Mary Russell Smith (1842 – 1878): A Pioneer of Botanical Impressionism Mary Russell Smith was born in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, on December 26, 1842, the daughter of William Thompson Russell Smith and Mary Priscilla Wilson Smith. Her parents were both accomplished landscape painters who instilled in her a lifelong passion for observing and capturing the beauty of the natural world—a fascination that would profoundly shape her artistic vision. Growing up amidst the intellectual ferment of Philadelphia’s Victorian era, Smith benefited from a privileged upbringing characterized by access to edu…