Known as a portrait painter, Frederick Carl Smith was born in Cincinnati and studied at the Cincinnati Art School, the Ohio Mechanics’ Institute, and the Academie Julian in Paris with Bouguereau, Ferrier and Constant.

For 17 years, he worked in Washington D.C. as a portraitist and then moved to Pasadena, California in 1917. There he was active in the Laguna Beach art community and a founding member of that art association.

He painted Impressionistic landscapes along the Southern California coast, the High Sierras, the Palm Springs area and the coast of Monterey. He used a broken brush technique and high keyed colors.

He signed his paintings in block letters “F CARL SMITH”. He often titled the verso of the painting.

Source: Edan Hughes, “Artists in California, 1786-1940”