William Thomas Smedley (March 26, 1858 – 1920), American artist, was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, of a Quaker.

He worked on a newspaper, then studied engraving and art in Philadelphia, in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and—after making a tour of the South Seas—in Paris under Jean-Paul Laurens. He settled in New York City in 1880; in 1882 went with the Marquis of Lorne through Canada, preparing sketches for Picturesque Canada; and in 1905 became a member of the National Academy of Design.

Most of his work was magazine and book illustration for stories of modern life, but he painted portraits and watercolours, and received the Evans Prize of the American Water Color Society in 1890, and a bronze medal at the Paris Exposition of 1900.

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.