TitlePoppies - A Study
Artist
James David Smillie
(American, 1833 - 1909)
Date1889
MediumEtching and drypoint
DimensionsPlate size: 5 15/16 × 5 15/16 in.
Sheet size: 13 3/4 × 12 in.
Mat size: 18 × 14 in.
SignedSigned at center left: "Smillie / Aug ***" ; Signed at lower right (outside plate): "James D. Smillie"
Credit LineNational Academy of Design, New York, NY, Gift of Samuel Colman, 1903
Object number1981.876
Label TextA painter and printmaker, Smillie is best known for landscapes. His prints depicting floral motifs, however, were among the most outstanding American works of this type in the late nineteenth century. This example shows his mastery at conveying detail, a range of tones, and delicacy of form. Smillie used etching primarily, and to blur and thus soften parts of the flowers he used drypoint. In 1893, he became the first teacher of etching at the Academy.