John Smart RSA RSW (16 October 1838 – 1 June 1899) was a Scottish

landscape painter Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent compos ...

, painting in both oils and watercolour. He was a keen golfer and is perhaps best known for his early paintings of golf courses in Scotland such as "''The Golf Greens of Scotland''".

Life

John Smart was born at 13 Annandale Street off

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the centre of the city to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the street to the ...

, the son of Emily Margaret Morton and Robert Campbell Smart (d.1871), an engraver operating from 20 Elm Row. He was educated at Leith High School, and then studied art at the School of Manufacturers, with the intention of becoming an engraver like his father. After showing talent for landscape painting, he instead became a pupil of

Horatio McCulloch Horatio McCulloch (November 1805 – 24 June 1867), sometimes written MacCulloch or M'Culloch, was a Scottish landscape painter. Life He was born in Glasgow in November 1805 the son of Alexander McCulloch, a cotton merchant, and his wife, Ma ...

. He was one of the founder members of the

Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours (RSW) is a Scottish organisation of painters. The first preliminary meeting of the society took place in Glasgow on 21 December 1877 as a reaction to a lack of interest in watercolour art by ...

and he was elected to the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

in 1877 after first being elected an associate in 1871. Smart's paintings depicted scenery from across the lowlands and highlands of Scotland. The critic James Caw said of Smart's landscape paintings, "If coarse in handling and wanting in subtlety of feeling, they are simple and effective in design, vivid in effect and powerful in execution, and breathe an ardent passion for the landscape of his native land." Both his house and studio were at 13 Brunswick Street in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

's east end. The distinctive terraced townhouse was designed by

William Henry Playfair William Henry Playfair FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century, who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town and many of Edinburgh's neoclassical landmarks. Life Playfair was born on 15 ...

in 1824.Buildings of Scotland; Edinburgh by Gifford, McWilliam and Walker He is buried with his wife, Agnes Purdie Main, in

Warriston Cemetery Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and occupies around of land on a slightly sloping si ...

on the north side of the central roundel.

Works

*"''The Golfing Greens of Scotland''", a collection of twenty water-colours featuring various Scottish golf courses of the 1880s and 90’s - private collections. *"''The Gloom of Glen Ogle''" - 1875 - Glasgow Museums Collections *"''A Cloudy Day, Strathearn, Perthshire''" - 1896 - The University of Edinburgh Fine Art Collection *"''A Perthshire River''" - 1894 - The Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum *"''Golden grain''" - 1894 - The Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum *"''Autumn's Short Shadowy Days''" - 1877 - Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council) *"''The Island Pool on the Orchy''" 1889 - Private Collection *"''The Return of the Flock''" 1888-91 - Private Collection *"''Young Anglers''" - 1866 - Private collection *"''Glen Dochart looking to Benmore and Ben Hallam''" 1884 - Private Collection *"''On the Don''" - 1887 - Private Collection *"''Seaside''" - 1899 - Private Collection

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, John 1838 births 1899 deaths 19th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters Scottish watercolourists Scottish landscape painters 19th-century Scottish male artists