William Thomas Smedley (1858 - 1921)

Smedley was born in Pennsylvania , worked on a newspaper, then studied engraving and art in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He settled in New York in 1880. His first illustrations were for the series Picturesque Canada and in 1905 became a member of the National Academy of Design. Most of his art was illustrative but he also painted portraits and watercolours, receiving the Evans Prize of the American Water Color Society in 1890, and a bronze medal at the Paris Exposition of 1900.