Beautiful Alice Ravenel Huger Smith watercolor, 26 x 21 inches. Provenance: private owner.
Biography: 1876 - 1958. Alice Ravenel Huger Smith was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1876. She had the schooling of a gentlewoman of that day, which included classes in drawing and painting at the Carolina Art Association. However, she did not visit great galleries nor attend a university. Essentially she was self-taught as an artist.At first her artistic talent was directed at designing dance programs, tally and place cards, fans and glove cases. Then she sketched Charleston street vendors, for which she found a ready market. She gave it up, lest success at a lower form of art tempt her not to pursue higher forms. About 1902 she began receiving commissions to copy ancestor portraits, with which Charleston abounded. When she had mastered that field, she gave it up too. Her work is represented in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the High Museum in Atlanta, the Hunter Museum in Chattanooga, and in museums in Albany, Chicago, New Orleans and, of course, Charleston. Dealers sought her out and placed her works in private collections across the country. She died in Charleston in 1958.

All authorship of items in this catalog are described according to the following terms:

Signed [Artist Name] : In cases in which the signature is legible in the lot, this work is described as-is with no attributions given.

By [Artist Name] : The work is by the artist.

Attributed to [Artist Name] : The work may be ascribed to the artist on the basis of style, but there may be some question as to actual authorship.

In the manner of [Artist Name] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but was designed deliberately to emulate the style of the artist.

After [Artist Name] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but is a deliberate copy of a known work by the artist.

Circle of [Artist Name] : A work of the period of the artist showing his influence, closely associated with the artist but not necessarily his pupil.

Follower of [Artist Name]: A work by a pupil or a follower of the artist (not necessarily a pupil).

American, 19th century: This work was executed by an unknown hand, and can only be identified by origin (i.e., region, period).

Mint, based on the description