About E Darin Smith

Born, Uktan Selami Demirci in Edirne, Smith and his family immigrated to the United States in 1960. Upon their arrival in Philadelphia, they changed their name from Demirci to the Anglicized name Smith. His father was educated as an engineer in Paris, and was elected to the Turkish parliament. The family fled to the US, in part, due to their opposition to the military coup taking place in Turkey at the time. Smith grew up in the Philadelphia area and graduated from University of Pennsylvania. He worked in several investment banks before moving to Richmond, Virginia to found Capitol Capital Services, and later become the chairman of RVA Riviera Fund.

His collection, which mostly features works by Turkish and American contemporary artists, and a collection of Ottoman and Persian Manuscripts, was inspired to collect by his grandmother, who spent time amongst the Young Turks during the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

His core beliefs can be summed up by friend and collector, “We’re living together on this planet. We’re all the same. We might have different faiths, but at the core we all share certain fundamental tenants. This art is one way to sort of see that commonality.”