Michael Smither is renowned as a painter, printmaker, sculptor and musician. His artworks have come to sit alongside our notion of identity as New Zealanders and have established his position as one of this country’s leading artists.
Born in New Plymouth, Smither was based there until his move to Auckland to attend Elam School of Fine Arts in 1959. He then returned to New Plymouth and spent the majority of the 1960s in the Taranaki region. Paintings and drawings of this period record his family life, the New Plymouth community and the landscape of the region. A painting completed during this period is New Plymouth Breakwater, painted while living with his parents in New Plymouth on his return from attending Elam in 1962.
During the 1980s Smither developed a unique understanding of the correlation between the world of colour and the world of sound. This led to the development of his own visual harmonic chart, which formed the basis for a series of abstract paintings, screenprints and sculptures.
In 2012 Smither completed the final works in another career-long series – capturing the Otago landscape. He took a hyper-surrealist approach to the mountains especially the Hawkdun Range of Central Otago, culminating in the breathtaking abyss of Snowstorm Hawkduns – a painting on full human scale, so the viewer feelsvdrawn into the heart of the central luminous crevasse.
Whether painting the Hawkdun Ranges, or visualizing his harmonic chart theory, Smither is a kind of ‘visual surgeon’ removing unnecessary matter, focusing instead on essential form and its simplified modelling in strong directional light, to reveal the extraordinary in the ordinary.
This exhibition brings together nearly seven decades of Smither’s iconic career. A selection of early preliminary drawings, paintings, sculptures and screenprints will be displayed across both ARTIS Gallery and Jonathan Grant Gallery.
For more information about any of the works featured here please contact us. To view the available works at ARTIS Gallery please click on the link below:
Michael Smither
Two Boats
Oil & acrylic on board
17 x 24cm
Signed & dated 2002
Price range:
NZ$5,000 - NZ$10,000
Michael Smither
Snowstorm Hawkduns
Oil & alkyd on board
1420 x 1600 mm
Signed & dated 2011
POA
Michael Smither
Maunganui Wharves
Oil on board
35.5 x 45.5 cm
Signed, titled & dated 1996
Price range:
NZ$10,000 - NZ$15,000
Michael Smither
Coromandel View II
Oil on board
230 x 1230 mm
Signed
Price range:
NZ$15,000 - NZ$20,000
Michael Smither
Ditch Diggers Central Otago
Pencil drawing
280 x 375 mm
Signed & dated 1961
NZ$3,200
Michael Smither
Untitled (couple sitting)
Pencil drawing
210 x 295 mm
Signed MDS '95
NZ$2,500
Michael Smither
Breakwater Rd
Crayon
195 x 250 mm
Signed & dated 1963
NZ$3,000
Michael Smither
Girl’s Face
Charcoal
590 x 420 mm
Initialled lower right
NZ$3,850
Michael Smither
Four figures & two birds
Pencil drawing
300 x 420 mm
Signed MDS '04
NZ$2,800
Michael Smither
John Gribben
Pencil drawing
420 x 290 mm
Signed MDS '05
NZ$3,500
Michael Smither
Hills Central Otago
Pencil Drawing
420 x 290 mm
Signed MDS 05
NZ$2,800
Michael Smither
Testing the Scones
Preliminary Pencil Drawing
630 x 505 mm
Signed & dated 1968
Michael Smither
Favourite Fishing Spot
Preliminary Pencil Drawing
295 x 420 mm
Initialled & dated '03
NZ$2,800
Michael Smither
Steak on Blue & White plate
Preliminary pencil drawing
320 x 500 mm
Signed MDS 2001
Michael Smither
Girl's Face
Preliminary drawing
225 x 300 cm
Signed MDS & dated '89
NZ$2,800
Michael Smither
Back Beach Surfers - New Plymouth
Pencil drawing
210 x 295 mm
Initialled '04
NZ$2,650
Michael Smither
Mahoenui Hill 1976-75
Pencil drawing
420 x 290 mm
Signed MDS 05
NZ$2,800
Michael Smither
Two Gulls
Preliminary Pencil Drawing
210 x 295 mm
Signed MDS & dated 2001
NZ$2,650
Michael Smither
From Harbour View Cafe
Preliminary Pencil Drawing
210 x 295 mm
Signed MDS & dated '96
NZ$2,650
