“Apres-Midi” by Hughie Lee-Smith will be on display at the Muskegon Museum of Art from Feb. 14-March 19.

Meditations comprises more than 20 works from the 1930s to the 1960s lent by public and private Midwest collections and features two important paintings by Lee-Smith from the MMA’s collection: Landscape #3 from 1941 and Apres-Midi, dated 1987.

The art of Lee-Smith, who spent nearly two decades in Detroit in the 1940s and 1950s, demonstrates an acute understanding of both the African American experience as well as the human condition in general. Meditations gives further depth to our understanding of Lee-Smith’s enigmatic vision.

The MMA’s Landscape #3, one of the artists earliest landscapes of dark palette and ominous features, is thought to have been painted in Detroit. Apres-Midi, the much later and brighter, but still sobering, waterfront scene is likely derived from memories of Michigan and the Great Lakes, and still reflects some of Lee-Smith’s most provocative elements that were established early in his career: the remote landscape, long shadows and isolated features.

The Muskegon pictures form an ideal backdrop for a selection of important works from the Mott-Warsh Collection, the Flint Institute of Arts and Fitzgerald Public Schools, all of Michigan; the Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio and private West Michigan collections.

Hughie Lee-Smith: Meditations was organized by the Muskegon Museum of Art and is underwritten by the DTE Energy Foundation. Program support has been provided, in part, by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.