William Twigg-Smith (1883-1950) O/B

William Twigg-Smith (1883-1950) Hawaiian/California/New Zealand artist, oil on board. Signed lower right.Provenance: Dr. Arnold Weschky.Born in Nelson, New Zealand, he moved to the U.S. in his late teens, living first in San Franciso, where he studied painting with Evelyn Almond Withrow, and then in Chicago, where he worked with Harry M. Walcott at the School of the Art Institute. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen, and first visited Hawaii in 1916.While in Hawaii, he became locally known for his on-site paintings of active volcanoes. In a news article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin (December 9,1916, p. 8), he was said to have exhibited "a sequence of volcano paintings—an attempt to catch Madame Pele in a systematic series of her changeful moods." A later article in the same year (December 26, p.4) reported that the "crater Mauna Loa is smoking…[and Twigg-]Smith is anxious to get to the Big Island and paint the crater in action."Overall Size: 8 3/4 x 19 1/2 in.Sight Size: 5 1/4 x 10 in.