Self Portrait, c. 1908. Watercolor on paper, 28 x 20 inches. Collection of Anne Gaud Tinker.
Alice Ravenel Huger Smith (1876–1958), a leading figure of the Charleston Renaissance, was known for her dreamy watercolors of marsh vistas.
But the artist also painted portraits, sketched architectural drawings, and started a local movement of artists dabbling in Japanese woodblock printing inspired by the work of Utagawa Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai.
Springtime at the Reflection Pool at Middleton Place, c. 1930, watercolor on paper, 10¼ x 14¼ inches. Collection of Charles Duell.photo: Alice Ravenel Huger Smith
Springtime at the Reflection Pool at Middleton Place, c. 1930, watercolor on paper, 10¼ x 14¼ inches. Collection of Charles Duell.
In a new book, Alice: Alice Ravenel Huger Smith, Charleston Renaissance Artist, Smith’s relatives Caroline Palmer and Anne Gaud Tinker and close family friend Dwight McInvaill describe how Smith was an innovator and influencer long before the latter term became trendy with the Instagram set. “She inspired so many of her contemporaries to strive for artistic excellence,” McInvaill says.
View Overlooking the Butterfly Lakes and Mill at Middleton Place, c. 1926. Watercolor on paper, 11 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches. Collection of Charles Duell.photo: Alice Ravenel Huger Smith
View Overlooking the Butterfly Lakes and Mill at Middleton Place, c. 1926. Watercolor on paper, 11 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches. Collection of Charles Duell.
New recently opened exhibitions at Middleton Place National Historic Landmark and the Edmondston-Alston House in Charleston, South Carolina, share her rarely seen works (through January 10, 2022). Her rarely exhibited Japanese-influenced painting Moonlight on the Cooper River will also be on display at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston (April 30–October 3), and just might inspire a new generation of artists.
Moonlight on the Cooper River, c. 1919, woodblock print on paper, 15 1/8 x 7 inches, Collection of Dr. & Mrs. Louis D. Wright.photo: Alice Ravenel Huger Smith
Moonlight on the Cooper River, c. 1919, woodblock print on paper, 15 1/8 x 7 inches, Collection of Dr. & Mrs. Louis D. Wright.
Kinsey Gidick is a freelance writer based in Central Virginia. She previously served as editor in chief of Charleston City Paper in Charleston, South Carolina, and has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Travel + Leisure, BBC, Atlas Obscura, and Anthony Bourdain’s Explore Parts Unknown, among others. When not writing, she spends her time traveling with her son and husband. Read her work at kinseygidick.com.
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