Trees by Moonlight

Charleston, South Carolina artist, Alice Ravenel Huger Smith, was a contemporary of Theodate Pope Riddle, and the two shared similar interests, such as Colonial architecture and historic preservation. Smith’s art was greatly influenced by the composition of Japanese woodblock prints. Smith succeeded at architectural rendering, illustration, and woodblock printing, but landscape painting was her true calling. The loose application of paint to paper, suggestive of a sketch, is typical of Smith’s style. Trees by Moonlight depicts a watery, night-time scene, with trees cast in the light of the pale moon that rises in the background.