John Firth-Smith

JOHN FIRTH-SMITH

Born 1943 Melbourne

Lived in New Zealand

Studied National Art School, Sydney

Artist in Residence, Melbourne University

Trustee, Art Gallery of New South Wales

Tutor, International Art Workshop, Omaru, New Zealand

TRAVEL

Visited Northern Europe and worked in New York, USA

Visited USA, worked in New York

Samoa

Visited northern Europe lived and worked in New York.
Extensive travelling from New York to Maine, Return via Sarawak, Malaysia

West Africa, Paris and New York

Easter Island, Mexico & Egypt

Fiji Islands

UK, Europe and USA

Painting in Cill Railaig, County Kerry, Ireland

Ireland, UK and France

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne

John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne

Nevill Keating Contemporary, London

The New York Works, A Survey, Embassy of Australia, Washington DC

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

Lister Calder Gallery, Western Australia
Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

John Firth-Smith: A Voyage that Never Ends (book launch and exhibition), Roslyn OxIey9 Gallery, Sydney

Roslyn OxIey9 Gallery, Sydney

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Robert Lindsay Gallery, Melbourne
Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide

Roslyn OxIey9 Gallery, Sydney

Work on Paper: 1982-1992, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
New Lithographs, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

Gallery 52, Perth
In and On (lithographs), Blaxland Gallery, Sydney

Powell St Gallery, Melbourne

Inspiration and Reality, University of Melbourne

Gallery 52, Perth, Western Australia
Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane
Bottle and Boat (lithographs), Roslyn OxIey9 Gallery, Sydney

Works from New York, Axion Gallery, Melbourne
Works from New York, Gallery A, Sydney

Gallery A, Sydney
Bonython Art Gallery, Adelaide

Gallery A, Sydney
Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne

Bonython Art Gallery, Adelaide

Gallery A, Sydney
Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane

Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane
Realities Gallery, Melbourne

Gallery A, Sydney

Gallery A, Sydney

Gallery A, Sydney

Gallery A, Sydney

Gallery A, Sydney and Melbourne

Gallery A, Sydney and Melbourne

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

The Abstract Canvas, Wilson Street Gallery, Sydney

Almanac ,the gift of Ann Lewis AO, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

Gallery A, Campbelltown Regional Gallery

Ceramics, Australian Galleries, Mary Place, Paddington

Harbourlife, Sydney Harbour from the 1940s to recent times, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney, curated by Gavin Wilson

Stolen Ritual, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

Fireworks, Mackay Artspace touring exhibition, New South Wales, Queensland, and Victorian regional galleries

Landscape Now, Solander Gallery, Canberra

Hill End Scenes, People or Objects, Inaugural Exhibition, NPWS Gallery, Hill End

Spectrum 2004, FONAS, National Art School, Sydney

The Year in Art, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney

Australian Masters, Solander Gallery, Canberra

Beneath the Monsoon, Touring Regional Galleries, Queensland

Fifty Years of Abstraction, Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne

Points of View, University of Technology Sydney Art Collection, UTS, Sydney

The First 20 Years, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

MCA Unpacked, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

Silver, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
Fabric of Labour, BulIe Gallery, Melbourne
Three Generations, Solander Gallery, Canberra

Escape Artists: Modernists in the Tropics, Cairns Regional Gallery & travelling, QLD, NSW and VIC
Axia Modern Art Opening Exhibition, Melbourne

Australian Printmaking in the 1990's: Artist printmakers 1990-95, (exhibition and Sasha Grishin book launch), Sherman Galleries, Sydney

Swingtime Eastcoast- Westcoast: Works from the I 960s-70s in the University of Western Australia Art Collection, University of WA, Perth

The Artists of Hill End, Art Gallery of New South Wales & travelling New South Wales
Asia and Oceania Influence, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney

Contemporary Australian Art, Kuala Lumpur

Selection of Australian Works, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane

Modern Australian Paintings, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne

