EXHIBITION

Paintings and Ceramics
3 December 2009 - 12 February 2010
The Winter Collectors' Exhibition 2009
15 July - 1 August 2009
Selected works
14 November - 1 December 2007

SELECTED WORKS

CURRICULUM VITAE

1943 Born, Melbourne, Australia

1945-52 Lived in New Zealand
1961 Studied National Art School, Sydney
1971 Visited Northern Europe and worked in New York, USA
1982 Visited USA, worked in New York
1983 Artist in Residence, Melbourne University
1985 Samoa
1989 Visited northern Europe lived and worked in New York. Extensive travelling from New York to Maine, Return via Sarawak, Malaysia
1991 Tutor, International Art Workshop, Omaru, New Zealand
1992-93 Travels to West Africa, Paris and New York
2000 Travels to Easter Island, Mexico & Egypt
2003 Travels Fiji Islands
2006 Travels Northern Europe, London, Washington DC and New York
2007 Visited Paris – worked in Kerry, Ireland
Trustee AGNSW 1986 – 1995

INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS

2009 Paintings and Ceramics, John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne
2007 Selected works, John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne
2006 “The New York Works, A Survey”, Embassy of Australia, Washington DC
2005 Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
2003 Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
2002 Lister Calder Gallery, Western Australia
2002 Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne
2001 Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
1999 “John Firth-Smith: A Voyage that Never Ends” (book launch and exhibition), Roslyn OxIey9 Gallery, Sydney
1998 Roslyn OxIey9 Gallery, Sydney
1996 Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
1994 Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
1994 Robert Lindsay Gallery, Melbourne
1994 Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
1993 Roslyn OxIey9 Gallery, Sydney
1992 “Work on Paper: 1982-1992,” Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
1990 Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
1990 “New Lithographs,” Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1988 Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
1987 Gallery 52, Perth
1987 “In and On” (lithographs), Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
1986 Powell St Gallery, Melbourne
1984 “Inspiration and Reality,” University of Melbourne
1983 Gallery 52, Perth, Western Australia
1983 Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane
1983 “Bottle and Boat” (lithographs), Roslyn OxIey9 Gallery, Sydney
1982 “Works from New York,” Axion Gallery, Melbourne
1982 “Works from New York,” Gallery A, Sydney
1981 Gallery A, Sydney
1981 Bonython Art Gallery, Adelaide
1979 Gallery A, Sydney
1979 Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne
1978 Bonython Art Gallery, Adelaide
1977 Gallery A, Sydney
1977 Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane
1976 Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane
1976 Realities Gallery, Melbourne
1975 Gallery A, Sydney
1973 Gallery A, Sydney
1972 Gallery A, Sydney
1970 Gallery A, Sydney
1969 Gallery A, Sydney and Melbourne
1966 Gallery A, Sydney and Melbourne

