George Smith studied at the Royal Academy schools and was also a pupil of Charles West Cope (1811-1890), a painter of biblical and historical genre subjects. Smith exhibited widely and showed a total of 78 works at the Royal Academy.

Smith is best known for producing intricately detailed genre paintings, mostly of rural subjects. His works often include innocent children set in domestic locations, a combination that was much admired by the Victorian buying public and brought Smith considerable success during his lifetime.

Smith is represented by public collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum. Regional collections include those in Brighton, Calderdale, Eastbourne, Newcastle, Nottingham, Rochdale, and Sandwell, among others.

(Benjamin Angwin – October 2014)