Brief Biography-Xanthus Russell Smith was born in Philadelphia in 1839, the son of two artists, Russell, and Mary Russell. His mother taught him drawing and took him to Europe for two years, encountering much art. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Pennsylvania and exhibited there up to 1887. After that, Smith signed up with the navy, and as a captain's clerk during the civil war, he drew and painted warships in detail. His naval battle scenes achieved great success in America. He eventually retired to his family home at Glenside in 1877, where he mainly painted landscapes.