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2007 “Harbourlife” Manly Art Gallery & Museum
2006 “Stolen Ritual”, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
2005 “Fireworks,” Mackay Artspace touring exhibition, New South Wales, Queensland, and Victorian regional galleries
2005 “Landscape Now,” Solander Gallery, Canberra
2005 “Hill End Scenes, People or Objects,” Inaugural Exhibition, NPWS Gallery, Hill End
2004 “Spectrum 2004,” FONAS, National Art School, Sydney
2003 “The Year in Art,” S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
2003 “Australian Masters,” Solander Gallery, Canberra
2003 “Beneath the Monsoon,” Touring Regional Galleries, Queensland
2002 “Fifty Years of Abstraction,” Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne
2002 “Points of View,” University of Technology Sydney Art Collection, UTS, Sydney
2002 “The First 20 Years,” Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
2001 “MCA Unpacked” Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
1999 “Silver,” Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
1999 “Fabric of Labour,” BulIe Gallery, Melbourne
1999 `Three Generations,” Solander Gallery, Canberra
1998 “Escape Artists: Modernists in the Tropics,” Cairns Regional Gallery & travelling, QLD, NSW and VIC
1998 Axia Modern Art Opening Exhibition, Melbourne
1998 Australian Printmaking in the 1990's: Artist printmakers 1990-95, (exhibition and Sasha Grishin book launch), Sherman Galleries, Sydney
1997 “Swingtime Eastcoast- Westcoast: Works from the I 960s-70s in the University of Western Australia Art Collection,” University of WA, Perth
1995 “The Artists of Hill End”, Art Gallery of New South Wales & travelling New South Wales
1995 “Asia and Oceania Influence,” Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney “Contemporary Australian Art,” Kuala Lumpur 1995 “Selection of Australian Works,” Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
1994 “Modern Australian Paintings,” Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
1992 “Australian Masters”, Solander Gallery, Canberra “Works on Paper”, R.M.I.T., Mebourne
1992 “Synthesis 6: Art & Architecture” (with Lawrence Neild), Sydney 1988
1992 “Australian Masters”, Solander Gallery, Canberra
1987 “Surface for Reflection”, Art Gallery of New South Wales & travelling NSW
1987 “Australian Painters & Sculptors”, Saitama, Japan Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane (inaugural exhibition)
1986 “A Resistant Spirit”, Roslyn OxIey9 Gallery, Sydney & Realities Gallery, Melbourne
1984 “New Work”, Powell Street Gallery
1983 “Abstract Art in Australia”, R.M.I.T. Gallery Melbourne
1983 Five Sydney Painters “The Wrong Place”, University of Tasmania Art Gallery, Hobart
1983 “Twelve Australian Painters”, Art Gallery of Western Australia
1983 Perspecta `83, Art Gallery of New South Wales
1983 Commonwealth Bank Contemporary Artists Exhibition, Sydney
1983 “Prix de Monaco” Exhibition, Monte Carlo
1982 `Sydney Harbour Bridge 1932-1 982', Art Gallery of New South Wales
1982 Betty Cuningham Gallery, New York - with Lesley Dumbrell Invited
1982 “Structures” Newcastle Region Art Gallery
1982 Invited Inaugural Singleton Art Prize `Anzas 82' Macquarie University, NSW
1982 Group Exhibition, Darwin Art Gallery Northern Territory of works executed at Artists Camp, Kakadu National Park Northern Territory
1982 `Landscape Now', Solander Gallery, Canberra ACT
1981 `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
1981 `Survey of the Seventies' Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria
1980 Summer Exhibition, Gallery A, Sydney
1979 `LIS `79', International Exhibition of Drawings, Lisbon & Opporto, Portugal
1978 `Contemporary Australian Art to Indonesia - Landscape and Image
1978 `Water Works', Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education, Sydney
1977 Group Show, Gallery A, Sydney
1977 `Australian Colourists `77', Western Australian Institute of Technology, Perth
1976 Included `Artists Films', touring Europe and USA
1975 Joint exhibition with Tony Tuckson, Monash University, Melbourne
1975 `Ten Australians' Gallery A, Sydney
1975 `The Ocean' Expo `75, Okinawa, Japan
1974 Included `Artists Films', Art Gallery of New South Wales
1974 `Return to Sender' Exhibition, Florence, Italy
1974 `Ten Australians' - Paris Stuttgart, Venice, Milan, Florence Invited William Angliss Prize, Melbourne
1973 Invited Biennale de Paris, France
1973 `Contemporary Australian Painting and Sculpture', New Zealand `The Biennale of Sydney' Opera House, Sydney
1972 Included in `Twenty Years of Australian Painting', London, UK Group Exhibition with Michael Johnson and Andrew NoIt, 1972 Gallery A, Sydney Invited Georges Prize, Melbourne
1970 Invited First Leasing Prize, Melbourne
1970 Invited Georges Prize, Melbourne
1969 “Japanese Forum Exhibition”, Tokyo, Japan
1968 `Group 2', Gallery A, Sydney and Melbourne
1967 `New Generation Sydney', Gallery A, Melbourne
1966 Invited Helena Rubenstein Travelling Scholarship `Survey 6', Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
1966 `Australian Young Contemporaries' exhibition, Perth
1965 `Survey 5', Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
1964 `Survey 4', Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
1963 Joint Exhibition with Ian Van Wieringen, Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney
1962 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

