Matthew Smith: Catalogue Raisonne of the Oil Paintings

Matthew Smith (1879-1959) is one of the most important British painters of the twentieth century. He trained at the Slade School before moving to France in 1908 where he attended the Atelier Matisse. He spent much of his time working in France between the wars. Initially influenced by Fauvist painting, he evolved a richly intuitive and painterly style using glowing colours. He painted thickly and fluently employing an alla prima technique and the combination of sensual form and colour, particularly in his nudes, has been likened to the work of Delacroix. This book provides for the first time a catalogue of the oil paintings by Matthew Smith from 1905 to 1957 and a substantial critical reappraisal of the artist's work. Gledhill situates the artist in the context of modernism and his Bloomsbury peers and the London Group. Provenance, exhibition catalogues and literature are brought together in extensively detailed entries. Where possible an illustration of each work is provided and the majority of the paintings are illustrated to assist the scholar who up until now has been confronted with a dearth of information on Matthew Smith.