Bidspirit auction | Richard Smith, British, 1931 -

Richard Smith, British, 1931 - 2016, Drawing Boards IV, Etching and Chine Colle - Richard Smith, British, 1931 - 2016 Drawing Boards IV, 1981 Etching and Chine Colle, H 29.75 x W 22.5 x D 1 Signed bottom right Thin gold frame, H 31 x W 23.75 x D 1.5 Condition: Good Provenance: Private Texas Collection Richard Smith merged Abstraction with the vibrancy of Pop Art in innovative formats that pushed the boundaries of what a painting could be. Drawn to the color and exuberance of American advertising and packaging, he produced hazy, graphic abstract works such as Panatella 1961. From the mid-1960s, Mark Rothko and Kenneth Noland served as influences as Smith embraced pure color--a concept he explored in structured canvases that often bordered on sculpture. His Untitled Triptych 1965 consists of bold planes of color that expand into the room like flying buttresses. A growing reputation at the time saw him represent Britain in a group show at the Venice Biennale in 1966. In 1970, he was invited to return for a solo exhibition. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, he created a series of paintings of kites, which hung suspended from the ceiling or walls. He later returned to flat canvases but continued to explore the possibility of space in compositions consisting of interwoven forms.