G. Ralph Smith was a painter, illustrator and lithographer. He is perhaps best known for his regionalist lithographs from the 1930s and '40s, but devoted most of his life to producing oil paintings. Born in Circleville, OH, Smith graduated from the Columbus Art School in 1929 and went on to attend the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. In 1937, he was awarded the Cresson Traveling Fellowship, which allowed him to travel through Europe for several months pursuing his art. In 1939 he married fellow PAFA graduate, Elizabeth Brehm Matos and settled in the Germantown section of Philadelphia where he would remain for the rest of his life. In the late 1930’s Smith collaborated with the German lithographer Theodore Cuno, known for his work with Joseph Pennell and Benton Spruance. They produced a series of twelve lithographs that typify the spirit of Philadelphia Regionalism during the Great Depression. Many of Smith’s paintings were inspired by trips to Rockport, MA from the late 1940’s to the late 1960’s as well as to Southern Maine and the picturesque Manayunk and Wissahickon areas of Philadelphia. On these trips he crafted boldly colored seascapes and landscapes.

Smith’s work has been exhibited at numerous institutions and can be found in the permanent collections of the Columbus Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Woodmere Art Museum, and the National Gallery of Art.