Born: May 20, 1906, Indian Territory (Chickasha Oklahoma)
Died: December 4, 1996, New York City
Education
1934: B.A. Oklahoma State University, Ada, Oklahoma
1938: M.A. Columbia University, New York
Solo Exhibitions
1941 - Uptown Gallery, New York
1942 - Telfair Academy of Arts & Sciences, Savannah, Georgia
The Pinacotheca Gallery, New York
1943, 1944 - Santa Fe Museum, New Mexico
1946 - Egan Gallery, New York
1949 - The Pinacotheca Gallery, New York
Rose Fried Gallery, New York
1955 - Mills College of Education Art Gallery, New York
1956 - Camino Gallery, New York
1958 - Camino Gallery, New York
Betty Parsons Gallery, New York
1960 - Betty Parsons Gallery, New York
1961 - Stable Gallery, New York
1962 - Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York
Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela
1963 - Stable Gallery, New York
1964 - Gallery Müller, Stuttgart, Germany
Studio Galerie, Frankfurt, Germany
1965 - Galerie Chalette, New York
1967 - Galerie Chalette, New York
1968 - Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Massachusetts
traveled to: San Francisco Museum of Art, California
Galerie Chalette, New York
1969 - Museum of Fine Arts, Fort Worth, Texas
Galerie Chalette, New York
1970 - Galerie Chalette, New York
1973, 1974 - Galerie Denise Rene, New York
1975 - Galerie Denise Rene, New York
1977 - Galerie Denise Rene, New York
Pelham-Von Stoffler Gallery, Houston, Texas
1978 - Art Gallery, State University of New York at Old Westbury
1979 - Susan Caldwell, Inc., New York
Gallery Paula Anglim, San Francisco, California
Ace Gallery, Ltd., Vancouver, Canada (October)
Ace Gallery, Ltd., Venice, California (November)
International Kunstmarkt, Cologne West Germany
1980 - Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond
1981 - Washburn Gallery, New York
The Fine Arts Center, State University of New York at Stony Brook
1982 - Washburn Gallery, New York
1983 - Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
1984 - Washburn Gallery, New York
Nationalgalerie, Berlin
1986 - The Third International Contemporary Art Fair, London, England
The Brouhaha, Providence, Rhode Island
DiLaurenti Gallery, New York
1987 - Ruth Siegel Gallery, New York
Burnett Miller Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Galerie Hoffmann, Friedberg, West Germany
Galerie A. Hoffmann, Basel, Switzerland
DiLaurenti Galley, New York, traveled 1998 to:
The Butler Museum of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
1989 - Wilhelm, Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, West Germany
traveled to: Musee de Grenoble, France
Myers-Bloom Gallery, Santa Monica, California
1991 - Myers-Bloom Gallery, Santa Monica, California
1991, 1992 - Galerie Hoffmann, Friedberg, Germany (December-March)
1992 - Iynedjian Art Galerie, Lausanne, Switzerland
Galerie Istvan Schlegl, Zurich, Switzerland
1993, 1995 - The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York
1994 - Galerie Hoffmann, Friedberg, Germany
ACA Galleries, New York
1996 - The Brooklyn Museum, New York
Jason McCoy, Inc., New York
1998 - Musee de Grenoble, France
1999, 2000 - Wilhelm-Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
Galerie Hoffman Friedberg, Germany
2001 - Arithmeum, Bonn, German
2000 - Washburn Gallery, New York also 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013-14
2006 - Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, The University of Oklahoma, Norman
2007 - Louis Stern Gallery, Los Angeles, also 2014
2011 - Situation Kunst, Bochum, Germany
2013 - Valerie Carberry, Chicago
2015 - Washburn Gallery, New York
2017 - Lisson Gallery, New York
Selected Group Exhibitions
1941 - "International Water Color Exhibition-Eleventh Biennial,"
The Brooklyn Museum, New York, March 28-May 11
1943 - "Contemporary American Paintings from the Collection of the University of Arizona," Presented under the Auspices of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 3-May 13
1946 - "Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture;, Watercolors and Drawings,"
Whitney Museum of American Art, February 5-March 13
The Pinacotheca, New York,March 15-April 13
"Five Major Works by Stella, De Kooning, Smith, Benn, Hesketh"
Egan Gallery, New York, closed September 30
1948 - "Abstract and Surrealist American Art Fifty-eighth Annual Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture," The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, November 6, 1947-January 11
1949 - "Post Mondrian Painters," Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, May 16-June 11
1952 - "Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 6, 1952-January 4, 1953
1959 - "Project 1: An Exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Longview Foundation Purchases in Modern American Painting and Sculpture for the Union Santorium Association of the International ladies' Garment Workers' Union, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 9-21
1960 - "Modern Classicism," David Herbert Gallery, New York, February 8-27
"Konkrete Kunst: 50 Jahre Entwicklung", Helmaus Zurich, Germany, June 8-August 14
1961 - "Six American Abstract Painters," Arthur Tooth and Sons, London, January 24-February 18
"Purism," David Herbert Gallery, New York, October 2-28
"American Abstract Expressionist and Imagists, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, October 13-December 31
"The 1961 Pittsburgh International exhibition of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture," Pittsburgh Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pennsylvania, October 27-January 7, 1962
1962 - "65th Annual American Exhibition: Some Directions in Contemporary Painting and Sculpture," The Art Institute of Chicago, January 5 - February 18
"Geometric Abstraction in America," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 20- May 13, 1962
"1961," The Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts, April 3 - May 13
1963 - "Annual Exhibition 1962: Sculpture and Drawings," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 12, 1962 - February 3
"Twenty-eighth Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting," The
Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC, January18-March 3
1963 - "Formalists," The Washington Gallery of Modern Art, June 6 - July 7
1963-5 - "Banners: A New Art Form," The American Federation of Arts, New York.
