Paintings | calvin-rae-smith

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Known Paintings by Calvin Rae Smith

We have found references to numerous paintings by Calvin Rae Smith. We would like to track down the location of these and any of his other paintings, and would like to obtain photographs of them. Known paintings are:

"Portrait of Frederick Ebstein" - 1873. A portrait of his brother-in-law, painted in Washington Territory and mentioned in his 1873 diary.

"Mt. Baker, from San Juan Island, Washington Territory" -1874. Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith. Shown on the "Paintings" page of this website

"Palisades, Columbia River, Oregon" -1874. Mentioned in his 1874 diary and listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith.

"Painting of Indian" -1874. Mentioned in his 1874 diary.

"Mount Rainier, Washington Territory" -1874. Mentioned in his 1874 diary - the April 15 date suggests this is the same painting as "Admiralty Inlet".

"Admiralty Inlet, Washington Territory" - 1874. Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith, and in the auction catalog for his estate in 1918. This is apparently the same painting as above, as it is mentioned at one point in his 1874 diary as "Admiralty Inlet" or "Rainier"

"Bella Coola" -1874. Mentioned in his 1874 diary. Not sure of the subject of this painting. There is a town and valley of Bella Coola, British Columbia, which he may have heard about when he was in Washington Territory in 1873, but his diaries do not mention him visiting there. Perhaps there was something (a ship, a harbor?) on San Juan Island called "Bella Coola"?

"On the Upper AuSable River, Adirondacks" -1874. Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith. Shown on the "Paintings" page of this website - although this could be the painting listed immediately below

"AuSable Pond, Adirondacks" - mentioned in his 1874 diary. Possibly the same as above, although one title is mentioned for a while, then the other, which suggests he was working on two different paintings with different names.

"Giant Mountain, Adirondacks, from Keene Valley" -1874. Unfinished. Shown on the "Paintings" page of this website

"Road Scene, Adirondacks" -1874. Mentioned in his 1874 diary. (Might be the same as "Giant Mountain" listed above).

"The Sewing Girl at Home" - 1876. Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith.

"On the Marne, near Paris" - 1876. Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith.

"The Little Pincushion and Basket Seller, Normandie" - 1877. This was displayed as painting 443 at the Chicago Inter-State Industrial Exposition in 1877, and is listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith.

"Italian Flower Girl" -1877. Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith. Shown on the "Paintings" page of this website

"Day Dream(s)" -1877. Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith. This was displayed as painting 433 at the Chicago Inter-State Industrial Exposition in 1877 and painting 74 at the 1881 exhibit at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

"Portrait of a Young Girl" 1878. It was sold for $1287 at Pook and Pook auction house in 2008. It is shown on the "Paintings" page of this website.

"Little Italian" - 1878. Listed in the Cyclopedia of Painters entry for Calvin Rae Smith. Possibly the same as "Portrait of a Young Girl"?

"Cutting Pea Brush in Normandy" - 1878. Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith, and in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on Dec. 9, 1879. It is shown on the "Paintings" page of this website.

"Copy of a Woman, after Rubens" -1879. This is a study done by copying the portrait of the picture "Portrait en Buste d'une Dame" by Peter Paul Rubens in the Louvre. It is shown on the "Paintings" page of this website.

"Copy of a Woman, after Flinck" -1879. This is a study done by copying the portrait of the picture "Little Shepherdess Framed by a Window" by Govaert Flinck in the Louvre. It is shown on the "Paintings" page of this website.

"Portrait of Louise" -1879. Mentioned in his 1879 diary - a portrait of his younger sister Louise. Shown on the "Paintings" page of this website

"A Court Jester" -1879. This is an etching that was apparently exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1880, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1881, and at the Salmagundi Club show in 1880. It may be signed "C. Rae Smith".

"Portrait, Charles A Draper" - 1879. Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith.

"A Good Joke" - 1880. Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith. He was painting this in early 1879, and called it his "grinning" portrait.

