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

Mary Smith winner

Children's Hour by Mitzi Melnicoff, 161st Annual Exhibition 1966

Mary Smith winner

Dead Opossum by Jane Sperry Eisenstat, 153rd Annual Exhibition 1958

Mary Smith winner

Ipswich Sand Dunes #2 by Alice T. Roberts, 147th Annual Exhibition 1952

Mary Smith winner

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.



  1. 1879 Susan H. MacDowell
  2. 1880 Catherine A. Janvier
  3. 1881 Emily Sartain
  4. 1882 Mary K. Trotter
  5. 1883 Emily Sartain
  6. 1884 Lucy D. Holme
  7. 1885 Cecilia Beaux
  8. 1887 Cecilia Beaux
  9. 1888 Elizabeth F. Bonsall
  10. 1889 Elizabeth W. Roberts
  11. 1890 Alice Barber Stephens
  12. 1891 Cecilia Beaux
  13. 1892 Cecilia Beaux
  14. 1894 Maria L. Kirk
  15. 1895 Gabrielle D. Clements
  16. 1896 Elizabeth H. Watson
  17. 1897 Elizabeth F. Bonsall
  18. 1898 Caroline Peart
  19. 1899 Carol H. Beck
  20. 1900 Mar. F. R. Clay
  21. 1901 Janet Wheeler
  22. 1902 Elinor Earle
  23. 1903 Jessie Wilcox Smith
  24. 1904 Lillian M. Genth
  25. 1905 Elizabeth Shippen Green
  26. 1906 Alice Mumford
  27. 1907 Mary Smyth Perkins
  28. 1908 Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones
  29. 1909 Martha Walter
  30. 1910 Alice Mumford Roberts
  31. 1911 Alice Kent Stoddard
  32. 1912 Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones
  33. 1913 Alice Kent Stoddard
  34. 1914 Nina B. Ward
  35. 1915 Gertrude A. Lambert
  36. 1916 Nancy M. Ferguson
  37. 1917 Elizabeth F. Washington
  38. 1918 Helen K. McCarthy
  39. 1919 Juliet White Gross
  40. 1920 Mildred B. Miller
  41. 1921 Katherine Patton
  42. 1922 Mary Townsend Mason
  43. 1923 Isabel Branson Cartwright
  44. 1924 Lillian B. Messer
  45. 1925 Mary Butler
  46. 1926 Wenonah Bell
  47. 1927 Pearl Aimon Van Sciver
  48. 1928 Laura D. S. Ladd
  49. 1929 Edith McMurthrie
  50. 1930 Grace Gemberling
  51. 1931 Mildred B. Miller
  52. 1932 Virginia Armitage McCall
  53. 1933 Catherine Morris Wright
  54. 1934 Elizabeth F. Washington
  55. 1935 Margaretta S. Hinchman
  56. 1936 Alice T. Roberts
  57. 1937 Henriette Wyeth
  58. 1938 Irene Denney
  59. 1939 Mary Townsend Mason
  60. 1940 Frances Cowan
  61. 1941 Sarah Blakeslee
  62. 1942 Faye Swengel
  63. 1943 Margaretta S. Hinchman
  64. 1944 Doris Kunzie Weidner
  65. 1945 Catherine Grant
  66. 1946 Doris Kunzie Weidner
  67. 1947 Agnes Allen
  68. 1948 Violet Oakley
  69. 1949 Catherine Grant
  70. 1950 Marie-Celeste Fadden
  71. 1951 Rita Wolpe Barnett
  72. 1952 Alice T. Roberts
  73. 1953 Elsie Manville
  74. 1954 Dora Bortin
  75. 1958 Jane Sperry Eisenstat
  76. 1960 Cecelia Finberg
  77. 1962 Elizabeth C. Osborne
  78. 1964 Virginia Armitage McCall
  79. 1966 Mitzi Melnicoff
  80. 1968 Edna Andrade