Sir Matthew Smith

Arthur Tooth & Sons, London, where bought by Sir David Scott, 13 September 1960 for £550

STRUCTURE Original canvas in good stable condition. The canvas undulates slightly in the upper right quadrant. SURFACE There is an area of slight craquelure along the upper edge and the surface of the paint has traces of dirt which may benefit from a light clean. ULTRAVIOLET UV light reveals no sign of retouching. FRAME Contained in a gilded, moulded decorative frame with a canvas slip.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Matthew Smith was born in 1879 in Halifax, the son of a wire manufacturer. At the turn of the century he attended Manchester School of Art, before enrolling at the Slade School of Fine Art, where he studied between 1905 and 1907.

 

Smith visited France for the first time in 1908 when he travelled to Brittany and except for occasional trips home, he remained in Brittany and Paris until 1914. He briefly studied with Matisse in 1911.

 

At the outbreak of World War I, Smith returned to London and took a studio at 2 Fitzroy Street. He spent the rest of his life dividing his time between England and France. The artistic world to which he returned was very different to that he had left behind and the influence of events such as Roger Fry's notorious exhibitions of Post-Impressionism, the visits of the Ballet Russes, and the growth of Wyndham Lewis' Vorticist movement made London a much more 'modern' city to which Smith seems to have responded immediately. He embarked on a series of paintings that through their strong colouration and handling were unlike anything being produced by his peers in London.

 

Smith began exhibiting at the Salon des Independants in 1911-1912 and went on to exhibit widely across London. He had several retrospectives, most notably at the Tate in 1953. He was knighted in 1954 and after his death in 1959, a memorial exhibition was held at the Royal Academy.

 

Smith's rich colourist landscapes, figures and still lifes owe as much to his time in France and the Faure tradition, as they do to his years in a burgeoning London.

G.P. Dudley Wallis was curator at the Holburne Museum in Bath from November 1913-1917, and crucially oversaw the moving of the museum to its purpose built current home on Great Pulteney Street. Although the collection of the museum is pre-twentieth century, Wallis himself owned an important group of modern British paintings including works by Walter Sickert, Christopher Wood and Sir Matthew Smith, some of which were sold in these rooms on the eighteenth April 1951. Interestingly, Wallis' predecessor at the Holburne, Hugh Blaker, had also combined his role as curator of historical artefacts with his love of avant-garde art when he acted as art advisor to Gwendoline and Margaret Davies, whose impressive collection of impressionist and post-impressionist works of art was bequeathed to the National Museum of Wales in 1951 and 1963.