Lee N. Smith III (American, b. 1950) Red Sea, Dead Sea, 1989 Oil on canvas 38 x 51 inches (96.5 x 129.5 cm) Signed, titled, dated, and inscribed on the reverse: Red Sea, Dead Sea / Paris 4/'89 / L.N. Smith PROVENANCE: Michael E. Thomas, Dallas; Acquired by present owner from the above, 1990. LITERATURE: Architectural Digest, November 1998, p. 236, illustrated. Raised in Dallas from the age of six, Lee N. Smith III developed a highly personal form of narrative painting based on childhood memories, suburban life, and the strange ways in which the past can return through imagination. Red Sea, Dead Sea of 1989 belongs to the mature period following Smith's selection to represent the United States at the 1984 Venice Biennale. Like many of his strongest paintings, the work seems suspended somewhere between memory and dream, transforming familiar imagery through vivid color, unusual perspective, and an underlying sense of mystery. Smith's ability to turn the experiences of growing up in Texas into something psychologically complex and universally recognizable has given him a distinctive place in contemporary Texas art. HID12401132022 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

Michael E. Thomas, Dallas; Acquired by present owner from the above, 1990.

Unlined. Scattered tiny white surface accretion dots. Under UV examination, no apparent inpainting.
Framed Dimensions 38.5 X 5.625 Inches