Michael Smither - Artist Info

About Michael Smither

  • Biography

    In Dunedin in 1970, Michael Smither took up the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship, established in 1966 by noted scholars Charles Brasch and his cousins Mary, Dora and Esmond de Beer. During this tenure, Smither kept a studio in Castle Street alongside Ralph Hotere and a young Jeffrey Harris.

    This oil on board piece contrasts cubist-influenced curved lines and subtle tonal graduations with the sharp angular shape of the canvas. The cross shaped canvas board echoes Smither’s Catholic upbringing and the same shape would be replicated again in subsequent works in 1970, which were tributes to the recently deceased Rita Angus, who had a strong influence on Smither.

    Smither wrote, “I decided to take th...

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