Impressions of the Desert: The Art of Effie Anderson Smith

Impressions of the Desert – The Art of Effie Anderson Smith (1869-1955) presents a sampling of oil paintings by Arizona’s earliest female desert landscape impressionist. This book highlights E.A. Smith’s restrained brilliance in coloring and an individual technique that were her unique contributions to desert art and the foundation for Arizona Impressionism.

Effie Anderson Smith arrived in the Arizona Territory in 1895, married in Bisbee, and soon became a pioneer settler of the silver mining camp at Pearce. There she fell in love with Arizona’s vast deserts, distant mountains, glorious canyons and desert flora. Effie’s personal and emotional impressions of Cochise Stronghold, Cave Creek Canyon, the Sulphur Springs Valley and especially her Grand Canyon canvases won her critical acclaim.