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Matthew Read Smith was born in Kansas City, Missouri in
1960, and at the age of three moved with his family to Scottsdale,
Arizona. Later, they moved to Europe where they lived two years in France
and one in Switzerland. In subsequent years, Matt painted in Germany,
Austria, and Italy. He has lived most of his life in Arizona, where he
developed a deep attachment to and respect for the Sonoran
Desert.
Matt
graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Fine
Arts degree in painting. Somewhat disappointed with the school’s
abstract-oriented art program, he spent significant personal time studying
the traditional styles of such landscape masters as Maynard Dixon,
William Herbert Dunton, and Edgar Payne.
Most
of the time, Matt can be found painting en plein air from southern
Arizona to the Canadian Rockies or from the California coast to the
mountains of Colorado. He comments: "I respect
the tradition behind classical landscape painting, and I’m particularly
inspired by pristine locations. I enjoy working in areas where one
can travel for miles without seeing the influence of man. When I paint, I
feel I’ve hit the mark when I’ve captured a balance between mood, look,
and feel. You know you’ve succeeded when viewers sense the desert heat, or
the chill of a mountain snowfall. No one
can improve on nature’s landscapes." |
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 |
 |
| 2006: Artistic Merit Award - "Western
Rendezvous of Art" |
2005: Artistic Merit Award - "Western
Rendezvous of Art" |
| 2000: Robert Lougheed Award - "Prix de
West" |
| 2000: Best-of-Show and Artistic Merit Award
- "Western Rendezvous of Art" |
| 1999: Best of Show - "Tucson Plein Air
Paint-off" |
| 1997: Red Smith Award - "Miniature Show", National Wildlife
Art Museum |
| |
1997:
Best-of-Show - "Emerging City", San Jose, CA |
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Making the Landscape Your Own - American Artist,
January, 2002 |
Ask a
Master - International Artist, April/May,
2001 |
My
Passion Is Nature - Matt Smith - Art of the West,
September/October, 2000 |
Arizona
Artists - Arizona Corridors, May/June,
1999 |
Desert
Vistas - Southwest Art, February, 1998 |
Artists
Worth Watching - Art Talk, December,
1993 | |
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