WILLLAM THOMPSON RUSSELL SMITH

Born in Scotland in 1812, Russell Smith immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1819, settling in Pittsburgh in 1824. He studied there under James Reid Lambdin and in 1833 began a distinguished career as a scene and panorama painter. Most of his professional work was done in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and Boston. In 1851-52, he visited Europe to paint a panorama of the Holy Land. His wife, Mary Priscilla Wilson Smith, and both his children, Mary and Xanthus Russell, were also painters. He died in 1896.