John Guthrie Spence Smith - Artist Info

About John Guthrie Spence Smith

Name variants

Spence Smith, John Guthrie Spence
  • Biography

    John Guthrie Spence Smith was born in Perth in 1880 and died in Edinburgh in 1951. A childhood illness caused John to lose his hearing and his speech, a condition which no doubt enhanced his visual senses. The artist first came to notice in 1904 when his design was selected in a public competition for the cover of the Syllabus of the 1904 Perth Arts and Crafts Exhibition. By 1906 John was attending the RSA Life Drawing Classes in Edinburgh where he studied under Charles Hodge Mackie and Robert Burns. He won several prizes there.

    Spence Smith was a co-founder and member of the so-called Edinburgh Group. He was elected an Associate of the RSA in 1930 and elected a full Academician (RSA) ...

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