William Thompson Russell Smith
Encyclopedia
Russell Smith (Glasgow, Scotland 1812 – Glenside, PA, 1896) was a Scottish painter who produced iconic images of Pennsylvania’s landscape inspired by the aesthetic of the Hudson River School
.
, Scotland, Smith was brought to the United States in 1819 by his parents, who lived in western Pennsylvania
and settled in Pittsburgh. Here, between 1828 and 1831, he studied art under the portraitist James Lambdin
, a former pupil of Thomas Sully
. Smith also served as curator of Lambdin's Pittsburgh Museum, where he met many of the city's scientists and intellectuals. At the beginning of his career, Smith found considerable success in painting commercial signs and backgrounds for theatrical productions. In 1835, he moved to Philadelphia in order to paint decorations for the Walnut Street Theater. During this time that he began to write poetry and produced smaller-scale landscape paintings that were inspired by his theatrical scenery. These works were displayed in public exhibitions, including the Artists' Fund Society and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
in Philadelphia, where he regularly contributed to the annual exhibitions until 1889. In 1858, he was honored with a commission by the Philadelphia Academy of Music to paint their scenery. Smith traveled throughout Pennsylvania, Virginia
, and New England
to observe nature and drawing sketches for later works, showing extraordinary talent in painting atmosphere, water, and other elements of nature. He became friend of Rembrandt Peale
, who published a very favorable article on the artist in the Gazette of the United States
, and he was steadily patronized by Philadelphia's conservative social elite.
In 1838, Smith married Mary Priscilla Wilson, who was also a painter. Mary Priscilla and Russell had two children, Xanthus Russell Smith
in 1839 and Mary Russell in 1842, who became painters as well. Russell encouraged his children to practice painting when he took the whole family to Europe from 1851 to 1852 for a tour of artistic landmarks. Xanthus was a skilled painter of landscape and marine subjects. Mary was well-known for her paintings of animals, which she began producing at the age of fourteen. In 1876, both father and daughter exhibited their works at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition
. Mary produced and sold her paintings until her early death in 1878 at the age of thirty-six. The death of his daughter had a profound effect on Smith, who established a prize in her name at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
, where he was a board member. Smith spent his last years at Edgehill in Glenside, Pennsylvania
, living happily with his son's family. He died on November 8, 1896, and was buried at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.
, Butler Institute of American Art
, Carnegie Institute
, Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art
, Delaware Art Museum
, Morris Museum of Art
, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
, Sewell C. Biggs Museum of American Art, Wadsworth Atheneum
, Westmoreland Museum of American Art
.
Hudson River school
The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by romanticism...
.
Biography
Born in GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland, Smith was brought to the United States in 1819 by his parents, who lived in western Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and settled in Pittsburgh. Here, between 1828 and 1831, he studied art under the portraitist James Lambdin
James Lambdin
James Reid Lambdin was an American born artist, famous for many of his portraits of U.S. Presidents.-Life:James Lambdin was born on May 10, 1807, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He later studied art in Philadelphia for two years , from the instruction of Thomas Sully. He is famous for many of his...
, a former pupil of Thomas Sully
Thomas Sully
Thomas Sully was an American painter, mostly of portraits.-Early life:Sully was born in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England, to the actors Matthew and Sarah Sully. In March 1792 the Sullys and their nine children immigrated to Richmond, Virginia, where Thomas’s uncle managed a theater...
