APRIL 14, 2014
Gregory White Smith, who won a Pulitzer award for having coauthored biography of Jackson Pollock in 1990, died Thursday at the age of 62 at his residence in Aiken, S.C. It may be recalled that the biography created a hullabaloo for its contention of Pollock’s distinguished drip painting technique, his sexual orientation plus other affairs.
The cause of his death, as reported by his Husband cum co-author Steven, whom he married in NY in 2011, was an unusual kind of brain tumor.
Mr. Smith met Mr. Naifeh at Harvard Law School during the 1970s. The two authored over a dozen books, the two most famous and best sellers being “The Mormon Murders,” a 1988 account of a double murder in Salt Lake City and biography of Vincent van Gogh. They also penned a couple of how-to-guides, titled “What Every Client Needs to Know About Using a Lawyer”, “Moving Up in Style: The Successful Man’s Guide to Impeccable Taste,” and with Michael Morgenstern, “How to Make Love to a Woman.”
The two acknowledged that their initial writings provided them with finances for pursuing Pollock’s biography, about which they were very passionate. The authors carried extensive research for writing 934 page biography, “Jackson Pollock: An American Saga” that provided hitherto unknown details about the life of their subject and his family, friendship and his relationship with his wife, Lee Krasner, an abstract expressionist painter, who died during 1984.
However, while reviewing the book, some critics were disdainful of the authors, and pointed out that rather than highlighting the achievement of the painter, their book focused on conveying his personal life. They also censured it for telling without solid proof that Pollock had homosexual relationships and that one source of inspiration for his splattering style of painting was watching his father urinate on a rock while he was a growing boy.
Elizabeth Frank, Pollock authority and biographer, while reviewing the book for The New York Times Book Review during 1990, was also highly critical of the authors and noted that the painter and his art have been demeaned and humiliated by the authors.
Subsequent to the book winning the Pulitzer in 1991, another Pollock scholar, Francis V. O’Connor, in an article in the Times, disapproved of awarding the book while pointing out that movie rights to the book were already sold before its publishing. He went to the extent of suggesting that perhaps the members of jury lacked intellect for appreciating scholarly pieces of art. In fact he said jury, by awarding this book, has cheapened the award. O’Connor pointed out that the omission of an art historian among the jury was a serious flaw.
Mr. Naifeh and Mr. Smith retorted, choosing Mr. O’Connor’s personal work and pointed out that their book also figured in the final list of the National Book Award.
While responding back through the columns of the Times, the writers said that they wrote the book for both the types of audiences, those who understand art as well those who don’t, and deliberately discarded the lingo and the crackpot stories that appear in numerous books on contemporary art and that’s what had hurt Mr. O’Connor and others like him, who thought that only they are capable of appreciating art of high quality.
Jeffrey Potter, the author of “To a Violent Grave: An Oral Biography of Jackson Pollock” (1987) also alleged Mr. Naifeh and Mr. Smith of having plagiarized his book. In response, the two authors sued Mr. Potter but later withdrew the suit.
At one time, there were plans to make two different movies based on the books, but finally only one, “Pollock” was released in 2000. The movie starred Ed Harris, who also directed it. It was produced by a company, which was linked to Naifeh-White book, with Mr. Potter as an advisor. Mr. Harris claimed it was due the Potter book that he got interested in Pollock.
Gregory White Smith, born on Oct. 4, 1951, in Ithaca, New York, graduated from Colby College, in Maine. He qualified for his degree in law and a master’s in education from Harvard.
Later, he lived in NY with Mr. Naifeh. He worked for a law firm in NY before working as an editor for law books. Mr. Naifeh and Mr. Smith published their first guidebook, “The Best Lawyers in America” in the early part of the 1980s.
His survivors, other than Mr. Naifeh, whom he married during 2011 in NY, include one sister, Linda Hirata.
Mr. Smith realized that he was affected by a brain tumor called hemangiopericytoma during the 1970s and underwent modern treatments that allowed him to disregard a number of grim predictions concerning his diagnosis. Along with Mr. Naifeh, he wrote about his experiences in a book named “Making Miracles Happen.” The two also teamed up to restore their 60-room mansion in Aiken, once possessed by the Whitney family of New York.
