Stephen Catterson Smith (12 March 1806 – 30 May 1872) was an English portrait-painter and president of the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

Biography

Smith was born in

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Ai ...

, North Yorkshire, the son of Joseph Smith, artist and coach-painter, and Anne, his wife, daughter of Stephen Catterson of Gawflat, Yorkshire. His parents moved early in his life to

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-ea ...

, and at the age of about sixteen Smith went to London to support himself by the practical study of art. Obtaining admission to the schools of the Royal Academy, he distinguished himself in the competitions there, and afterwards studied in Paris. He first attracted notice by his skill in drawing portraits in black chalk, many of these being published in lithography by

Richard James Lane Richard James Lane (16 February 1800 – 21 November 1872) was a prolific British engraver and lithographer. The National Portrait Gallery has some 850 lithographs of his portraits and figure studies, done between 1825 and 1850. The images incl ...

. He made drawings of this class for H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent, of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

(as princess), the duchess herself, the King of Hanover, and other members of the royal family. He then removed for a few years to

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...

Somersetshire ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, returning, however, to London about 1838, when he exhibited some portraits at the Royal Academy. About 1840 Smith received some commissions to paint portraits in Ireland, which led him to settle first at Derry, and afterwards at Dublin, where he spent the remainder of his life. He soon became Portrait Painter to the Lord Lieutenant, a post he held for almost 30 years. At Dublin Smith quickly became the leading portrait-painter of the day, and was considered very successful with his likenesses both in male and female portraits, painting something in the manner of Sir Thomas Lawrence. Nearly every distinguished person in Ireland sat to Smith during his career in Dublin, including all the lord-lieutenants of Ireland for thirty years. In 1854 he painted from the life a full-length portrait of Queen Victoria for the

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

of Dublin. Many of his portraits were engraved. Smith was elected an associate of the Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts on 11 May 1844, a full member on 13 September following, and was elected president on 7 March 1859, holding this post until 1864. He was re-elected in 1868, but held the post for only a few months. He was appointed Director of the

National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland ( ga, Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on ...

in 1868. He continued to paint up to the time of his death, which occurred suddenly in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

on 20 May 1872.

Family

Smith married, in 1845, Anne, daughter of Robert Titus Wyke, an English artist, residing at

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

. She was herself a miniature-painter. By her Smith left six sons and four daughters, of whom Stephen Catterson Smith (a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy and practising in Dublin) and Robert Catterson Smith (practising in London) also adopted art as a profession.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Stephen Catterson 1806 births 1872 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters 19th-century Irish painters Irish male painters English portrait painters Irish portrait painters 19th-century English male artists 19th-century Irish male artists