David Smith was born in Lowestoft in 1920 and studied at the Slade winning the Abbey Major Rome Scholarship in 1949. He showed regularly at the RA and the London Group and was elected RE in 1951. He had over 60 shows and a retrospective at Bankside Gallery in 1996. Watercolour hugely influenced by Eric Ravilious. His work is represented in numerous collections including HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Barclays Bank and Sheffield.