Rowley Smart letters to Bessie Billington, 1929-1934.

Format:

Other

Author/Creator:

Smart, Rowley, 1887-1934.

Contributor:

Billington, Bessie.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Painting, British--20th century.

Painting, British.

Artists--Great Britain--20th century.

Artists.

Artists--Great Britain--Correspondence.

Great Britain.

Genre:

Correspondence.

Sketches.

Clippings (information artifacts)

Personal correspondence.

Penn Provenance:

Sold by Pickering & Chatto Antiquarian Booksellers (London, England), List 223 (2011), no. 147.

Physical Description:

1 box (11 folders)

Place of Publication:

1929-1934.

Biography/History:

English landscape and cityscape painter, chiefly in watercolor and oil, Edgar Rowley Smart was born on 26 January 1887 to Thomas and Susan Smart in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, England. Rowley Smart studied at the Manchester School of Art from 1901 to 1903, then in Liverpool from 1904 to 1906 under etcher F. V. Burridge. From 1906 to 1907 Smart attended the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts and then the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Smart's first exhibition, in 1908, was with Bertram Nicholls (1883-1974) in Manchester. Rowley Smart was a member of the Sandon Society in Liverpool and founder of the Society of Modern Painters, Manchester, in 1912. Smart's painting career was interrupted in 1914 by World War I. His military service spanned from 1914 to 1919. Smart was released from duty due to a severe case of pneumonia, eventually diagnosed as tuberculosis, which became Smart's life-long battle. After his military service Smart lived and studied with landscape and portrait painter, Augustus John (1878-1961) at his studio in Dorset, England. Smart had been influenced by John's work since his early education in Manchester. After leaving Dorset in 1925, Smart moved to Paris and later lived in London, Cornwall, and Sweden. Returning to England in late spring of 1934, Rowley Smart died in August while living in Langnor, Derbyshire.

Summary:

This collection comprises the letters from Rowley Smart to Bessie Billington, who was most likely a long-time friend of Smart from Manchester, England. The correspondence (Folders 1-8) is arranged chronologically and then by location; it traces the last five years of Smart's life from 1929 to 1934. Rowley's correspondence to Billington begins in 1929 while he is living in Paris. Smart discusses his painting, his poverty, books he is reading, his wife Ruth, and his health. After leaving Paris in the spring of 1932, Smart stays in London from June to July of 1932, preparing for an exhibition at the Leger Gallery. Smart conveys to Billington his preparations for the exhibition and instructs her to clip reviews from the newspapers. In late 1932 Smart moves with Ruth to Cornwall, under the advice of his doctor and patron Barnett Stross (1899-1967). Smart describes Cornwall and his impressions. After leaving Cornwall in late spring of 1933, he lives in London and Cheetham Hill, where he is preparing for an exhibition in Manchester and his voyage to Sweden. Late in 1933 Smart sails to Sweden for health reasons; he lives there with Ruth until late spring of 1934. Smart writes to Billington of the landscape and forests of Sweden and the inspiration it has on his painting. While in Sweden Smart also writes of his concerns about an upcoming exhibition of his work in Manchester regarding the choice of paintings being displayed and shipment of new works from Sweden. Smart also writes Bessie Billington to relay messages to his father, Thomas, regarding the Manchester exhibition. The last few months of his life Rowley Smart lives in Longnor, Derbyshire, England, where he dies in August 1934. Bessie Billington writes on the back of Smart's letter from Langnor: "my last letter from Rowley." Also included in the collection is a catalog from a memorial exhibition of Rowley Smart's work at the Leger Gallery, London, 1935 (Folder 7); and newspaper clippings regarding Smart (Folders 8-9).

OCLC:

757715180