Modernism made wearable
A line in silver. A place on the body.
A neckpiece need not hang from a chain. Art Smith treated jewelry as a composition completed by the person wearing it. Cooper Hewitt places his work alongside modernist abstraction and emphasizes that relationship with the body. Look for the space inside a curve, the change from round wire to a flattened plane, and the way a piece sits rather than simply dangles.
Arthur George Smith (1917–1982) was born in Cuba to Jamaican parents and grew up in Brooklyn. He graduated from Cooper Union in 1940 and worked with jeweler Winifred Mason from 1943. In 1946 he opened his own Greenwich Village shop. Racial violence at its first location prompted a move to West Fourth Street.
His practice included brass and copper as well as precious metals, and apprentices helped with production. The Smithsonian archive preserves drawings, business papers, photographs and exhibition records. That wider record matters: a signature is one part of an attribution, while a documented design, construction and ownership history supply other pieces.
Smith’s recognition extended beyond his shop. Cooper Hewitt records his inclusion in the 1946 Modern Jewelry Design exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art and a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in 1969. His jewelry belongs to a history of modern art and studio craft, not only to the history of adornment.
From the museum collection
Two objects. Two sets of evidence.
The Smithsonian records below describe particular objects in its collection. Their dates are approximate object dates, not a complete chronology of Smith’s designs or signature stamps.
Expo: follow the wire, then read the end
The National Museum of African American History and Culture dates its Expo necklace to about 1974. The object is a single sterling-silver wire formed into an open neck ring with looped ends, crossing itself near the middle. Some sections are flattened. Its accession number is 2023.12.27.
The museum records two stamps on one looped end: the signature “Art Smith” and “STERL-”. Keep that incomplete transcription exactly as recorded rather than silently supplying missing letters. It describes this museum object, not a required stamp combination for every piece attributed to Smith.
Far West: read the metals separately
Far West, dated about 1977, combines a winding sterling-silver band, a triangular agate and a smaller gold triangle. The museum lists sterling silver, fourteen-carat gold and agate for accession 2023.12.11. Beneath the larger triangular bezel it records “STERLING”, “Art Smith” and “14k”.
Here the different metal descriptions belong to a mixed-material jewel. The “14k” stamp should not turn the whole ring into a gold object, nor should its full weight be treated as silver weight. Keep the material record beside the marks and photographs.
Compare a mark in its setting
For a piece you are considering, request a sharp photograph of every stamp and a wider view showing where each one sits. Transcribe visible characters before interpreting them. A partial impression, an ambiguous stroke or a seller’s confident title is a question to investigate, not a reason to fill in the answer.
Compare the whole object with a documented example: form, dimensions, joins, setting and wear as well as lettering. These museum transcriptions establish that particular marks occur on cataloged objects. They do not authenticate a similar-looking piece, prove who performed every workshop operation or establish a universal date range for the stamp.
Names & chapters
How the story developed.
- 1940
Training at Cooper Union
Smith graduates after studying art and design.
- 1943
Working with Winifred Mason
Mason employs and mentors Smith in her Greenwich Village jewelry practice.
- 1946
A shop of his own
Smith opens at 37 Cornelia Street before the later move to West Fourth Street.
- 1969
A solo museum exhibition
The Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York presents his jewelry.
Follow an interest
What to explore.
A historical, source-based profile. The object studies use museum catalog descriptions; no physical object was examined or authenticated. Museum images are linked at their source rather than reproduced.
Check the details
Before you buy.
Use names and marks to begin the research. Let the evidence for the particular jewel guide the next question.
Open the references
Research this name.
- Museum collection
Examine Expo in the museum record
Read the necklace’s catalog entry and inspect its published photographs.
- Museum collection
Examine Far West in the museum record
Compare the ring’s materials and recorded inscriptions.
- Collect Silver guide
Read marks in context
Distinguish a maker’s identity from material and assay information.
- Collect Silver resource
Document an individual jewel
Keep images, measurements, attribution and condition together.
Sources & further reading
- Art Smith Archive, NMAAHC.A2018.110 Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture · Institutional finding aid: biography, workshop and archival holdings
- Art in Metal: The Modernist Jewelry of Greenwich Village’s Art Smith Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum · Museum essay: relationship to the body and exhibition history
- Expo, about 1974; accession 2023.12.27 Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture · Museum object record: sterling silver, form and exact stamp transcription
- Far West, about 1977; accession 2023.12.11 Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture · Museum object record: mixed materials and exact stamp transcription
Museum and archive sources support the history and the two object studies. Marks are transcribed from catalog records, not read from a physical examination. Sources checked November 11, 2026.