Australian Masters, Solander Gallery, Canberra

Works on Paper, R.M.I.T., Mebourne
Synthesis 6: Art & Architecture (with Lawrence Neild), Sydney 1988

Surface for Reflection, Art Gallery of New South Wales & travelling NSW
Australian Painters & Sculptors, Saitama, Japan Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane (inaugural exhibition)

A Resistant Spirit, Roslyn OxIey9 Gallery, Sydney & Realities Gallery, Melbourne

New Work, Powell Street Gallery

Abstract Art in Australia, R.M.I.T. Gallery Melbourne
Five Sydney Painters: The Wrong Place, University of Tasmania Art Gallery, Hobart
Twelve Australian Painters, Art Gallery of Western Australia
Perspecta `83, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Commonwealth Bank Contemporary Artists Exhibition, Sydney
Prix de Monaco Exhibition, Monte Carlo

Sydney Harbour Bridge 1932-1982, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Betty Cuningham Gallery, New York - with Lesley Dumbrell Invited
Structures, Newcastle Region Art Gallery
Invited Inaugural Singleton Art Prize `Anzas 82' Macquarie University, NSW
Group Exhibition, Darwin Art Gallery Northern Territory of works executed at Artists Camp, Kakadu National Park Northern Territory
Landscape Now, Solander Gallery, Canberra ACT

LIS `81, International Exhibition of Drawings, Lisbon Portugal

Survey 16, National Gallery of Victoria; and at Penrith Art Gallery and Lewers Bequest Museum, Penrith, New South Wales
Survey of the Seventies, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria

Summer Exhibition, Gallery A, Sydney

LIS `79, International Exhibition of Drawings, Lisbon & Opporto, Portugal

Contemporary Australian Art to Indonesia - Landscape and Image

Water Works, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education, Sydney

Group Show, Gallery A, Sydney
Australian Colourists `77, Western Australian Institute of Technology, Perth

Artists Films, touring Europe and USA

Joint exhibition with Tony Tuckson, Monash University, Melbourne
Ten Australians Gallery A, Sydney
The Ocean Expo `75, Okinawa, Japan

Artists Films, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Return to Sender, Exhibition, Florence, Italy
Ten Australians - Paris Stuttgart, Venice, Milan, Florence

William Angliss Prize, Melbourne

Biennale de Paris, France
Contemporary Australian Painting and Sculpture, New Zealand

The Biennale of Sydney, Sydney Opera House

Twenty Years of Australian Painting, London, UK Group Exhibition with Michael Johnson and Andrew NoIt, Gallery A, Sydney

Georges Prize, Melbourne

First Leasing Prize, Melbourne
Georges Prize, Melbourne

Japanese Forum Exhibition, Tokyo, Japan

Group 2, Gallery A, Sydney and Melbourne

New Generation Sydney, Gallery A, Melbourne

Helena Rubenstein Travelling Scholarship

Survey 6, Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
Australian Young Contemporaries, Perth

Survey 5, Blaxland Gallery, Sydney

Survey 4, Blaxland Gallery, Sydney

Joint Exhibition with Ian Van Wieringen, Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney

Joint exhibition with Ian Van Wieringen, Clune Galleries, Sydney

COLLECTIONS

ALCOA Pty Ltd, USA
ANZ Bank, Commission, Melbourne
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of South Australia
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Australian National Gallery, Canberra
Artbank
BHP Collection, Melbourne
Bathurst Art Gallery, New South Wales
Broken Hill City Art Gallery, New South Wales
C.B.A. Bank, Sydney
Commonwealth Loan Collection
Curtin University Collection, Perth
Dalby Art Gallery, Queensland
Geelong Art Gallery, Victoria
Georges Limited, Melbourne
Grafton City Council, New South Wales
McGregor Collection, Toowoomba, Queensland
Mildura Arts Centre, Victoria
Monash University Collection, Melbourne
National Bank of Australia
National Gallery of Victoria
Newcastle Region Art Gallery
Philip Morris Collection, Melbourne
Power Gallery, University of Sydney
Qantas Airways Collection, Sydney
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Shepparton Art Gallery, Victoria
Sydney Morning Herald Collection
Tarrawarra Museum of Art, Victoria

