Collections: Contemporary Art: Jubilee

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This image is presented as a "thumbnail" because it is protected by copyright. The Brooklyn Museum respects the rights of artists who retain the copyright to their work.

Jubilee

Leon Polk Smith was born in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) a century ago. After receiving a Masters in Art Education at Columbia University in 1938, he had his first one-person exhibition in 1941. Since then his work has been featured in countless exhibitions worldwide.

An admirer of the abstract paintings of Piet Mondrian, Smith decided early in his career to dispense with the recognizable object as part of his paintings. In the mid-1940s he began painting abstract compositions based on the relationships of basic geometric elements, which he gradually reduced to a minimum.

Jubilee, one of Smith's late works, is an extreme example of this economy of means. The four lines seem to move across the canvas, suggesting spatial relationships and depth of field. The painting illustrates well a statement of the artist's creative principles that he wrote in 1961: "Three elements which interested me in art are line, color, and the concept of space and its use as a positive force."

• Artist: Leon Polk Smith, American, 1906-1996
• Medium: Acrylic on canvas
• Dates: 1992
• Dimensions: 90 x 52 in. (228.6 x 132.1 cm)
• Collections: Contemporary Art
• Museum Location: This item is on view in Glass Corridor, 1st Floor
• Accession Number: TL1992.275.12
• Credit Line: Bequest of Leon Polk Smith
• Image: Installation, TL1992.275.12_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Leon Polk Smith (American, 1906-1996). Jubilee, 1992. Acrylic on canvas, 90 x 52 in. (228.6 x 132.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Leon Polk Smith, TL1992.275.12 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, TL1992.275.12_SL1.jpg)