Traveled to thirteen venues from October 9, 1963 - April 28, 1965
1964 - "The New Formalists: Contemporary Amerian Painting," The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI, January 15 - February 9
"The Classic Spirit in 20th Century Art," Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, Feburary 4 - 29
1964-5 - "1964 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 9, 1964 - January 31, 1965
Daniels Gallery, New York, December 22, 1964 - January 23, 1965
1965 - "The Responsive Eye," The Museum of Modern Art, February 25 - April 25
"Twenty-ninth Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting," The Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC, February 26 - April 18
"An Exhibition of Retinal and Perceptual Art," The University Art Museum of The University of Texas, April 11-May 9
"A Decade of American Drawings,1955-1965, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 29-June 6
"American Collages," Mseum of Modern Art, New York, May 11-July 25
"Colorists, 1950-965," San Franicsco, Museum of Art, October 15-November 21
"75th Anniversary Exhibition, Three Disinguished Artists from Oklahoma: Lee Mullican, Joseph Glasco, Leon Polk Smith" Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma
1966 - "Fifty Years of Modern Art, 1916-1966, The Cleveland Museum of Art, June 14-July31
"Twenty Drawings: New Acquisitions," The Museum of Modern Art, New York, August 2-October 2
"Systemic Paintings," The Solomon R. Guggenheim Mueum, September 21-November 27
1973 - "15 Artists Americains," Galerie Denise Rene, Paris
"Visual R & D- A Corporation Collects," University Art Museum, University of Texas at Austin
"Post-Mondrian Abstraction in America," Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois
1974 - "Celebration, Sarah Scaife Gallery Museum, of Art," Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
"Contemporary Art I," Galerie Denise Rene-Hans Meyer, Dusseldorf, West Germany
"Striped and Shaped Canvases," The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, New York
"Purism in New York, 1951-1963: Black and White," Buecher and Harpsichords, New York
1975 - Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
"American Art Since 1945," traveling exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts
1976 - "Contemporary Paintings, " Joe and Emily Lowe Art Gallery, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Syracuse University, New York Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
1977 - "The Magic Circle," The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, New York
"Paris-New York," Musee National D'Art Moderns, Paris
"Perspectives: Three/Three," Drawings 1919-1957: Le Corbusier, Heurtaux, Herbin, Kassak, Picabia; Collages 1940-1975, Leon Polk Smith, Pelham-Van Stoffler Gallery, Houston, Texas
"Tenth Street Days, The Co-Ops of the 50s," Pleiades Gallery, New York
"American Geometric Abstract Painting of the 1950s, "Marilyn Pearl Gallery, New York
"Line-Weight -Color," Denise Rene Gallery, New York
1978 - "Gallery Group Exhibition: Stable Plus Guests," Susan Caldwell, Inc., New York
1979 - "Black and White are Colors, Paintings of the 1950s-1970s," Galleries of the Larchmont Colleges, Claremont, California
"Collection: Art in America After World War II," Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
"Paintings and Sculptures by Candidates for Art Awards," American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York
"Mondrian and Neo-Plasticism in America, " Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut
"Hassum and Speicher Purchase Exhibition," American Academy for Arts and Letters, New York
1980 - "Geometric Tradition in American Painting: 1920-1980,"
Rosa Esman Gallery and Marilyn Pearl Gallery, New York
"Time and Space," Washburn Gallery, New York
"50th Anniversary-Gifts and Purchases Exhibition," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1981-82 - "Amerikanische Malerie 1930-1981, " Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
1982 - "Purism," Siegel Contemporary Art, Inc. , New York
"Painted Objects," Marilyn Pearl Gallery, New York
1983 - "Subtleties," The Sutton Gallery, New York
1990 - "42nd American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Purchase Exhibition," New York
1991 - "43rd American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Purchase Exhibition, " New York
"Drawings," Gallery North, Setauket, New York
"Post-War Geometric Concepts 1945-1990," Marilyn Pearl Gallery, New York
"Between Mondrian and Minimalism: Neo-Plasticism in America," Whitney Museum of American Art, Federal Reserve Plaza, New York
1993 - "Aus Der Sammlung IX," Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Germany
