Mervyn Smith
b. Sydney 11 December 1904
Architect and painter
Mervyn Smith lived for the first half of his life in Newcastle, for some years working as an architect. From 1949 to 1952 he lived in Newcastle again, working as a town planner for the then Northumberland County Coucil. He played a role in the replanning of Newcastle City Centre and the surrounding area. It was around this time that he began to evolve his distinctive style of painting, particularly seen in his Lake Macquarie paintings, and when he first became recognised as a significant painter.
In these early drawing plans for the Newcastle Civic Area from the 1942-52 period, one can see clearly the idea of a cultural centre with library and art gallery opposite the Town hall, acroos the park, much as it is now, with a fountain as a major feature.
Also of note is his plan to terminate the railway station at Civic with harbourside road plans east of that station. His family are unaware of the political significance these ideas have in the current time.
ARTIST’S COMMENTS:
“The painting is created in an instant. Energy flows through my hand, the brush and the paper. The magic happens when the brush doesn’t touch the paper – only the paint does.”
“The painting grows, it’s not there in the beginnning. It comes up like a fire.”
“I’m disinclined to be limited by an artificial horizon. I go to the outer heavens, if necessary, and I try to get that in my painting.”
POSITIONS OF NOTE
- Fellow, Royal Australian Institute of Architects
- Associate, Royal institute of British Architects
- Fellow, Royal Society of Health
- President, Contemporary Art Society of South Australia 1958 – 59
- President, Royal South Australian Society of Arts, 1967 – 70*
AWARDS
- 1955, 57, 58, 64 – Perth prize
- 1961 – Bendigo prize
- 1966 – Maude Vizrd-Wholon prize
- 1967 – L J Harvey prize for drawing
- 1984 – Royal Australian Institute of ArcAward for excellence in Fine Arts
REPRESENTATIONS & COLLECTIONS
- Australian National Gallery
- Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
- Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
- Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
- Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
- Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria
- Alice Springs Art Foundation, Northern Territory
- Naracoorte Art Gallery, South Australia
- Australian National University, Canberra
- Carrick Hill, South Australia
- Commonwealth Bank Collection, Adelaide
- Massachussettss Institute of Technology, U.S.A.
- Windsor and Newtown gallery, London
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Benko, Nancy. Art and Artists of South Australia.
- Campbell, Jean. Australian Watercolour Painters, 1780-1980.
- Germaine, Max. Artists and Galleries of Australia and new Zealand.
- Kroeger, John. Australian Artists
Visit the image gallery for this artist.