Born in Chicago, Moishe Smith studied at the New School for Social Research and with Mauricio Lasansky at the University of Iowa. He also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine.
Smith has focused on landscape as the subject of much of his work, but romantic city views are also found within the range of his graphics. In Kafka-ville: A View of Prague, he etched a bird's-eye-view of the Czechoslovakian city, recording in detail the varied architectural forms that are found side by side in the old metropolis. Until his death in 1993, Moishe Smith lived in Utah and taught art at Utah State University.
[This is an excerpt from the interactive companion program to the videodisc American Art from the National Gallery of Art. Produced by the Department of Education Resources, this teaching resource is one of the Gallery's free-loan educational programs.]