The unveiling of a special, poetry-inspired gift to Grand Valley
State University from the Meijer Foundation will follow the Fall Arts
Celebration Poetry Night on Friday.
“An Evening of Poetry and Conversation with Ted Kooser and
Terrance Hayes,” will be presented October 21, 7 p.m., at Eberhard
Center, 301 W. Fulton, on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus. Following the
presentation will be the first viewing at Grand Valley of “Portraits
of American Poets,” a series of 28 paintings by Michigan native Jack
Richard Smith, who now resides in Taos, New Mexico.
Smith is widely regarded as one of the most powerful contemporary
painters working in the country. The artist and a number of poets in
the series will be on hand for the unveiling.
The series includes portraits of U.S. Poet Laureates Ted Kooser,
Billy Collins and Charles Simic; Noble Laureate Derek Walcott; and
Michigan-born poets Jim Harrison and Dan Gerber, among others. The
collection of six-by-six-inch oil on copper paintings was first
exhibited at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum at Rollins College in Winter
Park, Florida, prior to a 2009 tour to various U.S. cities.
Smith, born in Fremont, Mich., in 1950, began his training at
Interlochen Arts Academy when he was only 16. As a young man he was
also encouraged by both Harrison and Gerber to pursue his love of
poetry. He later moved to Ohio to attend Columbus College of Art and
Design, followed by the Instituto de Allende, at San Miguel de
Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico.
The artist spent three years traveling across the country to the
homes and studios of poets he admires because of their important
contributions to literary America. Spending the time to sketch,
photograph and converse with each one, the paintings were done after
Smith returned to his studio in Taos.
Drawing upon his profound knowledge of art history and an
alchemist’s sense of painting craft, Smith used a mixture favored by
the Dutch Masters, made from raw linseed oil, white beeswax and lead
salts, mixed on his kitchen stove. When painted onto copper, the
pigments produce a glowing effect, bringing realism to each portrait.
Though small in size, each portrait is highly detailed and conveys an
intimate understanding of the poet.
Smith’s interest in miniatures was first developed as a
practical convenience when traveling to work in Mexico in 1982. A
self-portrait was included in another miniatures series, an important
solo exhibition, The Taos Portraits, at the Harwood Museum of Art at
the University of New Mexico in 2004. Learn more about the artist and
his work at www.jackrichardsmith.com.
