Set up in 1995 to preserve and make known the works of the Artist, Writer and Architect -
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"Self-Portrait in the Hills" . 1927 Oil on canvas 16" x 22.75".
Introduction
Ralph Maynard Smith was well-known in architectural circles during his lifetime, but he chose not to exhibit his work as an artist, so that it was only many years after his death, once it had become possible to collect and collate more than 1600 items which he had left behind, that the real stature of what he had achieved could be assessed.
His
works include: Drawings / Paintings / Writings / Buildings
/ Architectural Perspectives. Characteristic
of Maynard Smith's work as an artist was his lyrical interpretation of
the English landscape, which developed into a surreal and visionary inner
world. The hallmarks of his work are largeness of concept, precision of
form and depth of space. It was rarely large in scale, was sometimes small,
occasionally very small. One of Maynard Smith's few powerful, tiny works
measures 1¾ x 2½ inches. [It is worth remembering Blake's
influential woodcuts for Thornton's Virgil, which for the most part measured
only 1½
x 3 inches]
Parallel
activities: The hospital building and the landscape painting shown above
were both completed in 1937.
The Administration Building at Runwell [photographed in 2003 by Bob
Clayden] was at the centre of a 1,000 bed hospital complex, which was
set in 500 acres of landscaped grounds with its own farm, market garden,
powerhouse and chapel. For the part Maynard Smith played in this major
scheme with Elcock & Sutcliffe, see the biography of RMS published
in 2004. The "Somerset
Landscape", its beckoning road a recurrent theme of his, resulted
from that year's summer holiday, typical of those the artist planned
annually as painting tours.
Development: The illustrations above suggest the artist's development over a period of twenty years. And by showing Runwell Mental Hospital above and the Shell Centre below, an even longer time-span of continuous and unrelenting architectural practice is revealed. This continuum, with its stressful demands on his time and energy, makes his prolific output as a painter even more remarkable.
