Guy Grey-Smith

Infobox Artist
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name = Guy Grey-Smith


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birthdate = 1916
location = Wagin, Western Australia
deathdate = August 1981
deathplace = Western Australia
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field = Painting, printmaking and ceramics
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Guy Grey-Smith (1916 – August 1981) was a Western Australian painter, printmaker and ceramicist. Grey-Smith pioneered modernism in WA, and has been described as "one of Australia's most significant artists of the 20th century".cite news |first= |last= |coauthors=Buggins, Anne & Guest, Debbie |title=Gordon Stephenson, Guy Grey-Smith, Eric Edgar Cooke |work=Features |publisher="The West Australian" |date=9 November 2006 |page=6]

Personal life

Grey-Smith was born in Wagin, Western Australia in 1916,cite book |title= The encyclopedia of Australian art |last=McCulloch |first=Alan |year=1994 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location= |isbn= 1863733159 ] and joined the Royal Australian Air Force as a cadet when he was 20.cite web |url=http://www.evabreuerartdealer.com.au/cv/grey-smith_guy_bio.html |title=Guy Grey-Smith Biography |accessdate=2008-05-15 |publisher=Eva Breuer Art Dealer] Grey-Smith served in France for the Royal Air Force during World War II. While flying over Germany in 1940, his plane was shot down and Grey-Smith was captured and kept at at Stalag Luft III as a prisoner of war. Grey-Smith contracted tuberculosis and was sent to London for treatment, which included art therapy. In 1945, Grey-Smith began studying at the Chelsea School of Art, where he met and married a fellow student, Helen Dorothy Stanes. Grey-Smith attended the school until 1947, learning from Ceri Richards, Robert Medley and Henry Moore. He and Helen returned to Western Australia and set up a pottery studio at their home in Darlington.

In 1952, Grey-Smith's tuberculosis recurred, and upon recovery eight months later, he and Helen moved back to London. He studied fresco painting at the Central School of Arts and Crafts under Louis le Brocquy until 1954. Upon their return to Australia, Grey-Smith worked for the Education Department and Art Gallery before journeying across the Nullarbor and to the north-west of Western Australia, which inspired his work. Grey-Smith died at the age of 65 from a recurrence of tuberculosis, in August 1981.

Artwork and recognition

Grey-Smith formed the Perth Group in the late 1950s with fellow artists Robert Juniper, Brian McKay, Tom Gibbons and Maurice Stubbs. The group's aim was to promote European modernism, which was not yet accepted in Australia. Grey-Smith was influenced by Cezanne, English constructionist painters and the Western Australian landscape. He travelled throughout the state, including the Kimberley, Pilbara, Goldfields and South West regions, drawing and making notes in order to produce larger works back in his studio. [cite news |first=Ted |last=Snell |title=European modernism gets transposed locally |publisher="The Australian" |date=22 August 1996 |page=15]

At the time of his death, Grey-Smith's work was increasingly achieving recognition and is held in high regard today. In December 2007, Christie's auctioned one of his landscape paintings with an estimate of £1500 to £2500.cite news |first=Peter |last=Fish |title=Priced to sell - after some arm-twisting |url=http://business.smh.com.au/priced-to-sell--after-some-armtwisting-20080405-23ts.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2 |work=Business |publisher="The Sydney Morning Herald" |date=5 April 2008 |accessdate=2008-05-15] The painting sold for £29,300 (AU$64,000). According to art collector Max Grunberg, Grey-Smith paintings sold at a large auction during the 1990s for $18,000 to $20,000 would now sell for at least $40,000 to $45,000.

Grey-Smith won the Perth Prize for best Western Australian entry in 1955 and 1963, and the Perth Prize in 1964. In 1959, he was awarded the Murdoch Prize, and the Robin Hood Art Prize in 1962. He received the St George's Cathedral Prize in 1966 and 1967, and the Walter Murdoch Prize in 1967 and 1968. Grey-Smith was honoured with a Special Distinguished Artist and Scholar Grant from the Australia Council for the Arts in 1973 and an Order of Australia in 1981.

References

Persondata
NAME = Grey-Smith, Guy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Australian artist
DATE OF BIRTH = 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH = Wagin, Western Australia
DATE OF DEATH = August 1981
PLACE OF DEATH = Western Australia