George Smart the Tailor of Frant: Artist in Cloth and Velvet Figures

George Smart was born in 1774 and died a pauper in Frant, Sussex, in 1846. In those years, he worked as a tailor, served as a soldier, raised a family—and, quietly created a series of unforgettable works of art that have come to be seen as great examples of English folk art. On his inclusion in a folk art show at the Tate Britain in 2014, Smart finally received the attention and widespread admiration that was his due—admiration that has culminated in this, the first book dedicated to his life and work. Drawing on the limited sources we have for his life, Jonathan Christie re-creates what we can know about his work and experiences, then goes on to sensitively extrapolate from that and his artwork to give us a fragmented, yet compelling picture of this charming, eccentric outsider artist.