Editing Robert Smithson (section)

==Death and legacy==
[[File:Amarillo Ramp 1989 - Smithson-Laramee.jpg|thumb|''Amarillo Ramp'' in 1989]]

On July 20, 1973, Smithson, a photographer and the pilot died in a [[light aircraft]] crash while inspecting the site of ''Amarillo Ramp'' on the ranch of [[Stanley Marsh 3]] near [[Amarillo, Texas]], in a [[Beechcraft Baron]] E55; the [[National Transportation Safety Board]] attributed the accident to the pilot's failure to maintain [[airspeed]], with distraction being a contributing factor.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Robert Smithson, 35, A Sculptor, Is Dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/07/24/archives/robert-smithson-35-a-sculptor-is-dead.html?smid=url-share |work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York City |date=July 24, 1973 |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name=amarillo>{{cite web |url=https://www.visitamarillo.com/listing/amarillo-ramp/1928/ |title=Amarillo Ramp |website=visitamarillo.com |access-date=February 13, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=85872&key=0 |title=FTW74AF004 |publisher=[[National Transportation Safety Board]] |access-date=February 13, 2021}}</ref> The work was subsequently completed by Smithson's widow [[Nancy Holt]], [[Richard Serra]] and [[Tony Shafrazi]]. It was originally built to rise from a shallow artificial lake, but the lake later dried up, and the earthwork has become overgrown and eroded.<ref name=amarillo/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://holtsmithsonfoundation.org/amarillo-ramp |title=Amarillo Ramp |publisher=Holt/Smith Foundation |access-date=February 13, 2021}}</ref>

Smithson has a following among many contemporary artists. Artists [[Tacita Dean]], [[Sam Durant]], [[Renée Green]], [[Lee Ranaldo]], [[Vik Muniz]], [[Mike Nelson (artist)|Mike Nelson]], and the [[Bruce High Quality Foundation]] have all made homages to Smithson's works.

In 2017 the Holt/Smithson Foundation was founded to preserve, through public service, the investigative spirit of the two artists who "developed innovative methods of exploring our relationship with the planet, and expanded the limits of artistic practice." The goal of the foundation is to "increase awareness of both artists' creative legacies".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://holtsmithsonfoundation.org/|title=Holt/Smithson Foundation|website=Holt-Smithson Foundation}}</ref>