John Firth-Smith (b. 1943) is a Sydney abstract painter. In the early 1960s he won a number of 'young artist' prizes for his paintings of yachts on Sydney Harbour, but by 1968 his work was becoming increasingly abstract, featuring large fields of opaque colour. Through the sixties, seventies and eighties he taught at various schools and institutions while exhibiting regularly and winning awards every two or three years. In 1974 he was the subject of a twenty-minute documentary on the ABC's Target programme, and his works were soon acquired by a number of corporate collections. In 1981 he completed the enormous commissioned project of 32 panels for the reception area of the ANZ Bank in Collins Place, Melbourne. Firth-Smith has travelled very widely and has lived and worked overseas for several periods. Still a successful artist, Firth-Smith is represented in most major Australian public galleries. This photograph was taken at his studio in Sydney during the years he was exhibiting at Gallery A.
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Gregory Weight/Copyright Agency, 2022
The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the
Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a
Reproduction request. For further information please contact
NPG Copyright.
