The following is from Jack W Rogers:
When Carl J Smith was becoming known in the Texas Panhandle in the 1950s, I bought about eight of his paintings through an Amarillo promoter named John L McCarty. McCarty claimed that Smith was so shy that he would not talk with anybody except McCarty, so I never had the privilege of meeting him in person.
McCarty told me he was buying all of Smith's output at the time for about $3 (sic!) per panel, and he sold the larger (about 24x28) Masonite panels to me for $125, and I think the smaller ones went for $75. My first painting (and I wish I still had it) was completely monochromatic in orange, and featured a mounted cowboy viewing his range.
I believe a Hereford, Texas attorney, James W Witherspoon, also collected several of Smith's early works. I eventually sold all of mine in about 1976 to a CPA in Hereford TX named Stanley Schaeffer.
Biography from Vogt Galleries Texas
Born in Kress, Texas in 1928, the artist, Carl J. Smith, was the ninth child in a family of ten. Most of his life he has spent living in the high plains of West Texas. After a two year stint in the Army, Smith earned his BS degree from West Texas State in 1953; followed by a twelve year teaching career in Portales, New Mexico.
In 1966, Carl J. Smith moved to Canyon, Texas, and began a full time career as an artist. While I love New Mexico and Colorado, the artist explains, I always come home to the Texas Panhandle. Not all, but many of my paintings have their inspiration from this part of the country.
Smith has had dozens of one man shows over the years, including the Thomas Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and among others, the Grand Central Gallery in New York.
Primarily working in oils, the artist is best known for his exceptional subtlety of color, as well as the great visual depth and atmosphere he achieves in his paintings.
In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson, Governor Jon Connaly, the King Ranch and other famous individuals began to collect Smiths paintings. Since that time, the list of collectors has grown to include people from every state in the U.S. and as far away as Japan and Saudi Arabia.
While I have received great satisfaction from being able to make a living from my work; the greatest reward has been being involved in the creative process. I feel that I have been the most fortunate of men.
