James David Smillie (1833 - 1909)
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Son of a Scottish engraver who developed the engraving of bank-notes, James David Smillie studied engraving at the National Academy of Design. He engraved on steel vignettes for bank-notes and engraved illustrations for F.O.C. Darley's pictures for James Fenimore Cooper's novels. In 1865, Smillie turned from engraving to painting and, in 1865, was elected an associate of the National Academy. Smillie also founded the American Water Color Society (1866), of which he was treasurer and president, as well as the New York Etching Club. Smillie worked primarily in oils and water colors. He is most noted forEvening Among the Sierras (1876) and The Cliffs of Normandy (1885). Further, Smillie wrote and illustrated an article on the Yosemite in the magazine Picturesque America.