Xanthus Russell Smith (American, 1839-1929), Cave Falls, Onoko Glen

Oil on canvas, 1881, signed with monogram to lower left, inscribed to verso, presented in a contemporary giltwood frame.

Stretcher size 12 1/8 x 9 in.; Frame dimensions 17 1/2 x 14 1/2 in.

Xanthus Russell Smith was the son of artists Russell Smith (1812 - 1896) and Mary Priscilla Wilson Smith (1819 - 1874). He began studying art at their home in Philadelphia from an early age. He accompanied his parents on a tour of Europe from 1851 to 1852. Upon his return to America, he enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Smith enlisted in the United States Navy following the outbreak of the Civil War. During his service, Smith made small watercolor sketches and drawings he would use later as the foundations of his paintings of vessels and the Carolina coast. His drawings came to the attention of Admiral Du Pont, who commissioned Smith to paint ships of the fleet. In 1864, Smith returned to Philadelphia where he began to exhibit his maritime scenes and maintained a studio where he also made small-scale landscape paintings such as this one. His work is in the collections of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Mariner's Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Union League Club of Philadelphia.

Some age cracking to the canvas, otherwise good estate condition.