Matthew Smith (artist)

Sir Matthew Smith, CBE (22 October 1879 – 29 September 1959) was a British painter of nudes, still-life and landscape. He studied design at the Manchester School of Art and art at the Slade School of Art. Smith studied under Henri Matisse in Paris and acquired an interest in Fauvism. During World War I, he was wounded at the Battle of Passchendaele. In 1949, Smith was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He was knighted in 1954.

He married Gwen Salmond and their relationship broke up when he entered into an affair with Vera Cuningham. Smith lived, worked, and exhibited in England and France.

Matthew Arnold Bracy Smith was born on 22 October 1879 in Halifax, West Yorkshire to Frederic and Frances Smith. His father was a wire-manufacturer and musician who invited visiting musicians to his home. Matthew went to Giggleswick school. At seventeen he went to Bradford wool mill and a year later into the family works, where he worked for four years.

He studied design at the Manchester School of Art from 1901 to 1905 and painting at the Slade School of Art in London from 1905 to 1907.

In 1908, Smith went to Pont-Aven in Brittany, France. In 1911 was in Paris and studied under Henri Matisse's at his short-lived school and was influenced by him and other Fauves. This influence can be seen in paintings such as Fitzroy Street Nude No. 1 (1916) and his series of Cornish landscapes.

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