Allison - Antrim Museum, Inc.
Walter Washington Smith
|
|
Walter Washington Smith's paintings have hung in renowned galleries in both United States and France. Most of his work was done from the 1920's to the 1940's, by which time he was living near Philadelphia. Born in Clearfield, PA in 1887, Smith lived for many years in his father's hometown as a child and as a young adult in the 1920's and early Depression years, when he operated a studio on West Baltimore Street in the Stover building located in Greencastle. Smith's talents spread from the walls of the A.M.E. Church, where he painted religious scenes, to the raincoats of his nieces and nephews, which he adorned with the popular comic characters of the day.
Self Portrait |
|
The large and small scenes of Greencastle in the snow are clearly remembered by his nephew, Lee Taylor and niece, Peggy Smith. Taylor, just a child at the time, remembered watching over his uncle's shoulder as he captured the Blizzard of 1929 from a second story window. "He was a real thin, short fellow who wore a hat all the time," Taylor recalled. "He smoked a cigar all the time and didn't talk much when he painted." |
|
|
|
Paintings arriving in Greencastle and being carried into the Chamber of Commerce office for temporary storage.
Pearl, executor for the estate of Smith's sister, Nedra C. Bigosa, presented the paintings to the Allison-Antrim Museum. October 6, 1997 |
|
|
|
Eight of the landscapes are from places around Greencastle and one depicts his Philadelphia neighborhood and home at 222 West Penn St. in Germantown, PA (not shown). |
|
|
|
There are four florals in the collection. |
"Love's Walk" Smith's favorite, depicting a scene in Spring Field near where the old creamery and Baptist church used to be located. Greencastle, PA |
|
|
Homes in the Jefferson and Franklin Street area. |
|
|
|
The street scene, located on Market Street in center city Philadelphia, is unfinished because Smith never got around to putting in the people's faces. |
|
|
|
|
"Snowing" Blizzard of 1929 This hung on exhibit in Paris, France; St. Louis, MO; and Atlanta, GA It took 7 years to complete. |
|
