Matthew Smith (artist)
Encyclopedia
Sir Matthew Smith was a British painter of nudes, still-life and landscape.
's short-lived school and was influenced by him and other Fauves
. This influence can be seen in paintings such as Fitzroy Street Nude No. 1 (1916) and his series of Cornish
landscape
s.
Until 1939 he lived alternately in Britain and France. In 1920 he became a member of the London Group. His first one-person show was at Tooth's Gallery, London, in 1926. His work was shown at the Venice Biennale in 1938 and 1950.
In 1949 he was awarded a C.B.E.
In 1944, "The Penguin Modern Painters" paperback series printed an illustrated biography written by Philip Hendy
priced at two shillings and sixpence. It contains 16 black-and-white plates and 16 coloured plates of his paintings.
There is a black-and-white photograph of him taken in 1932 on page 6.
It contains a number of interesting details about his life with particular reference to his painting styles and influences.
Hendy gives the following biographical details (Hendy words are in quotes):
Matthew Smith was born in 1879 in Halifax, England. His father was the head of a well-established wire-business and a keen amateur musician. All the musicians who came to Halifax passed through the "hospitable house".
Matthew went to Giggleswick school and at seventeen he went to Bradford wool mill, at eighteen into the family works.
It was only by "persevering inefficiency" that he "forced his way into the School of Art at Manchester; and then only a utilitarian department was permitted, that of design."
After 2 years at the Slade he "made an escape to Brittany", where he spent a year. Then he moved to Paris and joined the school of Henri Matisse, some time in 1910. "After a month however, the master abandoned it, and the pupils' attempt to run the school without him lasted only another month."
Smith stayed in France until the outbreak of war in 1914. "He enjoyed a modest independence, but the reason why he did not even attempt to exhibit must have been his binding diffidence, the struggle that was going on to discover what it was that he wanted to express."
Biography
Matthew Arnold Bracy Smith was born on 22 October 1879 in Halifax, the son of a wire-manufacturer. He worked for four years in the family factory, before studying design at the Manchester School of Art from 1900 to 1904 and painting at the Slade School of Art in London from 1905-07. Afterwards he worked for a year in Brittany in France, and by 1910 was in Paris, where he studied at Henri MatisseHenri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
's short-lived school and was influenced by him and other Fauves
Fauvism
Fauvism is the style of les Fauves , a short-lived and loose group of early twentieth-century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism...
. This influence can be seen in paintings such as Fitzroy Street Nude No. 1 (1916) and his series of Cornish
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
s.
Until 1939 he lived alternately in Britain and France. In 1920 he became a member of the London Group. His first one-person show was at Tooth's Gallery, London, in 1926. His work was shown at the Venice Biennale in 1938 and 1950.
In 1949 he was awarded a C.B.E.
In 1944, "The Penguin Modern Painters" paperback series printed an illustrated biography written by Philip Hendy
Philip Hendy
Sir Philip Anstiss Hendy was a British art curator who worked both in Britain and overseas, notably the United States. In 1923 he began his career in art administration as an Assistant Keeper and lecturer at the Wallace Collection in London, despite his having no formal training in art history...
priced at two shillings and sixpence. It contains 16 black-and-white plates and 16 coloured plates of his paintings.
There is a black-and-white photograph of him taken in 1932 on page 6.
It contains a number of interesting details about his life with particular reference to his painting styles and influences.
Hendy gives the following biographical details (Hendy words are in quotes):
Matthew Smith was born in 1879 in Halifax, England. His father was the head of a well-established wire-business and a keen amateur musician. All the musicians who came to Halifax passed through the "hospitable house".
Matthew went to Giggleswick school and at seventeen he went to Bradford wool mill, at eighteen into the family works.
It was only by "persevering inefficiency" that he "forced his way into the School of Art at Manchester; and then only a utilitarian department was permitted, that of design."
After 2 years at the Slade he "made an escape to Brittany", where he spent a year. Then he moved to Paris and joined the school of Henri Matisse, some time in 1910. "After a month however, the master abandoned it, and the pupils' attempt to run the school without him lasted only another month."
Smith stayed in France until the outbreak of war in 1914. "He enjoyed a modest independence, but the reason why he did not even attempt to exhibit must have been his binding diffidence, the struggle that was going on to discover what it was that he wanted to express."