Robert C. (Bob) Smith (1926-2018)
Bob worked in many media including pencil, ink, acrylic, gouache, watercolor, pastel, collage, metal, and still photography. He was compulsive about working in sketchbooks whether in his studio, on site, or from memory. Bob travelled widely in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Africa, his sketchbooks were sources of inspiration and documentation.
Many of his works reflect his delight in the patterns of the natural world. He enjoyed studying such patterns in landscape, moving water, and the sea.
Background
Bob studied art and design at the Albright Art School and the University of New York at Buffalo. He did graduate study at the University of Cincinnati, and was granted a fellowship at the Yale University Summer Program in Norfolk, CT. Bob taught drawing for fifteen years at the Art Academy in Cincinnati, He was artist in residence at the Cite des Arts in Paris in 1985 and spent thirty years as a professor of graphic design at Washington University, Sam Fox College of Art and Design in St. Louis from which he retired as professor emeritus.
Bob had solo shows at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis, and the Kemper Museum at Washington University. His works have been shown in many institutions such as Albright Art Gallery, Cleveland Art Institute, University of Southern Maine, Cincinnati Art Museum, Ball State University, the New Orleans Art Museum, and others.