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.

“Big Race: The Contemporary Vision of Clarice Smith” at the National Sporting Library & Museum

The National Sporting Library & Museum (NSLM) is pleased to announce Big Race: The Contemporary Vision of Clarice Smith, a focus gallery contemplating the impact that Clarice Smith’s (American, 1933–2021) artistic vision had on equine art. On view from January 11, 2024 to April 19, 2026, four compelling paintings by the artist are on loan to complement the three dimensional horse racing screen in the National Sporting Library & Museum’s collection. “I see the horse as a dynamic beautiful form; a combination of power and grace,” noted Smith in 2014.

Gallop, 2009, a 5-panel screen, was donated by the artist after her solo exhibition of over 30 artworks at the NSLM in 2014, Clarice Smith: Power & Grace. It depicts horses neck-and-neck and thundering hooves rushing at the viewer in a halo of vibrant burnt sienna and flying gold and copper metallic dirt. This screen melding Smith’s fine art into a three-dimensional object is the only one she created with this subject matter.

To provide context to the screen, three of the paintings are generously on loan from the artist’s son, David Bruce Smith, the founder and president of The Grateful American Foundation: Le Vainqueur, 1995; Dead Heat, 1999; and Leaving the Gate, 2011. The largest painting in the focus gallery is a 36 1⁄2 x 76 1⁄2-inch oil on canvas from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). It is titled, simply, Big Race, 2001, and is the inspiration for the exhibit.

These artworks were all selected by George L. Ohrstrom, Jr. Deputy Director & Head Curator Claudia Pfeiffer to highlight Smith’s depictions of racing. Pfeiffer interviewed the artist extensively for the 2014 NSLM exhibition and its accompanying catalogue and wrote, “Motivated by a moment and the challenge of exploring new and innovative ways of approaching a composition, she [Smith] returns to her racing scenes with changing perspectives and variations in palette;” Pfeiffer continued, “Choices for jockey silk patterns and colors are usually not literal interpretations but rather the design of a color scheme, and her horses are composites against made-up backgrounds.”

“I paint my life,” Smith often noted. The contemporary artist first became known for her figurative, floral, and landscape subject matter. She began incorporating equine art into her oeuvre in 1983 when she and her husband, Robert H. Smith, purchased Heronwood Farm in Upperville, VA, and a portion of the Upperville Colt and Horse Show grounds, which they maintained for over 30 years. He developed a Thoroughbred breeding program, and they also regularly attended American, British, and French horse sales and races. These experiences led Clarice Smith to incorporate her stylized portrayals of motion and figurative portraiture into equine and equestrian subject matter.

When painting, Smith consciously fused different artistic inspirations into her own unique expression of motion, texture, light, and color—all informed by her classical training. She studied at George Washington University where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in studio art. She became a faculty member in their Art Department in 1980, remaining in that position until 1987.

Smith’s career as a contemporary artist spanned over four decades with exhibitions at numerous museums and galleries including the Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska; Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA; the New-York Historical Society Museum & Library; and National Museum of Women in the Arts, Cosmos Club, and the Kreeger Museum, all in Washington, D.C. In 2012, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of fine arts from George Washington University, and in 2015, she received the Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, from the University of Maryland for her achievements.

The NSLM’s Chair Dr. Manuel H. Johnson noted of Smith’s racing imagery, “Artists like Clarice Smith remind us that sporting art is a genre neither undertaken nor understood only by sporting enthusiasts, nor is it relegated to the past.”

A Members Reception was held on Saturday, February 10, 2024.

The National Sporting Library & Museum is located in Middleburg, VA, the heart of beautiful horse country. Founded in 1954, the renowned research Library and fine art Museum highlight the rich heritage and tradition of country pursuits. Angling, horsemanship, shooting, steeplechasing, foxhunting, flat racing, polo, coaching, and wildlife are among the subjects one can explore in the organization’s general stacks, rare book holdings, archives, and art collection. The NSLM offers a wide variety of educational programs, exhibitions, and family activities throughout the year, and is open to researchers and the public. There is no admission fee to the Library. The Museum charges $10 for adults, $8 for youths (age 13–18), and $8 for seniors. NSLM members and children age 12 and under are admitted free of charge. Library & Museum hours are Thursday–Sunday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.