Provenance
The Artist's Family
Note: Smart went to St Ives in 1913 to study under the country’s leading seascape painter, Julius Olsson, who had started a school of painting in Studio 5 in 1895. During World War 1 he served as a captain in the Artists Rifles, where he met with fellow artist Leonard Fuller, who was later to establish the St Ives School of Painting. After the war, Smart settled in St Ives and was based Porthmeor from 1924 until his death in 1947, and although most associated with Studios 5 and 10, he also seems to have used Studios 1 and 2 on occasion.
Borlase Smart immersed himself in the life of St Ives, serving on the Town Council, as leader of the Sea Scouts and serving in the Home Guard. His presence was most keenly felt in the artistic life of the community, and he worked tirelessly and enthusiastically to maintain its momentum between the wars. He was on the committee of the St Ives Society of Artists from 1929 until the end of his life, organising regular touring shows throughout the country to help promote local artists. In 1933 he was made a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd for services to art.