PALM SPRINGS, CALIF.- Palm Springs Art Museum, in collaboration with the Espoo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), announced the opening of The Art and Design of Howard Smith, the first U.S. retrospective of the artist since the 1980s and his first major exhibition in his home country. The show will run from May 10, 2025, through March 2, 2026.
Howard Smith (1928–2021), a New Jersey-born artist, made his mark internationally after moving to Finland in 1962. Known for his fusion of abstract and African forms, Smith was one of the few Black artists of his generation to collaborate successfully with major European design firms. His textiles and ceramics brought vibrancy and narrative to Scandinavian modernism, while his independent practice ranged from painting and collage to sculptural assemblages using everyday objects.
“Howard Smith’s art was bold, inventive, and wholly original,” said Steven Wolf, Guest Curator at Palm Springs Art Museum. “He broke down boundaries between fine art and design, between the deeply personal and the industrial. This exhibition is a long overdue homecoming for an artist who contributed so much to post-war aesthetics but remained largely unknown in the United States.”
In partnership with EMMA, this exhibition features more than 100 works including paintings, textiles, ceramics, and mixed media assemblages, many of which have never been shown outside of Finland. It is a rare opportunity to explore the layered legacy of an artist who navigated modernism, the African diaspora, and the Cold War.
“This retrospective brings Howard Smith’s expansive vision to U.S. audiences in a way that’s never been done before,” said Christine Vendredi, Chief Curator at Palm Springs Art Museum. “His work asks us to think differently about cultural exchange and design history.”
A bilingual exhibition catalogue co-published with Radius Books accompanies the show, featuring essays and conversations in both English and Finnish. Contributors include Allison Blakely, Erna Aaltonen, Ervin Latimer, Ken Erwin, Steven Wolf, and Tuomas Laulainen. The book is available now at Palm Springs Art Museum’s museum store.