TownsvilIe City Gallery, Queensland
University of Melbourne Collection
University of Western Australia
Visual Arts Board, Australia Council
Windsor Council, New South Wales
Artbank Collection
Private Collections in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Europe and Asia

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“Collector's Dossier”, Australian Art Collector, issue 57, September 2011

John McDonald, “John Firth-Smith” exh. cat., Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

Anita Angel, “John Firth-Smith: From Here to There”, Press 8, Surry Hills, Sydney

Sunanda Creagh, “Open Gallery: John Firth-Smith,” Sydney Morning Herald (Spectrum: Visual Arts), July 30-31, p. 29

John McDonald, “Opposites Impact,” Sydney Morning Herald (Spectrum: Visual Arts), July 9-10, p. 28 - 29

Amanda Rowell, “John Firth-Smith: Expanded Horizon”, exh. cat., Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

Jacki Roberts, “World renowned artists on show at new Hill End Gallery”, http://www3.environment.nsw.gov.au

Amanda Hooton, “Two of Us: John Firth-Smith and Danelle Bergstrom,” (interviewed), Good Weekend, Sydney Morning Herald Magazine, August 2, 2003, p. 14

Mirjana Kos-Noskovic, “Maritime Painting and Meaning in the Abstract Work of John Firth-Smith,” dissertation, University of New South Wales, Sydney

Points of View (exh. cat.), University of Technology Sydney Art Collection, UTS, Sydney, p. 52,53

Anna Gray, Australian Art in the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Clara Mason, “Introduction,” Seawrack & Seaspawn: Scripts and Contextualisation for Bloomsday in Melbourne, Bloomsday in Melbourne Inc. Committee, Port Melbourne, Victoria

Barry Pearce, et al., Australian Art in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

Australian Painting Now eds. Laura Murray Cree and Nevill Drury, Craftsman House, Sydney

Gavin Wilson, John Firth-Smith: A Voyage that Never Ends, monograph, Fine Arts Press, Sydney

Gavin Wilson, Escape Artists: Modernists in the Tropics (exh. cat.), Cairns Regional Gallery, Queensland
Janet Hawley, “Water world,” Good Weekend, December 18
Andrew Frost, “Australia's 50 Most Collectable Artists,” Australian Art Collector, Issue 7, Jan-Mar, p 35, Illustrated

John McDonald, “Painting dead? The picture's not so bleak,” The Sydney Morning Herald,
pl 4s, July 18

Sasha Grishin, Australian Printmaking in the 1990's: Artist printmakers 1990-95, Craftsman House

John Firth-Smith, “A pitch black sea for me,” The Sydney Morning Herald, January 20

John McDonald, “Becoming what one is,” Sydney Morning Herald, p 12, October 26
Brook Turner, “Sea Change,” Sydney Morning Herald, Spectrum, p 15, October 19
G.E. DaI Pont, Lawyers' Professional Responsibility in Australia and New Zealand, Law Book Company, Sydney (book cover)

Gavin Wilson, The Artists of Hill End, Beagle Press and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

Terence Maloon, “A Matter of Metamorphosis,” Art and Australia, Vol. 31, No. 3, p 366 - 371, Illustrated
Bruce James, “Sea Pictures,” Australian Business Monthly, May, pp 130 - 135, Illustrated

Elwyn Lynn, “Primitive cool hints at maze of the mind,” The Weekend Australian, Aug 21-22

Elwyn Lynn, “Feeling abstracted from form and colour,” The Weekend Australian, Oct 13 -14
Terence Maloon, catalogue introduction, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, September

John McDonald, “Pattern Play,” Vogue Living, February, Illustrated

Elwyn Lynn, “From the sublime to the meticulous,” The Weekend Australian, Sept 17-18, p 12

