Grace, 2009 Oil on Canvas by Stacy Stewart Smith
Grace, 2009 Oil on Canvas by Stacy Stewart Smith
Description
Grace, 2009
Grace is a dream painting. The subject — a Black male figure in underclothing — balances on a section of the Eiffel Tower against a cloudy blue sky, suspended between the physical world and something beyond it. The feeling is not falling. It is floating.
Stacy Stewart Smith works in a combination of illustrative precision and Impressionist gesture, using pure daubs of paint to hold the figure in tension with the suggested landscape around him — neither fully grounded nor fully gone. The sky is not a backdrop. It is a destination.
The work belongs to a group of approximately six paintings created during the period when Smith was developing his Abstractrealism style — works that placed human subjects in states of suspension, dream, and spiritual transit. Grace is the smaller, more intimate companion to Dreamer, 2004, sharing its subject matter but operating at a more personal scale. It is one of the clearest early expressions of the Abstractrealist vocabulary: the figure rendered with illustrative specificity, the world around him dissolving into paint.
Provenance
- Created during the Abstractrealism development period, circa 2009
- Part of a series of approximately six works featuring human subjects in states of suspension
- Related work: Dreamer, 2004, by Stacy Stewart Smith
Medium & Dimensions
- Oil on canvas
- 24" × 34" × 1.5"
- Frame: painted wood
- Year: 2009
- Signed by the artist
Acquisition
This is an original, one-of-a-kind work. Certificate of authenticity included. Ships with care from New York City.
Care
Stacy Stewart Smith offers made-to-order garments, fine art, and digital publications — each requiring different care. Please refer to the product description for care and handling instructions specific to your purchase. For garments: dry clean or spot clean unless otherwise noted; do not machine wash. For fine art: keep away from direct sunlight and humidity; handle with clean, dry hands or cotton gloves. For digital products and publications: no physical care required; download and archive your files upon receipt.
Design
Every Stacy Stewart Smith piece begins as a drawing and ends as a decision — a deliberate choice of textile, construction method, and proportion made by a single designer with five decades of practice. The same eye that composes a painting composes a coat: line, weight, negative space, and the relationship between form and the body that inhabits it. Garments are produced in New York City, one at a time, to the measurements and preferences of the individual client. No two pieces are identical. No production run exists. This is not manufacturing — it is making.
The atelier sources textiles for their hand, weight, and longevity. Sustainability here is not a campaign. It is the natural consequence of making only what is wanted, from materials chosen to last, by a craftsman who will not put his name on anything less.