The Blacksmith showcases an enormous range of artistic techniques, from stark black-and-white drawing through saturated passages of color. Benny Andrews plays with depth, creating the illusion of a floor receding into space, and flatness, and also emphasizing the nature of paint sitting on flat cloth in the collaged canvas apron. The Blacksmith portrays a man who, like the artist himself, is a skilled maker and master of materials. By experimenting with figuration, Andrews worked against a dominant art history that valued abstraction, particularly by white artists, in the second half of the 20th century. Now, it is clear that Andrews’ social observations, focusing on racism and sexism, offer nuanced insights into the everyday lives of overlooked people.