Vincent Smarkusz

Undiscovered American Genius in Modern Art

1946 MoMA director James J. Sweeney applauds Smarkusz's work

In response to viewing a collection of drawings by Vincent Smarkusz at the Wadsworth Atheneum in 1946, New York's Museum of Modern Art director James Johnson Sweeney made these remarks:
"Vincent Smarkusz's work adheres to the great classical tradition, of the Brueghels for example, in its overwhelming interest in materials, in objects, even in persons as objects.  Mr. Smarkusz will record with bright and loving care every rock, every shock of grass, every footprint in the muddle of tracks on the sand, every tiny pool of water.  The welter of objects stacked within, above, around, and below, will be drawn with infinite detail, a curiosity about every texture, a fondness for every fold, a response to every shape and form."
"At the same time, the sum total of Mr. Smarkusz's work transcends the sheer craftsmanship with which he so excellently renders and constructs, even when his tools are only a fountain pen or pencil stub.  The best of them are pictures in the genuine sense, not merely etudes, because he sees all these facts with imagination, sensitivity and kindling affection.  Mr Smarkusz's work seems to be substantially done, closely seen, thorough and inspired from the beginning.  It is a great pleasure nowadays to find an artist who regards drawings as an end in itself".
James Johnson Sweeney, chief curator and director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City
Published in
The Hartford Courant, May 10, 1946
 
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