2006 John McDonald, Catalogue introduction for Nevill Keating Contemporary Exhibition, London
2005 Sunanda Creagh, “Open Gallery: John Firth-Smith,” Sydney Morning Herald (Spectrum: Visual Arts), July 30-31, p. 29
2005 John McDonald, “Opposites Impact,” Sydney Morning Herald (Spectrum: Visual Arts), July 9-10, p. 28 - 29
2005 Amanda Rowell, “John Firth-Smith: Expanded Horizon”, exh. cat., Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
2003 Jacki Roberts, “World renowned artists on show at new Hill End Gallery”, http://www3.environment.nsw.gov.au
2003 Amanda Hooton, “Two of Us: John Firth-Smith and Danelle Bergstrom,” (interviewed), Good Weekend, Sydney Morning Herald Magazine, August 2, 2003, p. 14
2003 Mirjana Kos-Noskovic, “Maritime Painting and Meaning in the Abstract Work of John Firth-Smith,” dissertation, University of New South Wales, Sydney
2002 Points of View (exh. cat.), University of Technology Sydney Art Collection, UTS, Sydney, p. 52,53
2002 Anna Gray, Australian Art in the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
2001 Clara Mason, “Introduction,” Seawrack & Seaspawn: Scripts and Contextualisation for Bloomsday in Melbourne, Bloomsday in Melbourne Inc. Committee, Port Melbourne, Victoria
2001 Barry Pearce, et al., Australian Art in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2000 Australian Painting Now eds. Laura Murray Cree and Nevill Drury, Craftsman House, Sydney
1999 Gavin Wilson, John Firth-Smith: A Voyage that Never Ends, monograph, Fine Arts Press, Sydney
1999 Gavin Wilson, Escape Artists: Modernists in the Tropics (exh. cat.), Cairns Regional Gallery, Queensland
1999 Janet Hawley, “Water world,” Good Weekend, December 18
1999 Andrew Frost, “Australia's 50 Most Collectable Artists,” Australian Art Collector, Issue 7, Jan-Mar, p 35, Illustrated
1998 John McDonald, “Painting dead? The picture's not so bleak,” The Sydney Morning Herald,
pl 4s, July 18
1997 Sasha Grishin, Australian Printmaking in the 1990's: Artist printmakers 1990-95, Craftsman House
1997 John Firth-Smith, “A pitch black sea for me,” The Sydney Morning Herald, January 20
1996 John McDonald, “Becoming what one is,” Sydney Morning Herald, p 12, October 26
1996 Brook Turner, “Sea Change,” Sydney Morning Herald, Spectrum, p 15, October 19
1996 G.E. DaI Pont, Lawyers' Professional Responsibility in Australia and New Zealand, Law Book Company, Sydney (book cover)
1995 Gavin Wilson, The Artists of Hill End, Beagle Press and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1994 Terence Maloon, “A Matter of Metamorphosis,” Art and Australia, Vol. 31, No. 3, p 366 - 371, Illustrated
1994 Bruce James, “Sea Pictures,” Australian Business Monthly, May, pp 130 - 135, Illustrated
1993 Elwyn Lynn, “Primitive cool hints at maze of the mind,” The Weekend Australian, Aug 21-22
1990 Elwyn Lynn, “Feeling abstracted from form and colour,” The Weekend Australian, Oct 13 -14
1990 Terence Maloon, catalogue introduction, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, September
1989 John McDonald, “Pattern Play,” Vogue Living, February, Illustrated
1988 Elwyn Lynn, “From the sublime to the meticulous,” The Weekend Australian, Sept 17-18, p 12
1984 James F. Walker, “Australia”, Artscribe, January, Illustrated p34-35 and Text
1983 Christopher Coventry (curator), The Wrong Place: Five Sydney Painters, University of Tasmania, Catalogue Notes and Illustration, p. 4
1983 Tony Bond, Twelve Australian Painters, A.G.W.A. Catalogue, Notes and Illustration pp. 14-15
1983 Abstract Art in Australia, R.M.I.T. Catalogue, August, Illustrated with interview pp. 113 -124
1983 Philip Morris Arts Grant Catalogue, Illustrated p. 32
1983 Lily Brett, “The Painter The Artists Admire,” P01 April, Illustrated p. 50-54
1982 Lilian Wood (ed), Directory of Australian Painters, Notes and Illustration, p. 15
1982 The Seventies, National Bank Collection Catalogue, Illustration and Notes, p. 51
1981 Paul McGillick - Exhibition Catalogue Introduction, Gallery A Exhibition, Illustrated
1981 Robert Lindsay, Survey 16, National Gallery of Victoria, catalogue text and illustrations
1980 Kim Bonython, Modern Australian Painting 1975-1980, Rigby Ltd., Adelaide, Illustrated p. 37
1980 Pam Bell” ... like a gentle whale following the current ...“, Hemisphere, Vol. 24, No. 1, Illustrated, p. 44
1979 Aspect - Interview, Vol 4, No. 3, Illustrated
1976 Kim Bonython, Modern Australian Painting 19 70-1975, Rigby, Adelaide
1975 Patrick McCaughey, Tuckson, Firth-Smith, Monash University Catalogue, Illustrated
1974 Janine Burke, Art and Australia, Vol 12, pp. 72-81
1974 Patrick McCaughey, Ten Australians catalogue, Europe exhibition
1970 Kim Bonython, Modern Australian Painting 1960-1970, Rigby, Adelaide
1969 Mervyn Horton, Present Day Art in Australia, Ure Smith, Sydney
1968 Alan McCulloch, Encyclopaedia of Australia Art, Hutchinson & Co., London
1967 `Young Australian Artists,' Chance Magazine, No. 4
1964 Daniel Thomas, `Young Painters in Australia,' Hemisphere, April

