Lowell Ellsworth Smith 1924-2008

Lowell Smith passed away on Monday, August 11, 2008 around 10:00 in the morning.

The memorial service will be Friday morning, August 15, at 11:00 at The First Congregational Church in Hudson.

Address: 47 Aurora St.
Phone: 330 650-4048

Watercolor painter Lowell Ellsworth Smith was born in Canton, Ohio in 1924. Smith and his sister Barbara grew up in an artistic household; his father, Ellsworth P. Smith, was the art director for the Hoover Company and a painter, and his mother was a pianist. Smith’s father encouraged his interest in art, and during Smith’s childhood the family took many trips to art colonies, which helped nurture his artistic inclinations. Smith was a 1942 graduate of Lehman High School in Canton where he studied art and was the drummer in the school dance band. After attending one semester at Miami University of Ohio, Smith was drafted into the U. S. Army Air Force. He served between 1943 and 1945 in England, France, and Germany with the 45th Air Depot Group. When he returned from Europe, he picked up again at Miami University, graduating in 1948 with a B.F.A. While at Miami he also played drums with a dance band. Smith later gained additional schooling through the Famous Artists School of Westport, Connecticut.

Smith worked for many years as a commercial illustrator with Canton Art Service and Manning Studios in Cleveland where he specialized in “pretty girl illustrations for advertising.” He also did cover illustrations for children’s coloring and activity books published by Saalfield Publishing. In 1960, after 12 successful years as a commercial illustrator, Smith turned his attention to fine art figure and landscape painting in his favorite medium, watercolor. Among those Smith names as teachers and influences to his watercolor technique are his father, Roy Wilhelm, Don Stone, Tom Nicholas, and Paul Strisik. Smith turned his attention to the West after 1970 when artist Ramon Kelley noticed one of his paintings at an Ohio art show. His association with Kelley led to his first painting trip to Colorado and New Mexico and an introduction to western collectors and gallery owners. In 1979, Smith joined Kelley, William F. Reese, and Tim Stortz on a painting trip to Oaxaco, Mexico that resulted in a joint exhibition at the Frye Museum in Seattle. Over the years, Smith returned to Mexico repeatedly, and Mexican churches and street scenes are among his favorite subjects.Smith was an invited artist at the 1978 and 1981 National Academy of Western Art (NAWA) shows, and his painting Church Façade—Plaza del Oriente won the Prix de West Purchase Award at the 1983 NAWA show. Smith’s work has also been shown at a number of other art shows in the West, Ohio, and elsewhere. Hundreds of art collectors, including former Texas governor John Connally and Oklahoma oilman T. Boone Pickens, have purchased his paintings.

In 2001, the Canton Museum of Art exhibited a 58-piece retrospective look at the artwork of Lowell Ellsworth Smith and his father, Ellsworth P. Smith.

Lowell was a past president of Hudson Society of Artists and he will be deeply missed.


There are no calling hours. The memorial service will be Friday morning, the 15th., at 11:00 at The First Congregational Church in Hudson. The church is at 47 Aurora Street, Hudson. For directions call 330 650-4048.


Information for this bio is from the national Cowboy Museum: http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/research/r_a_smit.html#fina