{{Short description|American artist}} '''Albert Alexander Smith''' (September 17, 1896 – April 3, 1940) was an American artist, illustrator, and jazz musician. According to Theresa Leininger-Miller he was an "internationally renowned artist" throughout the 1920s and 1930s.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Grove art online|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|others=Laura Williams Macy, Oxford University Press, Macmillan Publishers, Inc Grove's Dictionaries|isbn=1-884446-05-1|location=[Oxford, England]|oclc=268889955}}</ref>
Smith was born on September 17, 1896, in New York City<ref name=":3"/> and grew up in the city's San Juan Hill community.<ref name=":0"/> An only child, he was born to Elizabeth A. Smith, a homemaker, and Albert Renford Smith, a chauffeur for Ralph Pulitzer. Both of his parents were immigrants from Bermuda. In 1911, he graduated from Public School No. 70. He then went on to study at DeWitt Clinton High School, attending the school for two years.<ref name=":1"/> In 1913, he switched schools after receiving a Wolfe scholarship to attend the Ethical Culture School. There, he studied art under Irene Weir.<ref name=":1"/><ref name=":2"/>
In 1915, Smith began attending the National Academy of Design, becoming the school's first African-American student.<ref name=":1"/> At the Academy, he won multiple awards, including the Snydum medal in 1917, the Chaloner prize in 1919, and the Tanner Gold medal in 1919.<ref name=":2"/> In 1917, during World War I, Smith enlisted in the army's 807 Pioneer Band. He served for two and half months overseas with the American Expeditionary Forces, and was honorably discharged in July 1919. After his discharge, he returned to his studies at the National Academy of Design.<ref name=":1"/>
In June 1920, Smith moved to Paris and began living abroad.<ref name=":0"/><ref name=":1"/> He played as a musician with different bands, mostly at night, and created various art pieces of tourist locations and scenes. He traveled to Italy in 1922, where he studied the artworks of Italian old masters and continued to perform as a musician. Around that time, he made art focused on Black people and their achievements, as well as works about United States racial discrimination. In 1923, he began to study printmaking at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Liège, Belgium.<ref name=":1"/>
He received a Harmon Award (List of winners of the William E. Harmon Foundation Award for Distinguished Achievement Among Negroes).
Smith died on April 3, 1940, in Paris, France, at the age of 44.<ref name=":3"/><ref>{{cite news |title=U. S. Leaders Laud Negro Exposition |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84110026/california-eagle/ |access-date= August 25, 2021 |work=California Eagle |date= August 27, 1940 |page=3-A}}</ref> His works are held at various museums and collections, including at the National Portrait Gallery,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.34267.html|title=Artist Info|website=www.nga.gov}}</ref> the Whitney Museum of American Art,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://whitney.org/collection/works/44193|title=Albert Alexander Smith | Pioneer-1900|website=whitney.org}}</ref> and the Melvin Holmes Collection of African American Art.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.holmesartgallery.com/albert-alexander-smith-18961940|title=Albert Alexander Smith (1896–1940)|website=The Melvin Holmes Collection of African American Art}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em|refs= <ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=New York Negro Painter-Artist Wins Fame in Paris |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84108927/new-york-negro-painter-artist-wins-fame/ |access-date= August 25, 2021 |work=The Broad Ax |date= December 9, 1922 |page=2}}</ref>
<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/msmodular72/docs/albert_alexander_smith_pages|title=Albert Alexander Smith (1896–1940)|website=Issuu|date=17 May 2021 }}</ref>
<ref name=":2">{{cite news |last1=Beasley |first1=Delilah L. |title=Activities Among Negroes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53487917/activities-among-negroesby-delilah-l/ |access-date= August 25, 2021 |work=Oakland Tribune |date= November 23, 1930 |page=4-M}}</ref>
<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100512482|title=Albert Alexander Smith|website=Oxford Reference}}</ref> }} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Albert Alexander}} Category:African-American illustrators Category:20th-century American illustrators Category:American jazz musicians Category:1896 births Category:1940 deaths Category:African-American jazz musicians Category:20th-century American musicians Category:Artists from Manhattan Category:Musicians from New York City Category:American people of Bermudian descent Category:Ethical Culture Fieldston School alumni Category:DeWitt Clinton High School alumni Category:National Academy of Design alumni Category:Artists from Paris Category:Musicians from Paris Category:American expatriates in Italy Category:American expatriates in France Category:United States Army personnel of World War I Category:American expatriates in Belgium Category:Jazz musicians from New York (state) Category:African Americans in World War I Category:20th-century African-American musicians Category:African-American United States Army personnel