Updated November 2026 · ranked by our popularity score (searches, visits and orders for each work) · 2 works by Robert Smith in our catalogue
In short
If you know one Robert Smith painting, it's probably The Kila Kona Masjid, Purana Qila, Delhi (1823), which hangs in the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven. Our catalogue has 2 works by Robert Smith. Below are the 2 people know best, each with its year, where to find it and what makes it special.
The museum that holds the most of the paintings on this page.
| Museum | City | Works by Robert Smith | Paintings from this list |
|---|---|---|---|
 Yale Center for British Art |
New Haven | 2 | The Kila Kona Masjid, Purana Qila, Delhi, Inside the Main Entrance of the Purana Qila, Delhi |
Every dated piece by Robert Smith on this page comes from a single year, 1823. Here they are.
Pick a year to see its pieces.
Top of the list is The Kila Kona Masjid, Purana Qila, Delhi (1823).
36 years old. Robert Smith was born in 1787, and The Kila Kona Masjid, Purana Qila, Delhi dates from 1823.
We have 2 works by Robert Smith in our catalogue.
You'll find most of them in Yale Center for British Art (New Haven). The museum list above has the full breakdown.
In 1823, more than any other time: 2 of the 2 pieces on this page date from then, The Kila Kona Masjid, Purana Qila, Delhi among them.
You can see 2 of the pieces on this page at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, including The Kila Kona Masjid, Purana Qila, Delhi and Inside the Main Entrance of the Purana Qila, Delhi.
Yes. Every painting on this page is available as a hand-painted oil reproduction or a print, in the size that suits you. Just open the painting's page to order.
Bideford, Devon, holds the origin of a man whose life was defined by lines, measurements, and the expansion of empire. Born in 1787, Robert Smith does not enter history as a professional painter, but as a Colonel of the Bengal Engineers. His hands were trained for the precision of the East India Company, tasked with surveying frontiers and managing the structural integrity of fortifications. Between 1805 and 1833, his world was shaped by the geography of India. He moves through landscapes of dust and stone, serving as an aide-de-camp to Sir George Nugent and conducting surveys across the Mirzapur area and the Delhi frontier.
The transition from technical drafting to artistic expression happens in the quiet intervals of military service. In 1814 and 1818, while stationed as Superintending Engineer in Penang, his focus shifts toward the documentation of Prince of Wales Island. He utilizes pencil, watercolour, and eventually oils to capture the architecture and the movement of people. These sketches are not mere records; they possess a specific structural clarity. His work captures the weight of buildings and the animation of groups in the foreground, often rendered with an intense attention to architectural detail.
The rhythm of his life follows the movement of troops and the demands of engineering. He is present during the Nepal War from 1815 to 1816, acting as a field engineer amidst conflict. Later, in Delhi, he applies his technical expertise to the restoration of Islamic monuments. His visual output expands beyond the Indian subcontinent to include views of Constantinople, specifically the Sarayburnu from Galata. The medium changes too; some of his more significant works are executed on copper, suggesting a period of creation in Europe, perhaps near Nice.
His later years see a retreat to more settled landscapes, though the memory of India remains central. After retiring to England in 1833, he lives in Bideford and later Paignton, Devon, where he builds Redclyffe Towers. His domestic spaces are filled with his own views, a personal collection intended to remind him of the terrain that occupied his career. Even as he settles into life in England and travels through Italy and France, the architectural precision of his earlier surveys remains the foundation of his visual legacy.
While Smith never sought the public eye or exhibition halls, his records remain held in significant repositories. His sketches and paintings are preserved within the following institutions:
His work exists as a bridge between the surveyor's map and the artist's observation. The technical accuracy required for his role in the Bengal Engineers informs every stroke of his watercolour and oil. He leaves behind a documented history of 19th-century landscapes, from the explosion of the magazine at Bharatpur to the quiet streets of Lucknow.
