Michael Smither—Essay by Alison Bartley
Michael Smither is an artist who responds to his environment. The places he lived and the people close to him are often the subject matter for his hard-edge paintings and prints. Smither was born in New Plymouth in 1939, and he grew up in proximity to Taranaki Maunga. His hometown, daily life, and the mountain became recurrent themes in his artwork. The four works in this catalogue offer a representative view of his subject matter, and span in production dates from 1964 through to 2007.
Lot 57. Michael Smither, Back Beach, 1976, oil on canvas, 1210 x 1730mm. EST. $180,000—$220,000
The sky is blue, the surf is up, the tide is out. This beach scene, redolent of so many beaches around the motu, is also a specific place. It is Back Beach, located to the south of New Plymouth’s landmark 156-metre-tall Paritutu Rock, a walk or short drive from the city centre. Michael Smither was born and raised in New Plymouth, and returned to live in his home town after studying at the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. If the number of sketches, paintings and prints, from different angles at different times of day, is any indication, Back Beach was a compelling and much-loved spot for Smither.
The scene is recognisable, stylised, and, if not seen in a historical way, timeless. It belongs in a lineage of twentieth-century regional realism that began in the 1930s with artists such as Rita Angus – think of her 1936 painting of Cass railway station near Arthur’s Pass. Regionalist artists sought to depict something specific of this land and to distinguish local painting from European landscape traditions. A key difference was seen to be our stronger light, which sharply delineates forms. Thus a ‘hard-edged’ realism developed to identify a place quite different to that infused by a softer, hazier light. Interest in these ideas resurged in the 1960s with painters like Don Binney and Robin White – again, think of White’s many landscapes around the country, from the Maketu fish and chip shop to the many versions of the harbour cone near Dunedin.
What we see in this painting contains key elements of the genre: strong outlines, broad areas of colour and flattened forms. The sun casts strong shadows and we see the rocks in the foreground reflected in the pools surrounding them. Smither’s attention to detail can also be seen in the delineation of the high-tide line on the rocks. The graphic quality is complicated with softer, smaller brush marks on the waves as they break on the shore, and on the rocks in the background.
Left to Right. Lot 57. Michael Smither, Back Beach, 1976, oil on canvas, 1210 x 1730mm. EST. $180,000—$220,000
Lot 54. Don Binney, Two Aspects of Tokatoka, 1980, oil on board, 1200 x 920mm. EST. $350,000—$500,000
Although this is a popular beach for swimming, surfing and strolling, and even though Smither is also renowned for his paintings of people, what we see, as in most of his Taranaki coastscapes, is unpopulated. There are no people enjoying or using the environment, or small children playing in the rock pools.
This painting was made in the era the late curator Ron Brownson named ‘The Wonder Years’, Smither’s very productive period from 1962 to 1979, when he returned to live in New Plymouth. The Wonder Years, with accompanying publication, was an exhibition curated by Brownson for the Auckland City Art Gallery that toured the country, as had his comprehensive survey exhibition developed by the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth in 1986. His paintings are included in major public gallery collections, including the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington and the Waikato Museum, amongst others.
In 2019 Smither’s paintings started breaking records for auction sales of works by living artists – two significant records feature paintings of the Taranaki coast. Sea Wall and Kingfisher (1967) sold for $342,000—the previous record was $219,00, for a work by Bill Hammond. Then in December 2022, Two Rock Pools sold for $516,000.
In 2004 he was awarded a CNZM (Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit) for his contribution to the arts. Renowned and respected, Smither, now in his 80s, continues to paint and produce screen prints.
24.11.25
Works of Art | Live Auction
Printed Catalogue
Works of Art
Auction Details
Live Auction, Auckland
Monday 24 November, 6.30pm
Auckland
Launch: Tue 18 Nov, 6—8pm
Viewing: 19—23 Nov
Live Auction: Mon 24 Nov, 6.30pm
33a Normanby Rd, Mt Eden