SMITH Alfred Valley of the Creuse in autumn Oil on canvas signed certificate

SMITH Alfred (1854/1936)

Creuse Valley in autumn.

Oil on canvas signed lower right, countersigned and titled “Vallée de la Creuse en automne” on the back.

56x76 cm

Collection frame in carved wood from the Louis XV period.

Certificate of authenticity.

Alfred SMITH (André Alfred Smith de Sternburg), 1854/1936 (French of Welsh origin).

Painter of landscapes, he will be noticed by his urban views of Bordeaux, Paris, Venice before discovering the Creuse valley alongside Eugène Alluaud and Paul Madeline.

Lacking money, Alfred Smith works in a bank as a stockbroker and dedicates his free time to painting. Supported by his master Hippolyte Pradelles and helped by Alfred Roll, he was exhibited at the Salon de la Société des Amis des Arts de Bordeaux in 1877 and participated many times in the Paris Salon, winning a bronze medal in 1889, and a second in 1900 during the Universal Exhibition in Paris.

Alfred Smith adopted several styles throughout his career. He was first known for his mastery of atmospheric effects in his paintings of Bordeaux: under the snow, the rain, the fog, the play of the seasons and the weather, underlined by the effervescence of the urban city and its maritime activity. He adopted an impressionist style during his stay in Venice and from 1912.

He then moved towards fauvism by painting the landscapes, views and seasons of Crozant and more broadly of the Creuse valley.

Museums: Bordeaux, Paris, Rouen, Cognac, Dijon, Guéret, Pau, Savannah, Venice.

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