Sir Matthew Smith (1879-1959)

In 1933 Smith moved to Cagnes-sur-Mer in the South of France between Nice and Cannes and the Hôtel Le Cagnard became his base for the next two years. The hotel was set on a hill with views towards Cap d'Antibes and from here Smith was able to explore and paint the surrounding French countryside. Malcolm Yorke comments on Smith's French landscape paintings, 'Smith worked en plein air and scribbled opaque paint on to his white canvas in a race against his own failing staying power and tired eyes. This is not the sunny Provence tourists come in search of, but one tinged with melancholy or made slightly ominous by an approaching storm or night ... It is also noticable that he never includes a car, telegraph pole, railway or any sign of modernity in his unpeopled vistas because, like Cézanne, he had no interest in the Impressionists' determination to record the transient effects of modern life' (see Matthew Smith: His Life and Reputation, London, 1997, p. 153).