After 5: Gallery Review: The World of Robert E. Smith

Sometimes, it’s worked into the painting as if on a billboard, and other times, it’s subtly situated in a corner.

Even without the name, though, there’s no mistaking Smith’s work.

Longtime Springfield painter and storywriter Robert E. Smith, 79, splashes colorful story scenes on downtown murals and on canvas that hang throughout area homes and offices.

Collectors of Smith’s works, categorized as being in the folk or naïve genre, have loaned about 140 pieces to the Missouri State University Art and Design Gallery. “The World of Robert E. Smith” is on display through Sept. 28 at 333 E. Walnut St.

“There’s been a lot of interest,” says Robin Lowe, gallery director. “It’s been astounding.”

The self-taught artist seems to be embraced by the Springfield community.

Smith’s lovable demeanor is eloquently captured in a portrait by fellow artist Ellen Baird, who also collects Smith’s works. She and husband Andrew own a handful of the pieces in the show.

The portrait of Smith overlooks the gallery entryway, and his expression begs for an audience. Of course, Smith had to add a personal touch: A yellow and gray cat painted in Smith’s distinct style sits on his right shoulder.

Smith’s canvas tells a story with a merger of childlike images and adult topics.

Three themes are prevalent in his work: recognizable characters – sometimes himself or the owners of the pieces, as in “Bucky At His Nap” with a sleeping William Brandon “Bucky” Bowman; well-known places as in his depiction of the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Ark.; and significant current events, as in “Hell Breaks Loose In Baghdad” from March 2003.

Smith balances those tendencies with mundane situations in other pieces to which most all viewers can relate. Other paintings seem to have no theme.

Smith’s claim to fame seems to be his work making it into a show at New York City’s Museum of American Folk Art.

Local collectors include Alan and Leslie Brown, Arthur and Pam Haseltine, Dr. Ted Hamaker, Tim and Jeanie Rosenbury and Lou and Kay Whitney, along with fellow artists, Russ and Pam RuBert, Lil Olive and Christine Schilling. Arthur Robins owns the vast majority of paintings in the show.

Also on display are Smith’s books of stories, poems and cartoons and his 470-page nonpublished autobiography.

Mr. Smith – the Man, the Artist

Robert Eugene Smith was born Oct. 14, 1927, in St. Louis. His life story and artistic development is defined by several key moments, starting with a fall down a staircase when he was 18 months old.

“That fall was the beginning of a neck injury that would cause me problems the rest of my life,” Smith writes in his nonpublished autobiography, which reveals the artist’s vivid memory and attention to detail.

Another turning moment was his time spent in the U.S. Army, where he contracted bacterial endocarditis. The subsequent sulfa treatments left him a chronic invalid. Because his family could not provide proper medical care, Smith says he was sent to the Missouri mental hospital in Farmington, where he resided for 16 years. He left in 1968, and settled in Springfield after earning his substitute teaching certificate in 1981 from Missouri State University.

His first professional piece is believed to be “Church and Tractor Pump,” owned by South Street Christian Church.

Smith, who turns 80 next month, now resides in senior living complex Franciscan Villa.

Event Details

What: “The World of Robert E. Smith”

Where: Missouri State University Art and Design Gallery, 333 E. Walnut St.

When: Through Sept. 28

Hours: 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and 10 a.m.–8 p.m. Thursday and Saturday

Cost: Free[[In-content Ad]]