Tulips

Location

Country: USA
City: Washington DC
Place: British Embassy

Sir Matthew Smith studied art in Manchester and then at the Slade School in London before briefly attending Matisse’s school in Paris. He was severely wounded in the First World War, at the battle of Ypres. During the 1920s and early 1930s he divided his time between London and Paris. His first solo show was held in 1926, after which his reputation was assured. In 1933 Smith settled in Aix-en-Provence, where he was there at the outbreak of the Second World War. He lost two sons in action in the RAF and returned to London after the fall of France. He was knighted in 1954, four years before his death. A large bequest of his work was donated to the Barbican Art Gallery in London, which mounted a major retrospective in 1983.

Places

Subjects

vase (as Subject), still life, tulip, petal, flower, table (as Subject)

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

Sir Matthew Smith (1879 - 1959)

Title

Tulips

Date

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 63.50 cm, width: 53.50 cm

Acquisition

Presented by the Hon. Mrs Wood, November 1950

Inscription

none visible

Provenance

With Agnew’s Gallery, London by 1950; from whom purchased by the Honourable Mrs Wood (neice of Lord Bryce, HM Ambassador to Washington 1907-13); by whom presented to the Ministry of Works for the Ambassador's Residence, Washington

GAC number

1193