Exhibition celebrates work of Allen Smith

He wasn’t a flamboyant character like some artists, he wasn’t larger than life or overbearing but what Allen Smith (1942-24) had was an amazing creative talent, writes Angela Cawley. 

Allen amassed an enormous amount of work and it deserves to be celebrated, so an exhibition full of his work will be held at the Gallery at St. Martins on Hungate, Lincoln, from February 13-23. 

Allen was also an author, but first love was painting with inspiration drawn from the Impressionists, especially Monet, Pissarro and Sisley. The Lincolnshire landscape was another stimulus. There are sketchbooks full of wonderful drawings. There are pastels and prints and portraits and paintings from his travels. A wonderful collection all for sale.

Allen taught Graphic Design at Lincoln College of Art and Design for 24 years so the exhibition organisers would love to see some of his students at the show. Among his possessions there were some of his teaching notes filed away and they’ll be some work from that time on display.

Allen had an amazing ability to focus in on whatever interested him, like only Allen could, it might be buying a computer, learning to play tennis or table tennis, cooking a special recipe. He needed to know every detail. 

He used this skill to research the life and work of Lincolnshire artist Herbert Rollett and published his biography which will also be available. Likewise, he wrote and produced Sir Thomas Bodley: His life and Times and at the time of his death he was writing about his hometown of Cleethorpes which he had nearly completed. 

Keenly interested in Lincoln and his environment he joined the Lincoln Society to comment on planning issues and published Winds of Change: A Short History of Modern Lincoln when the Society closed in 2003. 

Allen had kept all the papers from this time and If anyone is interested please come along to the Gallery.

Allen lived alone and worked in Lincoln most of his life. He was a bit of a loner with a close circle of friends. We would love to see you all at the exhibition to commemorate his life and work, please spread the word and be sure not to miss it.