A wonderful painting of a mother and son in a cottage interior by George Smith. A woman is depicted sat by a window at a kitchen table opposite her son. Behind them on the windowsill can be seen a row of terracotta pots with flowering plants. The open window offers us a view of a tree lined garden, adding a further dimension to the painting. The light from the window illuminates both of the figures showing the concentration on the boy’s face as he mends the sails of his model ships and the contemplative gaze of his mother. This painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1874, No. 58 and show’s Smith at the height of his artistic powers. It retains the original inscription by Smith on the reverse and also bears a label for Christopher Wood, the renowned art dealer and publisher of Victorian art reference books.

George Smith was a genre painter born in Camden, London on 18 April, 1829. Although little is known about his early life and education, he is recorded as entering the Royal Academy where he studied under the historical painter Francis Stephen Cary (1808-1880). He was also a pupil of Charles West Cope RA (1811-1890) and helped him paint some of the fresco in the new Palace of Westminster. Cope was a major influence on his work and inspired him to paint genre scenes which he became best known for.

Smith began his exhibition career at the British Institution in 1847 from an address in Rawson Street off the Brompton Road. A year later made his debut at the Royal Academy where he exhibited regularly over the course of almost 40 years. He also exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists from 1851-1882 as well as at Suffolk Street and the New Watercolour Society. One of his early patrons was Prince Albert.

By 1851 he was living at 8, Gloucester Terrace, New Kensington where he lived for a number of years. He married Augusta Bentley on 10th November, 1858 at Trinity Church, Chelsea. She was the daughter of the artist John Bentley Snr (b.1795) and sister to John Bentley (b.1821), also an artist. From 1859, the couple lived at 2, Tor Villas, Kensington but by 1866 Smith’s success and expanding family prompted them to move to Augusta Villa, Campden Hill, the address from where this particular painting was exhibited at the RA.

Between 1880 and 1882, Smith lived at Heatherbank, Shatter Hill, in Haslemere, Surrey returning to London around 1883, where he spent the rest of his life at 189, Maida Vale, Paddington. In his later years he no longer exhibited and instead became a collector of old masters. He died in London on 2 January, 1901.

Examples of his works are held by a number of public institutions including: Brighton & Hove Museum, Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council, Nottingham City Museum, Sandwell Museum, Southwark Heritage Centre, Touchstones Rochdale, Towner Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum and Wednesbury Museum.

© Benton Fine Art