Edward Smyth

Edward (Ned) Smyth grew up in New Jersey, outside of New York City, and he spent a lot of time in Florence and Rome as a child. His father, Craig Smyth is an art historian and was the director of the Institute of Fine Arts, part of New York University's graduate school. He took his family and Ned to Italy to conduct researh on Italian Renaissane art. When Ned was fourteen he worked on an excavation in northern Naples where he was responsible for cleaning mosaics. His work with mosaics became a major influence on his art. He changed majors in college from psychology to art. He received his first public commission in 1976.