From the mid-1940s until 1979, Arthur (Art) Smith crafted jewelry in his Greenwich Village studio and shop, producing some of the most innovative and dramatic work of all the postwar American studio jewelry designers.

Arthur George "Art" Smith (1917–1982) was one of the leading modernist jewelers of the mid-20th century, and one of the few Afro-Caribbean people working in the field to reach international recognition.

Art Smith stands out as an African American pioneer in the studio jewelry movement. He began his career in the 1940s studying architecture, advertising, and sculpture at Cooper Union, an institution that did not discriminate against minorities.

Art Smith (1917–1982) was a highly acclaimed jewelry artist whose extraordinary avant-garde creations pushed the limits of modernism from 1946 to the early 70s.

May 14, 2008 · This exhibition honors the gift of twenty-one pieces of silver and gold jewelry created by the Brooklyn-reared modernist jeweler Arthur Smith (1917–1982), primarily from Charles Russell, Smith’s companion and heir.

Sep 16, 2024 · Discover the Pioneering Modern Jewelry Designs of Art Smith. The trailblazing jeweler created a highly innovative oeuvre of wearable modern art.

Apr 21, 2025 · Find the Value of your Art Smith Jewelry. WorthPoint is the largest resource online for identifying, researching and valuing antiques. Explore over 425 Million “sold for” prices with item details and images. Jewelry crafted by Art Smith is …

Art Smith, 1969. Despite Art Smith’s philosophy that jewelry was incomplete unless used to adorn the human form, fans of the modernist jeweler saw his surrealist, biomorphic designs as stand-alone works of art.

Apr 20, 2023 · Art Smith was an influential American jewelry designer who gained popularity in the mid-20th century for his bold and abstract designs. At his studio in Greenwich Village, Smith created unique theatrical pieces, inspired by surrealism and biomorphism.

Smith is one of the few African American midcentury modernist jewelers. His designs were influenced by Alexander Calder, Surrealism, African sculpture, and tribal jewelry and reflected the bohemian life of New York’s Greenwich Village in the 1940s and 1950s.