Portrait of Rowley Smart

Adolphe Valette 1876 - 1942

Summary

Half-length portrait of the Manchester artist Edgar Rowley Smart, seated in three-quarter view to the left, wearing a brown jacket and waistcoat, white shirt and rust-coloured tie. His auburn, moderately long hair is swept back to reveal his face with an alert expression, bright eyes and raised eyebrows. The background is without detail and painted in neutral tones with a line of shadow running down the left edge of the composition. The grain of the panel can be seen across the whole of the painting.

Display Label

Portrait of Rowley Smart 1925 Adolphe Valette 1876-1942 Oil on panel Rowley Smart was influenced by Augustus John who taught him at Liverpool School of Art. Smart also adopted John's drunken, dissolute ways which subsequently contributed to his early death. Valette's portrait of Smart suggests wildness. On its exhibition in 1926, a Daily Express reviewer called it 'a faithful likeness' also commenting 'to see Mr E. Rowley Smart........passing in front of his own portrait by Mr Adolphe Valette is a striking experience'. Purchased with financial assistance from the MGC/V&A Purchase Grant Fund and The Friends of Manchester City Galleries 1998.183