Carlton Alfred Smith, RBA RI ROI (1853-1946).
Carlton Alfred Smith was born in Camden Town, London, on 27 August 1853, the son of a steel engraver. He was educated in France, and then studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, winning gold and silver medals. Initially, he worked as a lithographer before turning to painting.
He exhibited mainly at the Royal Society of British Artists (being elected a member in 1879), the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI 1889) and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI 1890), and the Royal Academy of Arts.
By 1891, Smith was married to the coastal painter, Martha (née King), and they were living at 72 Park Road, Hampstead with their two young daughters. A decade later in 1901 they had moved to Surrey and were living at Vine Cottage, Witley Crossways, Witley. In 1911, they had moved again and were living in Chiswick, their daughters having grown up and left home.
Smith spent the years between 1916 and 1923 in India having originally gone there to attend his daughter’s wedding and remained for seven years during which time he produced both portraits and fascinating scenes of street life. His work is very much admired by collectors worldwide, and his commercial exposure having had many works sold by major auction houses such as Phillips, Sotheby’s and more recently Christie’s London, who sold the work ‘Winding Wool’ for £15,000 in June 2006. His work remains highly sought after and is a reflection of the wonderful interpretation he brought to genre paintings, capturing the romanticism of the everyday and ofttimes as with this truly engaging work which is set within the interior cottage scene.
‘Its as much about what you don’t see and everything about what you feel’
(J). Galleriedesart.com.
Photo credit: Harrington Antiques, UK.