Richard Smith obituary

Artist whose work was a unique fusion of abstract values and contemporary subject matterThe artist Richard Smith, who has died aged 84, was one of the most original painters of his generation, and one of the most underrated. He was a truly transatlantic figure who enjoyed huge commercial and critical success in the US and Britain during the 1960s and 70s. Early on, his art bridged the apparent gap between abstraction and pop art, the sophistication of his paintings revealing the inadequacy of su