AWARDS

1978 Sydney Morning Herald Art Prize Civic Permanent Art Award, Canberra Broken Hill Art Prize
1977 Bathurst Art Prize Dalby Art Prize Capital Permanent Award, Geelong Art Gallery
1975 McCaughey Memorial Prize, Melbourne
1974 Townsville Art Prize (Purchase)
1972 Grafton Art Prize (Purchase) Georges Art Prize (Purchase)
1968 Young Contemporaries Royal Easter Show - Modern
1964 Young Contemporaries `B'Section Mirror-Waratah Under 22 Years Contemporary
1963 Young Contemporaries `B'Section
1962 Mirror-Waratah Under 22 Years Contemporary

COMMISSIONS

2000 Macquarie Apartments, Sydney, designed by Renzo Piano, painting
1998 Deutsche Bank, Australia Square, Sydney, painting
1997 Landmark Hotel, Kings Cross, Sydney, painting
1993 Governor Phillip Tower, Sydney, designed by Denton Corker Marshall, commissioned by DCM Design for Sumitomo Tenancy, painting
1992 ANA Hotel foyer, Sydney
1988 State Bank, Sydney, painting
1987 New Parliament House Tapestry design, Canberra
1987 Convention Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney, painting
1987 Hyatt Hotel Adelaide, painting
1987 Monash Hospital Art Foundation, painting
1981 Mural, 6 x 6 m, commissioned by l.M. Pei for ANZ Bank Head Office, Collins Street, Melbourne. Building designed by I.M. Pei. Tapestry of “Key”, commissioned by
1981 Gallery A, executed by Victorian Tapestry Workshop.
1980 National Capital Permanent Development Commission for Family Law Courts, Canberra
Also completed several private commissions for domestic interiors

                 
FILM BY ARTIST

1973 “From Here to There” 16mm, Black & White

FILMS ON ARTIST

1980 “The Big Painter”, Film about ANZ Bank Commission, Melbourne, 30 mins
1980 “Ten Australians” (John Firth-Smith), Film by ABC Produced by Dale McRae, 30 mins.
1975 Target, A.B.C., John Firth-Smith, 20 mins