WILLIAM ST. THOMAS SMITH (CANADIAN, 1862-1947) untitled

William “St. Thomas” Smith (1862-1947) was born in Belfast, Ireland and died at St. Thomas, Ontario. His family emigrated to Canada when he was a child and settled at Beaverton, Ontario. He received his art training at the Ontario College of Art and reputedly it was there he received the nickname of “St. Thomas” to differentiate him from another art student also named “William Smith”. Later he worked in the studio of J. W. L. Forster and formed a close friendship with Curtis Williamson. Their choice of Barbizon subjects influenced his early paintings. After marrying a local artist and teacher, Smith settled permanently in St. Thomas, Ontario and by 1887, was part of the art staff at Alma College. He traveled widely in Canada, Great Britain and Europe during his long career. Most of his work was in the medium of watercolour usually choosing landscape and seascapes as subjects. St. Thomas Smith was one of the early impressionistic painters and specialized in using a watercolour wet paper technique to achieve atmospheric effects. His art was exhibited at the Ontario Society of Artists, the Royal Canadian Academy, the Toronto Industrial Exhibition and many commercial galleries. Smith’s career was highlighted by an honorary degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1940 and a retrospective by London Regional Art and Historical Museums in 1947.