. Smith also served as curator of Lambdin's Pittsburgh Museum, where he met many of the city's scientists and intellectuals. At the beginning of his career, Smith found considerable success in painting commercial signs and backgrounds for theatrical productions. In 1835, he moved to Philadelphia in order to paint decorations for the Walnut Street Theater. During this time that he began to write poetry and produced smaller-scale landscape paintings that were inspired by his theatrical scenery. These works were displayed in public exhibitions, including the Artists' Fund Society and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
in Philadelphia, where he regularly contributed to the annual exhibitions until 1889. In 1858, he was honored with a commission by the Philadelphia Academy of Music to paint their scenery. Smith traveled throughout Pennsylvania, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
to observe nature and drawing sketches for later works, showing extraordinary talent in painting atmosphere, water, and other elements of nature. He became friend of Rembrandt Peale
Rembrandt Peale
Rembrandt Peale was an American artist and museum keeper. A prolific portrait painter, he was especially acclaimed for his likenesses of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson...
, who published a very favorable article on the artist in the Gazette of the United States
Gazette of the United States
The Gazette of the United States was an early American partisan newspaper first issued on April 15, 1789, as a biweekly publication friendly to the administration of George Washington, and to the policies and members of the emerging Federalist Party...
, and he was steadily patronized by Philadelphia's conservative social elite.
In 1838, Smith married Mary Priscilla Wilson, who was also a painter. Mary Priscilla and Russell had two children, Xanthus Russell Smith
Xanthus Russell Smith
Xanthus Russell Smith was an American marine painter best known for his illustrations of the American Civil War.-Biography:...
in 1839 and Mary Russell in 1842, who became painters as well. Russell encouraged his children to practice painting when he took the whole family to Europe from 1851 to 1852 for a tour of artistic landmarks. Xanthus was a skilled painter of landscape and marine subjects. Mary was well-known for her paintings of animals, which she began producing at the age of fourteen. In 1876, both father and daughter exhibited their works at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition
Centennial Exposition
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was officially...
. Mary produced and sold her paintings until her early death in 1878 at the age of thirty-six. The death of his daughter had a profound effect on Smith, who established a prize in her name at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
, where he was a board member. Smith spent his last years at Edgehill in Glenside, Pennsylvania
Glenside, Pennsylvania
Glenside is a census-designated place in Abington, Cheltenham, and Springfield townships, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,384 at the 2010 census...
, living happily with his son's family. He died on November 8, 1896, and was buried at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Collections
Russell Smith's works are held in the collections of the Addison Gallery of American ArtAddison Gallery of American Art
The Addison Gallery of American Art, as a department of Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, is an academic museum dedicated to collecting American art...
, Butler Institute of American Art
Butler Institute of American Art
The Butler Institute of American Art, located on Wick Avenue in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, was the first museum dedicated exclusively to American art. Established by local industrialist and philanthropist Joseph G. Butler, Jr., the museum has been operating pro bono since 1919...
, Carnegie Institute
Carnegie Institute
Carnegie Institute can refer to:*Carnegie Institute, operator of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania*Carnegie Institution for Science , Washington, D.C....
, Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art
Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art
Cheekwood is a privately funded estate on the western edge of Nashville, Tennessee that houses the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art. Formerly the residence of Nashville's Cheek family, the Georgian-style mansion was opened as a museum in 1960.- The house that coffee built...
, Delaware Art Museum
Delaware Art Museum
The Delaware Art Museum is an art museum located on the Kentmere Parkway in Wilmington, Delaware, which holds a collection of more than 12,000 works. The museum, was founded in 1912 as the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts in honor of the artist Howard Pyle and is now celebrating its centennial...
, Morris Museum of Art
Morris Museum of Art
The Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Georgia was established in 1985 as a non-profit foundation by William S. Morris III, in memory of his parents, as the first museum dedicated to the collection and exhibition of art and artists of the American South....
, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
, Sewell C. Biggs Museum of American Art, Wadsworth Atheneum
Wadsworth Atheneum
The Wadsworth Atheneum is the oldest public art museum in the United States, with significant holdings of French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School landscapes, modernist masterpieces and contemporary works, as well as extensive holdings in early American furniture and...
, Westmoreland Museum of American Art
Westmoreland Museum of American Art
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is an art museum in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, devoted to American art, with a particular concentration on the art of southwestern Pennsylvania....
.