ Gordon, Kevin. "Mary T. Smith". Gordon Gallery. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Mary Tillman Smith: Mississippi Shouting". Paris Art (in French). January 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
External links
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Category:1904 births Category:1995 deaths Category:People from Hazelhurst, Mississippi Category:American painters Category:Women painters Category:Artists from Mississippi Category:Outsider art Category:African American painters