South Orange in Essex County, New Jersey — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Tau
⎯⎯⎯
Tony Smith

(1912 - 1980)

Photographed by Bryn Douds

1. Tau Marker

Inscription. Tau Tony Smith (1961-1962). Fabricated 2005. Installed 2008. Black painted steel, 14 ft x 21 ft x 12 ft. Gift of Jane Smith.

TAU is representative of Tony Smith's bold, geometric work from the 1960s. The sculptor often used small cardboard tetrahedrons (four-sided triangles or pyramids) to create models for his pieces, a technique he began to explore while bedridden during a childhood illness.

Smith designed TAU to have an organic, architectural presence. Notice how the shapes, angles, and even the color of the sculpture change depending on the time of day and where you are standing.

Tony Smith
(1912-1980) South Orange native Tony South was one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century. He began his career as a painter, then trained as an architectural designer under Frank Lloyd Wright. During the 1940s and 50s he continued to paint, aligning himself with the Abstract Expressionists Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko, among others.

In the late 1950s, Smith turned to sculpture, which catapulted him to international fame. He appeared on the cover of TIME magazine and was the subject of a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1998.

Smith was born into a third-generation South Orange

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family. He and his wife Jane settled into the family home on Stanley Road, where they raised daughters Kiki, Seton, and Beatrice. The artist lived and worked there, creating plywood mock-ups of his sculptures in the backyard, until his death in 1980.

Want to learn more? Visit www.tonysmithsouthorange.org

( back )
Tony Smith Sculpture Project Donors

Erected by The Village of South Orange.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music. In addition, it is included in the Frank Lloyd Wright series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 2008.

Location. 40° 45.014′ N, 74° 15.66′ W. Marker is in South Orange, New Jersey, in Essex County. It is on Mead Street just east of North Ridgewood Road, on the right when traveling east. Sign is at southern end of rain garden, a few yards east of the sculpture. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: South Orange NJ 07079, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in New Jersey’s North Jersey,

in Greater Newark,

and in the New York City Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Netherland

and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Meadowland Park Lake (within shouting distance of this marker); South Orange Memorial Rock - Viet Nam War (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); South Orange Memorial Rock - Operation Iraqi Freedom (about 300 feet away); South Orange Memorial Rock - Korean Conflict

Back of Tau Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bryn Douds

2. Back of Tau Marker

Tony Smith Sculpture Project Donors

(about 300 feet away); South Orange Memorial Rock - WWII (about 400 feet away); Cameron Field (about 500 feet away); Connor Swimming Pool Complex (about 600 feet away); Swamp Line Trolley (about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in South Orange.

Also see . . .
1. Tony Smith Sculpture Project. (Submitted on November 23, 2023, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut.)
2. Tony Smith (sculptor) (Wikipedia). (Submitted on November 23, 2023, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut.)

Credits. This page was last revised on November 23, 2023. It was originally submitted on November 19, 2023, by Bryn Douds of South Orange, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 189 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on November 19, 2023, by Bryn Douds of South Orange, New Jersey. • Michael Herrick was the editor who published this page.

Tau⎯⎯⎯Tony Smith

(1912 - 1980)

Tau
⎯⎯⎯
Tony Smith