Archibald Cary Smith (1837-1911) - American 1909 Watercolour Meadow

Description

A landscape by the renowned American marine architect, painter, and engineer Archibald Cary Smith (1837-1911). A young girl walks on a path beside a flowering meadow in which a figure, or perhaps a scarecrow, can be seen standing. Presented glazed in a white mount and a distressed white-painted wooden frame. Signed and dated to the lower-right corner. On watercolour paper.

Condition

The condition is typical for a picture of this age including some mild discolouration and light foxing. There is some slight debris trapped beneath the glazing. Overall well-presented and in very good condition.

Size

19 x 26cm (7.5" x 10.2")

Artist Biography

Archibald Cary Smith (1837-1911) was an American naval architect and marine engineer. He was a painter, primarily of marine subjects, but is most widely known as the first American to develop the concept of designing a yacht on paper using calculations and comparisons. The method of drafting has since been followed in many educational institutions and universities for the teaching of yacht construction. Many of his paintings incorporate a sense of the immensity of the ocean and the experience of an uncontrolled natural environment.

Smith was born in New York City and was educated at the University Grammar School of New York City. Smith's paternal grandfather was an ironmaster and had gone to sea as a sailor. Smith was inspired to travel because of his grandfather's adventures and became interested in sailing. He had a strong desire to build boats so was allowed to go to Pamrapo in New Jersey under the tutoring of Captain Bob Fish, a professional yacht skipper. From him he learned the practical side of yacht building and sailing. He later took one term of naval architecture under W.W. Bates, who was a shipwright and later Commissioner of Navigation.

Smith built Comment early in his career in 1860, an 18-foot sloop that defeated all rivals for years in competitive races. In 1870 he designed the Vindex, the first American iron yacht. It was designed by Smith as a systematic drawing instead of using the method of working off a wooden model. From that time on in his career he designed every class of yachts and schooners using systematic calculated drawings. This new method was then taught at Cornell University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Naval Academy at Annapolis, and the Webb Academy in New York.