Paul K. Smith
Born Missouri, 1893
Died Colorado, 1973
Paul Kauver Smith studied commercial art and design at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts from 1915-16 with a brief interruption during World War I. After the war, he returned to the School of Fine Arts and went on to the study at Washington University in St. Louis.
In 1921, Smith moved to Colorado to study under John E. Thompson at the Denver Academy of Fine and Applied Arts. Thompson, who is considered to be the pioneer of modernism in Denver, was a strong influence on Smith.
In 1923, Smith was hired by the Academy as an instructor. That same year, his work was accepted for the first time for display at the Denver Art Museum and he was also awarded two solo exhibitions. The museum later added his work to their Anne Evans collection. In 1959, the Denver Art Museum also reproduced one of his paintings titled Houses at Victor for their Western Heritage exhibition catalogue.
Smith became a permanent resident of Denver and was a member of the American Artists Professional League, as well as, the Colorado and the Denver Art Guilds. He also joined a Denver group called The Colorado Fifteen. “The Fifteen” came into existence in 1948 as an association of professional artists dedicated to the avant-garde. The group was well known and considered to be an important contribution to Denver's cultural landscape.
Exhibited: CPLH, 1946; Springville, Utah 1946; Heyburn, Idaho 1940-42, 1946; Kansas City Art Institute 1938-39; Joslyn Museum 1939, 1943-45; Denver Artists Guild 1934 (prize), 1935-45, 1969 (prize); WFNY 1939; Denver Art Museum 1923-56, 1962-64; 15 Colorado Artists 1949-65; Denver Metropolitan Exhibits 1950-64; Mulvane Art Center, Topeka 1956 & 1964; Lever House, New York City 1964; Central City 1964 (award); Canon City, Colorado 1969 (award)
Works Held: Central Heyburn (ID) Public School; Denver Art Museum ; Smithsonian American Art Museum
Further Reading: Artists of the American West: A Biographical Dictionary, Vol. 3, Doris Ostrander Dawdy, Swallow Press, Chicago, 1980. 3 Vols.; The Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West, Peggy and Harold Samuels, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1976.; Modern Art in Denver (1919-1960): Eleven Denver Artists, Elizabeth Schlosser, Ocean View Books, Denver, Colorado, 1993.; Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Vol. 1. Peter Hastings Falk, Georgia Kuchen and Veronica Roessler, eds., Sound View Press, Madison, Connecticut, 1999. 3 Vols.
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