Vernon Smith (1894-1969)
Vernon Smith is best known for his bas-relief wood carving and his abstract figurative work. During the Depression years of 1934-1937, he was Regional Director of the WPA and painted in Alaska.
Vernon Smith was born in 1894 in Cortland, NY (upper state) and, by 1918, he had gone to study at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts in Paris. Smith also came to Cape Cod where he studied with Charles Hawthorne, the founder of the Provincetown School of Art, eventually settling in the town of Orleans where he became a teacher in the Orleans public school system.
He was a member of CCAA (founder and president), PAAM, Eastern AA, Mass Art Educ. Assn. His exhibits include Walker Gallery, Boston (1934, solo), Inst. Mod. Art, Boston, 1939, Kraushaar Gal, NYC (1944-65 and solo in 1947). Also at Virginia MFA, 1946, PAFA, 1946, Montclair AM, 1952, Addisson Gallery, 1959, CCAA, 1959 (solo), Henderson Gal. Carmel, CA.,1960-66 (including one solo show), Symphony Hall, Boston, 1961 solo, Orleans AG, 1978, PAA, 1938-61, 1997 Retrospective, Cape Cod MFA, Dartmouth College, Anchorage Mus. Springfield MFA and others.
Examples of Museum Representation:
The Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Anchorage Museum of History and Art
Cape Cod Museum of Art
Community Fine Arts Center
New Britain Museum of American Art
Provincetown Art Association and Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Art Gallery, University of New Hampshire
Durham, NH 03824-3538