"Studio Corner" - circa 1880. Shown at the Thirteenth Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society in 1880 at the American Academy of Design, painting 623.

"House of the Old Whaler, East Hampton, Long Island" - 1881 (watercolor). Shown at the Fourteenth Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society in 1881 at the American Academy of Design, painting 773, and listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith.

"Auld Lange Syne" - 1881 (watercolor). Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith.

"The Little Marauders" -1881 - "An old shop in Venice, near St. Mark's Place. The old woman in charge has fallen asleep in her chair behind the counter, and the little street children, seeing their opportunity, are making a raid upon her stock." Displayed at American Academy. He apparently got an offer for this painting for $200 on April 8, 1882 in a sale arranged by Howard Little (entry in his diary). The offer was remade on October 14, 1882 provided he changed the frame (he refused to do so).

"Portrait of John Calvin Smith" - 1881. Shown on the "Paintings" page of this website.

"The Promenade" - 1881?. This is a painting displayed at Salmagundi Club and NY Academy of Design in 1889 and painting 246 at the 1881 exhibit at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

"[unknown subject]" - 1881. Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith.

"The Squire's Cottage, East Hampton, Long Island" - circa 1881. Shown at the Fourteenth Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society in 1881 at the American Academy of Design, painting 678.

"On the Egypt Road, East Hampton, Long Island" - 1882 (watercolor). Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith.

"A Spring Morning" - 1882. Displayed at the Salmagundi Sketch Club Exhibition of 1882. It is possible that the subject is Abbie Fordyce of Union Springs, New York, who Calvin was briefly engaged to in 1882 (see diaries).

"The Little Bookworm" - Displayed at National Academy of Design, 1882. Described as "Little girl in red dress, seated in an old-fashioned, carved, leather-backed chair, intently poring over a large volume in her lap. Library interior. Tapestries on Walls, table covered with a Persian rug; upon it a graphoscope and vase of peacock feathers." - see sketch below. 8 by 10 inches.

"Wild Hibiscus, Cayuga Lake" - 1882 (watercolor). Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith.

"Wheatfield, Cayuga Lake" - probably painted in 1882 near Cayuga Lake, New York. Shown on the "Paintings" page of this website.

"Cornstacks" - probably painted in 1882 near Cayuga Lake, New York. Shown on the "Paintings" page of this website.

"Peggy" 1882. Shown at the National Academy of Design, 1882. A sketch of this painting is pictured below. Described as "A demure young maiden of the olden time, her face peeping out from an old-fashioned "coal-scuttle bonnet". Blue eyes, brown hair. White kerchief about neck. Background, a suggestion of landscape." Calvin appears to have sold the painting with frame for $125.00 to a Mallory Price(?) on October 20, 1882 (diary entry).

"Juvenile Connoisseur" - 1882. Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith. Sold for $100 on December 2, 1882 at the opening of the exhibition.

"Clear the Way!" - 1883. This was exhibited in 1883 at the National Academy of design. It was sold in the 1980s under the title "Coasting" or "Sledding" by Vose Galleries. Also listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith (1886). A sketch is shown below, and it is shown on the "Paintings" page of this website. 36 by 48 inches.

"On the Road, Winter" - 1883 (watercolor). Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith. May be same as next item(?).

"Sleighing, Hudson River" - 1883 (watercolor). This may be the same as above? A photo of the painting is shown below.

"On the Sound, near Glen Island - 1883 (watercolor). Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith.

"Maternal Solitude" - 1883. Listed in the Brooklyn Art Association entry for Calvin Rae Smith.

"Workers and Idlers" - circa 1884. This was displayed at the National Academy in 1884. It was sold in an auction at Phillips on June 1, 1983, under the name "A Summer's Day". A photograph of the painting is shown below, from the 1983 Phillips Auction Catalog. 14 by 11 inches.

