Alfred Smith

Alfred Smith (1854–1936) was a French painter of English origin, born in Bordeaux. Renowned during his lifetime, Smith distinguished himself as a master of atmospheric landscapes, gardens, and cityscapes, painting in a style that blended Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and early Fauvism. Some of his works evoke the early paintings of Claude Monet, particularly in their delicate treatment of light and color.

As reported by the newspaper La Vie Bordelaise, each of his solo exhibitions at the Imberti brothers' gallery in the late 19th century attracted the entire social, elegant, and artistic elite of Bordeaux. Trained by the local landscape painters Léonce Chabry and Hippolyte Pradelles, Smith belonged to a circle of artists inspired by Gustave Courbet and Camille Corot. He later furthered his training under Amédée Baudit (1884) and benefited from the support of the distinguished painter Alfred Philippe Roll, who helped promote his work.

Smith exhibited for the first time at the Paris Salon in 1880, where he received an honorable mention, and continued to show his work regularly in France, notably in 1883 with The Quai de Bacalan in the Evening. In the 1880s, he became the leading figure of the Bordeaux School, succeeding Louis Auguin, although he did not devote himself fully to painting until 1886.
In 1901, he settled in Paris, where he became a member of the Salon des Artistes Français and participated, alongside Alfred Roll, in the creation of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Smith's work was recognized with numerous awards: a third-class medal at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1888, a bronze medal in 1889, and the distinction of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1894. He also won a bronze medal at the 1900 Exposition Universelle.

Smith is admired for his poetic evocations of forests, gardens, and cityscapes, rendered with a subtle and nuanced palette. His subjects included Bordeaux, Paris, and Venice, before he discovered the Creuse Valley, whose landscapes inspired a brighter and more expressive palette. These works often place him alongside the Crozant School, a group of artists drawn to the region's natural beauty.

His works are featured in important public collections. Among the most notable are: The Quays of Bordeaux, Evening (1892), acquired by the city and kept at the Museum of Fine Arts of Bordeaux, Undergrowth (1891), Summer Harmony (1911) and Portrait of the Artist's Mother at the Musée d'Orsay, as well as Luncheon Under the Woods (1903) at the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia.

Alfred Smith died in Paris in 1936, leaving behind a body of work celebrated for its lyricism, refined color harmonies, and enduring sensitivity to landscape.