Michael Smither Explained

Honorific Suffix:CNZM
Birth Name:Michael Duncan Smither
Birth Date:29 October 1939
Nationality:New Zealand
Education:Elam School of Fine Arts
Known For:Painting, print making and musical composition
Style:Modernist
Awards:Frances Hodgkins Fellowship, 1970

Michael Duncan Smither (born 29 October 1939)[1] is a New Zealand painter and composer.[2]

Background

Smither was born in New Plymouth and was educated at New Plymouth Boys' High School and Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland. While studying he worked part-time in a car spray-paint shop, an occupation which introduced Smither to the use of lacquer-based paints.

In 1959, Smither returned to New Plymouth, working part-time in arts-related jobs. His first solo exhibition was in 1961. In 1963 he married Elizabeth Harrington, who is better known as New Zealand Poet Elizabeth Smither. The two have three children, Sarah, Thomas and Joseph.

Smither separated from Elizabeth and eventually divorced. For a few years he was married to Rachel McAlpine, a writer.Smither now lives at Otama beach on the Coromandel Peninsula.

Smither was also influenced by Rita Angus and Lois White as he was studying. He turned to them for inspiration. Despite experiencing a minor stroke in 2014 and suffering from shingles, Michael Smither continues to paint and has no plans to stop anytime soon. "I would rather die with my brush in my hand or boots on of whatever you like to call it. There's no attraction to me in the idea of retiring and going on long holidays overseas and stuff like that. To me, I've always had to have a quotient of art involved in whatever it is I am doing. It's either music or painting or sculpture or environmental efforts."[3] He used to trade his artwork for boxes of groceries to keep his family feed.[4]

Work

Smither works in a variety of media - notably oils, acrylics, and screenprint - and on a variety of subjects. Domestic life is a major theme of many of his works, these scenes depicted with a rigorous yet idiosyncratic realism. A similar style is brought to his landscapes, many of which depict the Taranaki landscape around which he grew up. At least two of his paintings, The Family in the Van and Rocks with Mountain [5] have attained the status of iconic paintings in New Zealand. Rocks with Mountain is held by the Auckland Art Gallery.[6] Smither notes that he sold the Family in the Van for $300 after deducting commission in the early 1970s. It then sold in 2012 for $200,000.[7]

In the 1960s Michael Smither worked with his father Bill Smither producing many different screenprints. Screenprinting was not considered an "art" at this stage. After the death of his father in 1985, Michael Smither did not produce any screenprints for several years. Mount Taranaki is a frequent image in his screenprints.[8] Michael Smither continues to produce modestly priced screen prints alongside his paintings which continue to fetch high prices in art auctions.

Smither's paintings are characterized as being of a representational, hard-edged style. His approach has changed over the years, with his more recent works having more attention spent on the details of objects, people and places.[9]

He is the patron of community art gallery "Real Tart" in New Plymouth.[10]

Exhibitions

His first solo exhibition was in 1961. He had a comprehensive survey exhibition developed by the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth and toured through New Zealand in 1986[11] and a major exhibition in 2005 curated by the Auckland Art Gallery entitled The Wonder Years that also toured the country.[12] His paintings appear in the collections of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi O Tamaki, Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington and the Waikato Museum amongst others

Selected exhibition history

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1977

1978

1980

1981

1984

1992

2005

Selected works

Book covers

Record auction results

Michael Smither set the record for the most expensive painting sold that was painted by a living New Zealand artist when his 1967 painting entitled Sea Wall and Kingfisher sold for $342,000 in October 2019.[28] [29] This was eclipsed in December 2022, when his painting entitled Two Rock Pools sold under the hammer for $516,000.[30]

In 2019, Smither's painting of Saint Francis and the Wolf sold at auction for $240,000. The painting took almost 12 years to complete and incorporates Smither's Catholic faith, telling the story of St Francis of Assisi and a wolf that terrorized the Umbrian town of Gubbio in 1220. Saint Francis and the Wolf are sitting below ferns with the wolf staring out at the viewer while Saint Francis has his eyes closed.[31]

A 1993 painting Large Still Life with Green Plastic Plate also sold in 2019 for $180,000. This painting of a benchtop covering with cooking implements drying with shadows cast on the bench was described as expressing "the way these rhythms [between object and space] exist equally in the details of daily life as they do in the great natural formations of land and mountains".[32]

Michael Smither's 2001 painting of The Manifesto Café and Wine Bar, a well known venue in the 1990s on Auckland's Queen Street sold in auction in 2020 for $131,600. With its references to Edward Hoppers Nighthawks, Michael Smither describes it as a proposal of marriage between the seated couple "witnessed in a sidelong glance".[33] [34]

Music compositions

Performances

House in Parnell, Auckland

Michael Smither painted an aquatic themed mural on the staircase and entranceway to a house in Takutai Street, Parnell, over a 10-year period in the 1970s when he would come around to visit friends who lived in the house. The house (complete with the art work) sold in an auction for $4.18 million in May 2021. The new owner was "absolutely ecstatic" about the artwork.[38] [39]

Books

Michael Smither had many books of his art, with just one of them being Michael Smither - Painter.

