Mary Smith Prize
The Mary Smith Prize of $300, founded by Russell Smith in 1879, has been awarded up to 1968. The prize has been awarded to the best painting (not excluding portraits), exhibited at the Academy, painted by a woman artist, resident of Philadelphia, for qualities ranking as follows: 1st, Originality of subject; 2nd, beauty of design of drawing; 3rd, color and effect; and lastly, execution. The academy will have no claim on the painting. The same artist may not receive the prize twice in succession, and not more than twice in all.
Russell Smith established the Mary Smith Prize following her death. Mary Russell Smith had designated that upon her death the proceeds of the sale of her paintings should be used to fund the prize, to be awarded to women artists.
Mary Russell Smith was the daughter of landscape and theatrical scenery painter William Thompson Russell Smith (Russell Smith) (1812–1896) and amateur artist Mary Priscilla Wilson Smith (1819–1874). Both of her parents exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Mary and her brother, Xanthus Russell Smith, both developed an interest in painting. Xanthus attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Mary exhibited her paintings of rabbits, chicks, and other animals there 1859 to 1869, and again between 1876 and 1878.
Browse more photographs of Mary Smith prize winning paintings from PAFA's Annual Exhibitions here.
Children's Hour by Mitzi Melnicoff, 161st Annual Exhibition 1966
Dead Opossum by Jane Sperry Eisenstat, 153rd Annual Exhibition 1958
Ipswich Sand Dunes #2 by Alice T. Roberts, 147th Annual Exhibition 1952
Yellow Hat by Elsie Manville,, 148th Annual Exhibition 1953
* You can search by year, first name, or last name to narrow your search. Please note that when you type in the search bar, the list will automatically update and filter your search term for an exact match.
- 1879 Susan H. MacDowell
- 1880 Catherine A. Janvier
- 1881 Emily Sartain
- 1882 Mary K. Trotter
- 1883 Emily Sartain
- 1884 Lucy D. Holme
- 1885 Cecilia Beaux
- 1887 Cecilia Beaux
- 1888 Elizabeth F. Bonsall
- 1889 Elizabeth W. Roberts
- 1890 Alice Barber Stephens
- 1891 Cecilia Beaux
- 1892 Cecilia Beaux
- 1894 Maria L. Kirk
- 1895 Gabrielle D. Clements
- 1896 Elizabeth H. Watson
- 1897 Elizabeth F. Bonsall
- 1898 Caroline Peart
- 1899 Carol H. Beck
- 1900 Mar. F. R. Clay
- 1901 Janet Wheeler
- 1902 Elinor Earle
- 1903 Jessie Wilcox Smith
- 1904 Lillian M. Genth
- 1905 Elizabeth Shippen Green
- 1906 Alice Mumford
- 1907 Mary Smyth Perkins
- 1908 Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones
- 1909 Martha Walter
- 1910 Alice Mumford Roberts
- 1911 Alice Kent Stoddard
- 1912 Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones
- 1913 Alice Kent Stoddard
- 1914 Nina B. Ward
- 1915 Gertrude A. Lambert
- 1916 Nancy M. Ferguson
- 1917 Elizabeth F. Washington
- 1918 Helen K. McCarthy
- 1919 Juliet White Gross
- 1920 Mildred B. Miller
- 1921 Katherine Patton
- 1922 Mary Townsend Mason
- 1923 Isabel Branson Cartwright
- 1924 Lillian B. Messer
- 1925 Mary Butler
- 1926 Wenonah Bell
- 1927 Pearl Aimon Van Sciver
- 1928 Laura D. S. Ladd
- 1929 Edith McMurthrie
- 1930 Grace Gemberling
- 1931 Mildred B. Miller
- 1932 Virginia Armitage McCall
- 1933 Catherine Morris Wright
- 1934 Elizabeth F. Washington
- 1935 Margaretta S. Hinchman
- 1936 Alice T. Roberts
- 1937 Henriette Wyeth
- 1938 Irene Denney
- 1939 Mary Townsend Mason
- 1940 Frances Cowan
- 1941 Sarah Blakeslee
- 1942 Faye Swengel
- 1943 Margaretta S. Hinchman
- 1944 Doris Kunzie Weidner
- 1945 Catherine Grant
- 1946 Doris Kunzie Weidner
- 1947 Agnes Allen
- 1948 Violet Oakley
- 1949 Catherine Grant
- 1950 Marie-Celeste Fadden
- 1951 Rita Wolpe Barnett
- 1952 Alice T. Roberts
- 1953 Elsie Manville
- 1954 Dora Bortin
- 1958 Jane Sperry Eisenstat
- 1960 Cecelia Finberg
- 1962 Elizabeth C. Osborne
- 1964 Virginia Armitage McCall
- 1966 Mitzi Melnicoff
- 1968 Edna Andrade