Friendzine

Ben Kling

A rainy day at Radnor Lake. Listen below.

David Adams

"Tell Me What You Want" Listen below.

Kat Hallberg

"It stuck out to me immediately because of how stark and modern it looked in its frame compared to the rest of the room."

Joseph Lindon Smith was born in Rhode Island and studied art at Tufts before moving to Paris with one of his buddies and studying at an academy there. He loved travelling and was most inspired by painting the things and places he saw. He decided to visit Egypt for the first time in 1898 and totally fell in love.

What blows my mind are his paintings of the reliefs they would find. See this?

This is a painting.

Hey, and this?

No, this is not a chunk of wall. This is a painting.

There are so many facets of this amazing civilization that we'll never know because of would-be adventurers and tomb raiders who deal in illegal antiquities to make a living. But because of the archaeological expeditions of Joseph Lindon Smith and his colleagues, some of these precious glimpses of life in Ancient Egypt have been saved.

In addition to being an obscenely talented painter, Joseph also loved theater and would stage pageants and help his friends throw elaborate themed parties. He started an art collective with a bunch of his friends in Dublin, New Hampshire and it's still around today! He balanced all of this travelling and painting and partying while raising three kids with his wife. He was travelling and painting and partying right up until his passing in 1950 (at the age of 87).

It sounds like he was a vivacious man who lived a vivacious life. I love that his art isn’t just beautiful for art's sake, but beautiful for the history it keeps alive for us. Most of his work is available on display across different museums around New England. He also has a book called "Tombs, Temples, & Ancient Art" which features a lot of his paintings and tales of his travels.

Thanks for following me down this rabbit hole! Til next time!