James F. Walker, “Australia”, Artscribe, January, Illustrated p34-35 and Text

Christopher Coventry (curator), The Wrong Place: Five Sydney Painters, University of Tasmania, Catalogue Notes and Illustration, p. 4
Tony Bond, Twelve Australian Painters, A.G.W.A. Catalogue, Notes and Illustration pp. 14-15
Abstract Art in Australia, R.M.I.T. Catalogue, August, Illustrated with interview pp. 113 -124
Philip Morris Arts Grant Catalogue, Illustrated p. 32
Lily Brett, “The Painter The Artists Admire,” P01 April, Illustrated p. 50-54

Lilian Wood (ed), Directory of Australian Painters, Notes and Illustration, p. 15

The Seventies, National Bank Collection Catalogue, Illustration and Notes, p. 51

Paul McGillick - Exhibition Catalogue Introduction, Gallery A Exhibition, Illustrated
Robert Lindsay, Survey 16, National Gallery of Victoria, catalogue text and illustrations

Kim Bonython, Modern Australian Painting 1975-1980, Rigby Ltd., Adelaide, Illustrated p. 37
Pam Bell” ... like a gentle whale following the current ...“, Hemisphere, Vol. 24, No. 1, Illustrated, p. 44

Aspect - Interview, Vol 4, No. 3, Illustrated

Kim Bonython, Modern Australian Painting 19 70-1975, Rigby, Adelaide

Patrick McCaughey, Tuckson, Firth-Smith, Monash University Catalogue, Illustrated

Janine Burke, Art and Australia, Vol 12, pp. 72-81
Patrick McCaughey, Ten Australians catalogue, Europe exhibition

Kim Bonython, Modern Australian Painting 1960-1970, Rigby, Adelaide

Mervyn Horton, Present Day Art in Australia, Ure Smith, Sydney

Alan McCulloch, Encyclopaedia of Australia Art, Hutchinson & Co., London

`Young Australian Artists,' Chance Magazine, No. 4

Daniel Thomas, `Young Painters in Australia,' Hemisphere, April

AWARDS

Sydney Morning Herald Art Prize Civic Permanent Art Award, Canberra Broken Hill Art Prize

Bathurst Art Prize Dalby Art Prize Capital Permanent Award, Geelong Art Gallery

McCaughey Memorial Prize, Melbourne

Townsville Art Prize (Purchase)

Grafton Art Prize (Purchase) Georges Art Prize (Purchase)

Young Contemporaries Royal Easter Show - Modern

Young Contemporaries `B'Section Mirror-Waratah Under 22 Years Contemporary

Young Contemporaries `B'Section

Mirror-Waratah Under 22 Years Contemporary

COMMISSIONS

Hyatt Hotel, Melbourne, painting

Major private commissions, painting

Major private commissions, painting

Macquarie Apartments, Sydney, designed by Renzo Piano, painting

Deutsche Bank, Australia Square, Sydney, painting

Landmark Hotel, Kings Cross, Sydney, painting

Governor Phillip Tower, Sydney, designed by Denton Corker Marshall, commissioned by DCM Design for Sumitomo Tenancy, painting

ANA Hotel foyer, Sydney

State Bank, Sydney, painting

New Parliament House Tapestry design, Canberra
Convention Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney, painting
Hyatt Hotel Adelaide, painting
Monash Hospital Art Foundation, painting

Mural, 6 x 6Cm, commissioned by l.M. Pei for ANZ Bank Head Office, Collins Street, Melbourne. Building designed by I.M. Pei.

“Key” tapestry
Gallery A, executed by Victorian Tapestry Workshop.

National Capital Permanent Development Commission for Family Law Courts, Canberra
Private commissions

FILM BY ARTIST

From Here to There, 16mm, Black & White

FILMS ON ARTIST

The Big Painter, Film about ANZ Bank Commission, Melbourne, 30 mins
Ten Australians, (John Firth-Smith), Film by ABC Produced by Dale McRae, 30 mins.

Target, A.B.C., John Firth-Smith, 20 mins