Final Days to Experience Big Race: Clarice Smith’s Vision in Motion

As the Big Race: The Contemporary Vision of Clarice Smith focus gallery comes to a close at the National Sporting Library & Museum (NSLM) in Middleburg, VA, we remember Clarice Smith and her significant contribution to Contemporary art— invigorating the motif of the horse in motion. A 76 1/2-inch-long oil painting, Big Race, 2001, on loan from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, anchored the space. Gallop, 2009, a decorative screen by Smith, also on view in the exhibition, is a bold and dynamic composition that has been part of the NSLM’s permanent collection since 2014, after being featured in the major solo exhibition, Clarice Smith: Power & Grace, at the NSLM. Three loans from the artist’s son, David Bruce Smith, the founder and president of The Grateful American Foundation, capped the installation.

Clarice and her husband, Robert H. Smith, were prominent members of the community and contributors to the NSLM. President & CEO Elizabeth von Hassell said of their legacy, “Robert was an active Board member from 1998–2001, and the Smiths were extremely generous supporters for more than 20 years.” They began the NSLM’s Clarice & Robert H. Smith Lecture Series, which funded more than 120 nationally and internationally known speakers, including NY Times Bestsellers Elizabeth Letts and Douglas Tallamy, columnist for The Wall Street Journal, Lettie Teague, and Icelandic scientist, politician, and climate conservation advocate Halla Hrund Logadóttir. The Smiths also started the NSLM’s Art Fund and were instrumental in the acquisition of the iconic 9-foot Still Water sculpture by Nic Fiddian Green that greets visitors in the Museum and Under Starter’s Orders, Newmarket, c. 1947, by famed 20^th century sporting artist Alfred James Munnings. Additionally, the Robert H. Smith Family Foundation and Clarice Smith supported the Clarice & Robert H. Smith Education and Marketing Director position beginning in 2016. Since 2024, David Bruce Smith has generously honored his parents’ memory by continuing to fund the position and lending artwork to the NSLM.

Von Hassell added, “It was a privilege to have the opportunity to showcase Clarice’s artistic vision in Big Race: The Contemporary Vision of Clarice Smith. She was a force of nature, and we are thrilled to be able to host the exhibition virtually for the future.” See it in person before it closes on April 19, 2026, or visit the National Sporting Library & Museum to experience it online.