George Smillie was born into an artistic family in New York, son of the noted engraver James Smillie, whose reproductions of the work of Thomas Cole and Asher B. Durand gave George his first exposure to painting. He, along with his older brother James, began their studies with their father, who instilled in his sons a meticulous nature and attention to detail that stemmed from the engraver trade. At the age of 21, George entered the studio of James MacDougal Hart, and a year later he began his public career, exhibiting his Hudson River School style paintings at the National Academy.

Although Smilie lived in New York City throughout his career, he took frequent trips to Long Island, along the Hudson River Valley, to the Adirondacks, and far west to the Rocky Mountains, painting the American landscape. After returning from a painting trip to the Rocky Mountains and Yosemite Valley with his brother in 1871, George traveled to Europe. It was here that he was exposed to the dominant Impressionist and Naturalist movements; the experience proved significant and upon his return to New York Smillie developed the light palette and strong brushwork that typifies his style. Boat at the Shore is an excellent example of this mode, with its palette of varying greens, silvers and blues and its firm, expressive brushwork which forms the stiff grasses and rippled surface of the water. The painter continued to paint in an increasingly brushy and colorful mode until his death in 1921.

Memberships
National Academy of Design
American Watercolor Soceiety Boston Art Club
Brooklyn Art Association

Collections
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence
Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
National Academy of Design, New York
Yale University Art Gallery
Brooklyn Museum of Art
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
New York Historical Society Oakland Museum of Art Union League Club of Philadelphia Parrish Art Museum