Vincent Smarkusz

Undiscovered American Genius in Modern Art

Self Portrait (detail)

Pencil on paper
Time: 
1940

The drawings presented here were created during downtime - but the anguish of war had left its indelible mark on Vincent's soul.  Deeply buried wounds of PTSD would eventually erupt into full existential crisis in his early thirties. His most unusual art is created at that time, with examples presented in the "Fusionism" gallery on this website.  Smarkusz had entered the U.S. Army in the spring of 1941.  When he returned home in Jan. 1946, he resumed his studies at Hartford Art School, and exhibited his drawings to high reviews.  James Johnson Sweeney's review