Kay Smith (born 1923)
is a historical artist, who specializes in using watercolors and depicting landscapes.
Early life
Smith grew up in
Vandalia, Illinois
Vandalia is a city in and the county seat of Fayette County, Illinois, United States. At the 2020 Census, the population was 7,458. Vandalia is northeast of St. Louis, on the Kaskaskia River. It served as the state capital of Illinois from 1 ...
and was the fourth of six children.
Career
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, she moved to Chicago and attended classes at the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
She worked as a commercial illustrator until the 1970s, when she turned to historical subjects.
She visited historical sites to depict them accurately and raise awareness about these sites importance to the national heritage.
For 21 years, Smith taught a watercolor class at the Old Town Triangle Art Center in
Old Town, Chicago
Old Town is a neighborhood and historic district in Near North Side and Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois, home to many of Chicago's older, Victorian-era buildings, including St. Michael's Church, one of seven buildings to survive the Great Chic ...
.
She has produced four books on her artwork and more than 250 paintings.
[The Cook-Witter Report, Volume 27, Number 2, October 2012, pages 1–3] She illustrated over 30 books for Thomas Jones, an editor at J.G. Ferguson Publishing Co.
Later life
At the age of 73, she was struck by
Guillain–Barré syndrome which left her almost paralyzed. After rehabilitation, her daughter encouraged her to keep painting. She is still taking commissions after turning 90 years of age.
Awards and recognition
In 1994, she was named the Artist Laureate of Illinois by
The Lincoln Academy of Illinois
The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to recognizing contributions made by living Illinoisans. Named for Abraham Lincoln, the Academy administers the ''Order of Lincoln'', the highest award given ...
.
Major works
Her major works include a series of
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
-related sites, ''
Red Tails escorting the B17s'' on display at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library,
and paintings depicting famous Illinois sites on display at the
Illinois Governors' Mansion.
She was commissioned by The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park to do paintings depicting the
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...
books ''
The Snows of Kilimanjaro'' and ''
The Old Man and the Sea''. Some of her Hemingway paintings were exhibited as part of the Hemingway Centennial Celebration in Oak Park in 1999.
["Painting Like Hemingway Wrote," ''Hemingway Despatch'', Winter 2009, page 8.]
References
Bibliography
*
*
* Monroe, Dan, Lura Lynn Ryan, and Kay Lovelace Smith. ''At Home with Illinois Governors: A Social History of the Illinois Executive Mansion, 1855–2003.''
pringfield, IL Illinois Executive Mansion Association, 2002.
* Whitney, David C., Kay Lovelace Smith, and Thomas C. Jones. ''The American Legacy: A Pageant of Great Deeds and Famous Words.'' Chicago: J.G. Ferguson, 1975.
* Whitney, David C. and Kay Lovelace Smith. ''The Colonial Spirit of '76: The People of the Revolution: The Lives of Members of the Continental Congresses and Other Prominent Men and Women of the Period.'' Chicago: J.G. Ferguson Pub. Co., 1974.
External links
* Official websit
Kay Smith Paints the Red Tails*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Kay
Living people
1923 births
20th-century American painters
21st-century American painters
Military art
Artists from Chicago
School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni
American women painters
20th-century American women artists
21st-century American women artists
People from Vandalia, Illinois
People with Guillain–Barré syndrome