Honours and awards

Smither was the recipient of the 1970 Frances Hodgkins Fellowship from the University of Otago. In the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the arts.[40]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Gribben, Trish . Michael Smither . Ron Sang Publications . 2004 . Auckland . 270.
  2. http://www.citygallery.org.nz/mainsite/michael-smither-the-wonder-years.html City Gallery Wellington
  3. News: Christian. Dionne . 2018-02-27. Artist Michael Smither busy painting his future. en-NZ. NZ Herald. 2020-09-15. 1170-0777.
  4. Web site: "I'm compelled to work. It's what keeps me alive, literally." . 2023-05-14 . NZ Herald . en-NZ.
  5. Web site: Michael Smither | Prints for Sale at NZ Fine Prints .
  6. Web site: Rocks with mountain. 2020-09-15. Auckland Art Gallery. en.
  7. Web site: 2015-02-15. Artists' royalties a controversial idea. 2021-03-22. Stuff. en.
  8. Web site: about us Michael Smither - Artist Painter Screenprints New Zealand Landscapes and Domestic Life. 2020-09-16. www.michael-smither.co.nz.
  9. Web site: Michael Smither. 2020-09-16. www.aesthete.co.nz.
  10. Web site: Real Tart . tact.org.nz . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061231124903/http://tact.org.nz/realtart.htm . 31 December 2006 . dead.
  11. Web site: Michael Smither . 2020-09-15 . christchurchartgallery.org.nz.
  12. Web site: City Gallery Wellington . 2020-09-15 . citygallery.org.nz . en.
  13. Web site: Contemporary New Zealand Painting 1965 . 9 January 2024.
  14. News: 5 March 1968 . Smither Included In Book On Painting . The Press (Christchurch) . 10.
  15. Web site: The Group . 9 January 2024.
  16. Book: Trevelyan, Jill . Peter McLeavey: the life and times of a New Zealand art dealer . McLeavey . Peter . 2013 . Te Papa Press . 978-0-9876688-4-4 . Wellington, New Zealand . 134-139, 411.
  17. Book: Art at Te Papa . 2009 . Te Papa Press . 978-1-877385-38-4 . MacAloon . William . Wellington, N.Z . 361 . McAloon . William . Museum of New Zealand . Museum of New Zealand.
  18. Web site: 111 Views of Mout Egmont . 9 January 2024.
  19. Web site: The Govett-Brewster's Great Show of its Purchases Over Ten Turbulent Years . 9 January 2024.
  20. Web site: Michael Smither . 13 January 2024.
  21. Book: Johnston, Alexa M. . Anxious Images: Aspects of Recent New Zealand . 1984 . Art Auckland Art Gallery . 65-71.
  22. Web site: Michael Smither .
  23. Book: Headlands: Thinking through New Zealand Art . 1992 . The Museum of contemporary Art [u.a.] . 978-1-875632-04-6 . Whiting . Cliff . Sydney . 20-21 . Murphy . Bernice . McCormack . John . Sotheran . Cheryll.
  24. Book: Dream Collectors: One Hundred Years of Art in New Zealand . 1992 . Te Papa Press . 090901048X . 108-109.
  25. Web site: Michael Smither: the Wonder Years . 9 January 2024.
  26. News: 24 June 1969 . Dolphin Show . The Press (Christchurch) . 6.
  27. News: 23 April 1986 . Rachel McAlpine, poet, turns to novel and play writing . The Press (Christchurch) . 11.
  28. Web site: 2019-10-23. Painting of Taranaki coastline breaks record for highest price paid at auction for living New Zealand artist's work. 2020-09-15. Stuff. en.
  29. Web site: 2019-10-24. Record sale price piece from living NZ artist explained. 2020-09-15. RNZ. en-nz.
  30. Web site: 2022-12-02 . NZ Artist sets record for highest price for a living artist . 2023-09-14 . RNZ . en-nz.
  31. Web site: Auction « Tue, 30 Jul, 2019 « Work 32 « International Art Centre. 2021-03-22. www.internationalartcentre.co.nz.
  32. Web site: Auction « Tue, 17 Nov, 2020 « Work 25 « International Art Centre. 2021-03-22. www.internationalartcentre.co.nz.
  33. Web site: September 8, 2020. Webb's Art Auction Raises Over 1.4 Million Immediately After Lockdown . 2021-03-22. www.scoop.co.nz.
  34. Web site: MICHAEL SMITHER Manifesto Café - Price Estimate: $75000 - $125000. 2021-03-22. auctions.webbs.co.nz.
  35. News: 1 June 1983 . Ballet choice . 12 January 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 18.
  36. News: 7 March 1984 . Early Christchurch set to music . 12 January 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 14.
  37. News: 15 September 1986 . Popular Play . 12 January 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 7.
  38. Web site: 2021-05-19. 'Art' house with Michael Smither painting sells at auction for $4.18m. 2021-09-25. Stuff. en.
  39. News: Painting by renowned Kiwi artist found in staircase of Auckland home to go under the hammer. en-NZ. TVNZ. 2021-09-25.
  40. Web site: Queen's Birthday honours list 2004 . 7 June 2004 . Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet . 30 May 2020.

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