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283

Railroad Watercolor Painting Charles William Smith

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:10.00 USD Estimated At:350.00 - 500.00 USD
Railroad Watercolor Painting Charles William Smith
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Signed as shown. Very well done. 18.5" by 22.5" framed. ainter in oil, watercolor and relief printer. Charles W. Smith is best remembered as one of the most outstanding southern printmakers working during the first half of the twentieth century and as an early and pioneering abstract expressionist painter and printmaker. Born in Lofton, Augusta County, Virginia the son of Alice Cornelia Harvey (1860 – 1939) and James Howard Smith (1855 – 1930). His father was employed by a stove company as a pattern maker and would often carve the patterns onto wooden blocks for printing, which fascinated Smith as a young child. As a child, Charles Smith spent a good deal of his youth in Waynesboro, Virginia. His grandfather and namesake, Charles W. Smith (1825 – 1859), was a well-known Virginia portrait painter. He began his art studies in earnest in 1911 when he attended the University of Virginia summer program under Alon Bement (1876 – 1954) and John Blair. Following his time there, he traveled to Washington, D.C. to study at the Corcoran School of Art under Richard N. Brookes and Catharine Critcher (1898 – 1964). After two years at the Corcoran, in 1915 he began his training in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale University, where he studied under Sargeant Kendall (1869 – 1938) and Edwin C. Taylor (1874 – 1935) and "attracted the attention of Maxfield Parrish and Charles Dana Gibson." Smith never graduated from Yale due to the entry of the United States into World War I, where he served with distinction, rising to the rank of first lieutenant in the 56th F. A. Brigade. He remained in Paris following the signing of the armistice, spending his time studying under the French artist, Rene Ligeron (1880 – 1946). Smith returned to Virginia, were in 1923 he was the director of the department of art at Fairfax Hall, a school for young women in Waynesboro. Eventually he settled in Richmond, Virginia having become fascinated with the city after a visit to the former confederate capital. He quickly became a fixture as he was already quite a successful artist, as the Richmond Times Dispatch pointed out in 1925, the same year his book Linoleum Block Printing, was released: “He is an authority on block printing, and his work shows color and technique which makes it rank easily with Lowell Balcom and Gilbert Fletcher, while his choice of subject flavors his posters and canvasses with the atmosphere and much that was and is beautiful and distinctive in the life of the South.” That same year his woodblock prints garnered national attention when his book on printmaking was selected as one of the “outstanding examples of bookmaking” at the Graphic Art Leaders’ Exhibition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He would receive honorable mentions for his works shown there in 1925, 1926 and 1927. Among his first solo exhibitions in his home state was held at Young’s Art Shop in Richmond in 1926. Local newspaper noted “He is an expert in linoleum block printing, and has published a book on that subject which is used extensively in schools all over the United States,” commenting further that his works have “All the very special atmosphere, the alluring charm of Richmond…” Later that year he had another solo exhibition, this time at the Women’s Club of Richmond. Two years later, Smith was selected for a solo exhibition at the prestigious New York Advertising Club located in New York City. Newspapers noted that “Few artists have been accorded the honor of an exclusive exhibit at the New York Advertising Club and that event is a signal recognition of the estimation in which Mr. Smith’s work is regarded.” He would receive another solo exhibition at the Club in 1929. Smith began what would become a very successful teaching career with a stint during 1928 and 1929 as an instructor of advertising art at the College of William & Mary extension in Richmond, Virginia. During that latter year, two of his works, the paintings “Colonial Doorway” and “Old Richmond Market,” were included in his first showing at the Society of Independent Artists in New York City. It was also that year that his second book – Old Virginia in Block Prints – was published by the Dale Press and which was named one of the fifty finest books of 1929 by the Institute of Graphic Arts. As a prominent Richmond artist, Smith was involved in many community projects, including contributed his expertise to a round table on opportunities in the arts for women. He was also involved in the re-establishment of the Richmond Academy of Art and Sciences in the early 1930s. As a member, in 1931 