"In a Classical Vein, Works From the Permanent Collection," October 1993- April 1994, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1994 - "The Constructive Vocabulary-An American Vision," Galerie Dr. Istvan Schlegl, Zurich
"Eloquent Lines," Louis Stern Gallery, Los Angeles, California
"Paths of Abstraction: Selections from the Ciba Art Collection," Hunter College of the City University of New York
1996 - "Histoires de Blanc et Noir," Musee de Grenoble, France, May 23-August 19
"Open Door, " Konkrete Kunst International Barscay-Halle, Budapest, Hungary, Organized by Hoffmann Galeria, Friedberg, Germany
1997 - "Inaugural Exhibition,"Jason McCoy, Inc. Chelsea, New York
1998 - "Five Sides to a Square," Associated American Artist, New York in association with Galerie Denise Rene, Paris
"Defining the Edge," Early American Abstraction, Selections from the Collection of Dr. Peter B. Fischer, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York
"Kunst in den Treptowers," Allianz Versicherungs, AG. Forster: Ursala Wenzel, Courtesy Gallerie Hoffmann Friedberg, Germany
"Frederick Kiesler/Leon Polk Smith," Jason McCoy, Inc., New York
"Kunst im Aufbruch, Abstraktion Zwischen 1945 und 1959," Willem-Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
1999 - "Severed Ear-The Poetry of Abstraction," Creiger-Dane Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts
"De L'Expressionnisme Abstrait a L'Art Minimal: Peinture Abstraiter Aux Estas-Unis 1940-1960," Musee Fabre Montpellier, France, July 1-October 3
2008 - "Circa 1958: Breaking Ground in American Art," Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina of Chapel Hill, September 21 – January 4
Public Collections
Albright-Knox Museum of Art, Buffalo, New York
The Brooklyn Museum, New York
Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio
Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan
The Art Collection of the First National Bank of Chicago
Fort Worth Art Museum, Texas
Grenoble Museum, Grenoble, France
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Art, New York
The Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.
Kunsthalle Nürenberg, Nürnberg, Germany
Los Angeles County Museum, California
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts
Museum Fur Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt, Germany
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Museum Pfalzgalerie, Kaiserslautern, Germany
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Portland Art Museum, Oregon
Rhode Island School of Design Art Museum, Providence
Rose Museum, Brandies University, Waltham, Massachusetts
Sammlung Ludwig Museum Moderner Kunst, Wien, Cologne, Germany
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
State Art Collection, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
University of Sydney Museum, Sydney, Australia
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver B.C.
Weisbaden Museum of Art, Weisbaden, Germany
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Wilhelm-Hack Museum, Ludwigshaafen Am Rhein, Germany
Awards
1943 Solomon R. Guggenheim Fellowship
1958 Longview Grant
1966 National Council of Arts Award
1968 Artist in Residence, Brandeis University, Waltham Massachusetts
Tamarind Lithography Grant, Tamarind Workshop, Los Angeles, California
1972 Artist in Residence, University of California at Davis
1979 Hassam and Speicher Fund Purchase Award, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York
1986 Distinguished alumnus award, East Central University, Ada, Oklahoma
Appointments
1934-39 Classroom teacher, Oklahoma public schools
1939-42 Professor of art, T.C. University System of Georgia
1942-44 Delaware State Supervisor of Education
1949-51 Professor of Art, Rollins College, Florida
1952-58 Head of Art Department, Mills College of Education, New York
1968 Artist in Residence, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
1972 Artist in Residence, University of California at Davis
1977 Lecturer, College of Fine Arts, University Art Museum, University of Texas at Austin
1978 Lecturer, College at Old Westbury Art Gallery, State University of New York,
Old Westbury, New York
1979 Lecturer Ace Gallery, Ltd., Vancouver, B.C.
Lecturer, Ace Gallery, Venice California
1982 Lecturer and critic, Philadelphia College of Art, Pennsylvania
1983 Lecturer and critic, Philadelphia College of Art, Pennsylvania
Lecturer and critic, Yale University Graduate School of Art, New Haven, Connecticut
1986 Lecturer, East Central University, Ada, Oklahoma
1987 Lecturer, Burnett Miller Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1989 Lecturer, Myers-Bloom Gallery, Santa Monica, California