"An Interesting Story" - circa 1887. This was displayed at the American Watercolor Society in New York in 1887.

"In Normandy" - 1888. Mentioned in his 1888 diary in November, 1888. Displayed at the fall exhibition of the National Academy of Design.

"Katie" - 1888 - portrait of a girl named Katie, mentioned in his November diary. Katie was apparently hired as a model according to diary.

"Portrait of Robbie" -1888 - Mentioned in his November diary. Robbie may be a relative, perhaps a nephew.

"Portrait of a Woman Reading" - 188 - pastel. Pictured on the 'Paintings" page of this website. This is almost certainly the pastel head of his wife, Eleanor Cornell, that is mentioned in his 1888 diary.

"Black Bass" - 1889. Pictured on the "Paintings" page of this website, and mentioned in his 1889 diary.

"Venice at the Docks" - 1889. Pictured on the "Paintings" page of this website, and mentioned in his 1889 diary (Sept 22, finished and framed).

"A Labor of Love" - 1888 or 1889. A sketch of this painting is shown below. It was shown at the National Academy in 1889. 12 by 16 inches.

"Reeling Yarn" - circa 1891. 17 by 21 inches. Sold at the Harry Shaw Newman Gallery in November 1948, the catalog of which had the photograph shown below. It was priced at $125 in the catalog. The painting is of a young woman at a spinning wheel with a rustic fireplace behind her. A photo of the painting is pictured below, from the Newman Catalog.

Paintings with unknown date:

"The Seamstress" - "By an attic window sits a young girl, leaning her head on her hand, her elbow resting on the sewing-machine. A chair is by her side with a work basket on it, and at the back of the room are a bed and clothes hanging on the wall. Signed at the left." Listed in the catalog of valuable paintings, water colors and pastels belonging to Messrs. Boussod, Valadon & Co., Paris, when they sold their house at Fifth Avenue, Philadelphia, in 1902.

"Floral Landscape" This is a drawing or watercolor on gauche/paper. It was sold at auction in 2001.

"Contemplation" 1878? This is a painting sold on June 1, 1983 at Phillips. 15 by 12 inches. Apparently this was painted in the 1875 to 1879 time frame, as his location is listed as Paris. His April to May 1878 diary talks of a "Japanaise" painting, and in May 1878 he returned a Japanese costume he had borrowed from John Singer Sargent (May 20, 1878). A photograph of the painting from the 1983 Phillips Auction Catalog is shown below.

"Raspberries" about 8 by 6 inches. Pictured on the "Paintings" page of this website.

"Strawberries" about 8 by 6 inches. Pictured on the "Paintings" page of this website.

"Still Life, Flowers" Painting of a bouquet of flowers.

"In Front of Trinity Church" Painting showing people walking in front of Trinity Church, New York. Pictured on the "Paintings" page of this website.

"Summer's Day" This is a painting also sold on June 1, 1983 by Phillips. 15 by 12 inches. This appears to be the same painting as "Workers and Idlers" that was sketched in the program for the 1884 National Academy of Design show, although the dimensions listed at the show and in the catalog differ by 1 inch in each dimension. A photograph of the painting is shown below, from the Phillips Auction Catalog).

"Head of a Girl "- nothing really known about this painting - could be the painting pictured on the "Paintings" page of this website.

"Northern Pike" - Unfinished painting probably intended as a companion to "Black Bass". Pictured on the "Paintings" page of this website.

"The Grove" - Pictured on the "Paintings" page of this website

"Unfinished Venetian Scene" listed in his estate auction catalog.

"Venetian Scene" This is a watercolor listed in his estate auction catalog.

"Interior of St. Jacque's Church" listed in his estate auction catalog.

"Good Old Colony Times" listed in his estate auction catalog.

"Portrait" listed in his estate auction catalog.

"Lady" listed in his estate auction catalog.

Calvin evidently also produced many miniature portraits on ivory - we have not found any of these, but would be very interested in finding some.