he joined a committee charged with the seal design for the new institution and served on the committee overseeing the “Tournament of Arts and Crafts” associated with the first Richmond art exhibition organized by the new Academy. Smith exhibited at the new institution, where he received a prize for his print work in 1931 and a solo exhibition in 1934. His solo exhibition in New York City in 1932 at the New York Art Center featured forty of his Richmond related woodcuts, which was received positively by reviewers, with one noting: “His city scenes, in the humbler quarters, are rich in the atmosphere of such places and, moreover, have the essential flavor of the city itself. In so simple a still life as the ‘Crab Apples’ he achieves a little miracle of technical representation of surfaces; and in his Blue Ridge Mountain themes he makes the spectator realize their charm and their austerities. Smith of Richmond is a woodcutter of real distinction.” The inclusion of his woodcuts in the 1933 Century of Progress international exposition in Chicago only added to his reputation. By the time of his solo exhibition at the Richmond Academy of Art and Sciences in 1934, Smith was noted as being “formerly of this [Richmond] city,” indicting he had moved elsewhere, dividing his time between New York City and Charlottesville, teaching at The New School for Social Research in New York and during the summers back at the University of Virginia where he served as the acting director of the summer session art school. That same year was one of accolades when his new book, “Old Charleston,” was named one of the fifty finest books of 1934 by the Institute of Graphic Arts. The following year (1935) he was part of a group exhibition at the University alongside Eliot Clark (1883 – 1980) and Brooks Johnson Silvette (b. 1906) and a solo exhibition, this time at the American Association of University Women in Staunton, Virginia. In 1937 his book, “University of Virginia,” was published. In 1936 Smith joined the art faculty of Bennington College located in Bennington, Vermont, which was known for its prestigious and cutting-edge arts faculty. It is where he apparently began experimenting with abstract expressionism. Some of his first creations in this vein were shown at a solo exhibition of his work held at Waynesboro High School in January of 1939. They were commented upon in the local newspaper: “Mr. Smith’s method of doing abstractions in color is entirely original, the method having been developed by him at Bennington college, where he teaches graphic arts. These abstractions have attracted favorable attention in New York, where they have been shown recently. This is the first showing in the South…” He was back again at Young’s in Richmond in 1939 where papers noted he was showing his prints, watercolors and that “…lately Mr. Smith has become interested in abstractions…” But local reviewer, Margaret Leonard, did not seem to like or understand his move to this new style, and commented “Mr. Smith has doodled out some abstractions that also have attracted some considerable solemn acclaim. Some of them caress the eye and pique the puzzled imagination with their simple combination of sharp points, wavering things, shafts and crank-sided rectangles in pretty colors and queer arrangements. But abstractions seem like a strange activity for a grownup man who can make block prints like Mr. Smith.” That same year his illustrated book, Abstractions, was released. Gaining increasing notoriety for his abstract works, in 1941 he was selected to have a solo exhibition by the prestigious Willard Gallery in New York City. It was at this exhibit that the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) acquired five of his works for their permanent collection. This exhibition was quickly followed up by another solo at the Valentine Museum located in his adopted home of Richmond, and then in Waynesboro at the Wayne Inn, where local newspapers singled out his new creations: “Chief pride of the artist is, however, his group of abstractions. Abstractions, which to many people represent only meaningless confusions of designs and colors, represent to Mr. Smith a high point in modern art.” Around this time his works were also featured in exhibitions at Yale, Princeton and Dartmouth Universities and at Smith College. Articles from this period note that Smith was currently on leave from Bennington. During the latter part of 1941, his works were featured in a solo exhibition at Mary Baldwin College located in Staunton, Virginia. His abstractions where again the chief topic of discussion: “Mr. Smith’s exhibit of abstractions is a study in the appreciation of design apart from subject matter… …it is refreshing and stimulating to see an artist successfully subordinate the subject matter and let his fancy run riot in the field of design.” By 1944 a large article discussing Smith’s “block paintings” or “wood block abstractions” included commentary from Smith about his process which he described as being: “made by applying both the shape and color to the paper at one time. This is the main difference that distinguishes it from other methods of painting.” He continued “…Block painting is unlike the monotype in that each color and shape is applied separately instead of one impression. It is unlike the print in that duplicates cannot be made in any manner than that used in duplicating other paintings.” The attention Smith was garnering led to him becoming part of the discussion on contemporary art, and in 1946 the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts organized a lecture series where one of its presentations was titled “From Realism to Abstraction – Charles W. Smith.” After ten years at Bennington College (not eight as is sometimes reported), in 1946 Smith returned to Virginia, settling in Charlottesville. There, he returned to teaching at the University of Virginia and opened Studio House, located at 211 Fourth Street North East, “the first and only art gallery in Virginia to be devoted exclusively to modern paintings.” Smith told local newspapers that he could now “carry out his lifelong dream of painting and exhibiting modern art work.” That December he served as a member of the jury of selection for the 11th Virginia Artists Exhibition held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. In addition to his duties at the University, in 1949 he was selected to design a holiday card for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Smith was made chair of the art department at the University of Virginia in 1952 and would remain there for the rest of his career. During the last decade of his teaching career he appears to have done little in the way of exhibiting his works, though he did show at the 14th annual Virginia Artists Exhibition in 1953. In 1954 he published Experiments in Relief Printing and in 1956 My Zoological Garden, his last two illustrated books. Smith did, however, continue to serve as juror for exhibitions featuring the works of the next generation of Virginia artists. These included work for the Virginia Highlands Festival of Arts in Abingdon, Virginia (1957) and Valentine Museum’s 6th biennial, Richmond in Paintings and Drawings (1960). He retired from teaching at the University of Virginia in 1963. In 1976 he loaned a work for the retrospective exhibition Artists at Bennington: Visual Arts Faculty 1932 – 1976 held at the Bennington College Arts Center. Charles William Smith died in Lynchburg, Virginia on the 10th of March 1987 at the age of ninety-three years. At the time of his passing his death was barely reported, he having outlived his hard-earned reputation. He is buried in the University of Virginia Cemetery and Columbarium in Charlottesville, Virginia. Smith discussed his process for creating “abstractions” several times during his career. He “painted” using hundreds of blocks, covering them with paint, and then pressing them down on a substrate while applying varying degrees of pressure to achieve differing shades and blends of color. The blocks themselves featured hundreds of basic patterns such as cones, curves, eggs, ellipses, spheres, triangles, and thin lines. As he himself noted in 1944, the process precluded the ability of its creator to reproduce or reprint the same image, making each a unique creation. Smith’s prints appeared in the many periodicals and journals, including: Fine Prints of the Year; Philobiblon; Prints; The Architectural Record; The Art Digest; The Colophon; The Golden Book; Virginia Quarterly Review and others. He designed many dustjackets for American publishers, including Appleton-Century; Charles Scribner’s Sons; Doubleday Doran; Farrar and Rhinehart; Garrett and Massie; Golden Hind Press; Harper & Brothers; Johnson Publishing Company; Longmans Green; Press of the Woolly Whale; and others. Smith created many covers for Richmond magazine during the 1920s and 1930s and for the Virginia State Conservation and Development Commission publications The Beckoning Land (1929) and Stratford Hall: The Great House Of The Lees (1936). He also designed A Historical Map of Virginia, which was published by Garrett & Massie, Inc., in Richmond, Virginia in 1930. His own books, which were primarily illustrated with his block prints, include: Linoleum Block Printing (1925); Old Virginia in Block Prints (1929); Old Charleston (1934); The University of Virginia (1937); Abstractions (1939); Experiments in Relief Printing (1954) and My Zoological Garden (1956). Smith also did design work for public schools. He was a member of the Guild of Free Lance Artists and the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Charles W. Smith’s papers are held in the special collections department of the University of Virginia Library.
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