Tramway On The Place Des Quinconces. Quays Of Bordeaux. Alfred Smith. Hst 54 X 75 Cm

Work currently awaiting certification.

André Alfred Smith de Sternburg

André Alfred Smith de Sternburg was born in Bordeaux on July 30, 1854. His father was Welsh, naturalized as a French citizen, and his mother was the daughter of the notary in Saint-Ciers-sur-Gironde. In 1869, his father left the family home to seek his fortune in the United States. At the age of 15, Alfred and his older brother Emmanuel became the family’s breadwinners. Alfred worked in a bank as a stockbroker's assistant, but he aspired to be an artist, dedicating all his free time to painting.

In 1877, he exhibited his paintings for the first time at the Salon of the Society of Friends of the Arts in Bordeaux, where the catalog indicated that his mentor was Hippolyte Pradelles. He remained loyal to this salon, exhibiting at least one painting each year until his death in 1936.

In 1880, Smith participated in the Salon de Paris, receiving an honorable mention, and attended Léonce Chabry's studio. He also became a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux.

In 1883, his painting *Le Quai de Bacalan, le Soir* was exhibited at the Salon de Paris, and he entered Amédée Baudit's studio.

In 1886, the painter Alfred Roll noticed him and helped promote his artistic work. The two became friends, and Alfred Smith served as Roll's executor after his death in 1919.

Between 1884 and 1890, Smith began to gain recognition, receiving medals at salons in Versailles, Nice, and among French artists, as well as at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. In 1886, he was able to leave his job as his painting began to support him.

In 1888, he won an award at the Salon de Paris. That same year, he painted *La Place de la Concorde Sous La Pluie* (The Downpour), and in 1889, he received a bronze medal at the Salon de Paris. He would later win another bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900.

In 1894, he was named a knight of the Légion d'honneur.

On December 7, 1899, Alfred Smith married Catherine Philippine Poix in Lyon, and in 1901, the couple moved to Paris.

In 1912, thanks to his friends Paul Madeline and Eugène Alluaud, Alfred Smith discovered the Creuse Valley. Captivated by the landscapes, his style changed again, evolving toward Fauvism. He continued to paint the surroundings of Crozant until his death, becoming one of the representatives of the Crozant School.

Catherine, his wife, passed away in September 1935, and Alfred Smith died in Paris on November 3, 1936. He was buried in Lyon alongside his wife.

Works of Alfred Smith

Alfred Smith adopted various styles throughout his career. He was initially known for his mastery of atmospheric effects in his paintings of Bordeaux, which were executed in his studio. Conversely, some of his works were painted en plein air, earning him the nickname "the painter of undergrowth."

After a visit to Venice, he adopted a more impressionistic style, and from 1912 onward, he evolved toward Fauvism.

Works in Public Collections

**Bordeaux, Musée des beaux-arts:**
- *Tramway devant la place des Quinconces* (II), 1892
- *Venise matin brumeux*, 1912
- *Bord de la Creuse à Crozant*
- *Martigues*
- *Un Arbre à l'automne*
- *La Gondole*, 1905
- *La Meule*, 1905
- *Bord de rivière*
- *L'Été, sous-bois*, 1891
- *Le Père Boyreau au printemps dans la lande brédoise*, 1894
- *Vue de la Bastide*, 1883
- *Les Quais de Bordeaux*, 1892
- *Le Quai de la Grave à Bordeaux*, 1884

**Cognac, Musée d'art et d'histoire:**
- *Le fumeur de pipe*, 1893

**Dijon, Musée des beaux-arts:**
- *Paysage*, 1891

**Guéret, Musée de la Sénatorerie:**
- *La Sédelle en octobre à Crozant*, 1923

**Pau, Musée des beaux-arts:**
- *La Place de la Concorde sous la pluie*, 1888

**Paris, Musée d'Orsay:**
- *Sous-Bois*, 1891
- *Harmonie d'été*, 1911
- *Portrait de la mère de l'artiste*

**Rouen, Musée des Beaux-arts:**
- *Jeune fille lisant*, c. 1910

**Savannah, Telfair Museum of Art:**
- *Déjeuner sous les bois*
- *Vue de Bordeaux du Pont de Pierre*

**Venise, Museo Ca'Pesaro:**
- *Les quais de Bordeaux, le matin*, 1895

### Bibliography
- Louis Mirande, *Alfred Smith : le peintre de Crozant*, Saint Amand, 1930.
- Christophe Rameix, *L'école de Crozant; les peintres de la Creuse et de Gargilesse*, Limoges, éd. Lucien Souny, 1991 (ISBN 2-905262-53-2), and re-edition 2002.
- Christophe Rameix, *Les Maîtres de la Creuse*, exhibition catalog, Dun le Palestel, 1997 (ISBN 2-9511391-0-1).
- Christophe Rameix, *Impressionnisme et postimpressionnisme dans la vallée de la Creuse*, éd. Christian Pirot, La Simarre, Joué-lès-Tours, 2012 (ISBN 978-2-36536-008-1).
- "Alfred Smith [archive]," excerpt from the entry in the Bénézit dictionary, Oxford Art Online, 2011 (ISBN 9780199773787).
- Olivier Le Bihan (ed.), *Alfred Smith 1853-1936 : Un regard sur la vie moderne*, Bordeaux, Somogy éditions d'Art and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, December 6, 2007 (EAN 9782757201602).