Gordon A. Smith
Encyclopedia
Gordon Appelbe Smith, born June 18, 1919 (age 92) in East Brighton, England
, is a Canadian painter
, printmaker, sculptor, and teacher
living in West Vancouver, British Columbia
. Smith taught with contemporaries Alistair Bell, B.C. Binning, and Jack Shadbolt
at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art and Design) for ten years, then 26 years at the University of British Columbia
before retiring in 1982 to paint full time.
and to the Tate
. They often walked the English countryside for inspiration in their work. The father critiqued the boys' paintings regularly. Great care was taken with their education. The brothers attended the Harrow County School for Boys where Gordon received four years of formal art training and several prizes for his art.
In 1933, Smith's parents separated. His mother Daisy Smith took the boys to live in Winnipeg, Canada. Gordon did not see his father again until he went to England as an intelligence officer during World War II.
Before Smith went overseas for war service he took a vacation in Vancouver. He met and befriended Marion Fleming, newly graduated from the University of British Columbia (UBC). In 1941 they were married and Marion worked as a social worker while Gordon was away in the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
Regiment. In Sicily, in 1943, Smith was seriously wounded. His shattered leg would require a long recovery period. In 1944 he returned to Vancouver where the Vancouver Art Gallery
had a solo show for the work he produced overseas. In 1953 Gordon and Marion Smith move to the North Shore of Vancouver into their first house designed by renowned Modernist architect Arthur Erickson
. The need for a larger studio space prompted them to move to a second new house they commissioned of friend Erickson in 1966. In 2010, after almost 7 decades of marriage the Smiths still live there.
Smith continues to be involved in the contemporary art scene. He has exhibitions regularly at the Equinox Gallery in Vancouver. He still gives a talk on special occasions like the opening of the West Vancouver Community Centre in 2009. He is always forward thinking about his new work and continues to encourage emerging artists. A quiet, modest, yet confident man, Smith has said when praised for his work "I am a hundred artists deep." The focus is taken off himself and onto his influences.
in 1996. He is an Education Professor
Emeritus at the University of British Columbia
(UBC). In 2007 he received the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts. In March 2009 at The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, he was named a laureate and presented with the Governor General's Award in the Visual and Media Arts.
in Ottawa, the Museum of Modern Art
in New York
, the Smithsonian Institution
in Washington D.C. and in the Victoria and Albert Museum
in London, England, as well as the Vancouver Art Gallery. He continues to have regular exhibitions of his large works at the Equinox Gallery in Vanouver. As a well-respected contemporary painter his works fill many corporate and private collections. In 2009 his massive wall sculpture http://westvancouver.ca/Level3.aspx?id=24558 "Beach Tangle" was installed in the lobby of the West Vancouver Community Centre, one of the venues for celebration during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, is a Canadian painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, printmaker, sculptor, and teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
living in West Vancouver, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. Smith taught with contemporaries Alistair Bell, B.C. Binning, and Jack Shadbolt
Jack Shadbolt
Jack Leonard Shadbolt, OC, OBC was a Canadian painter.-Early life:Born in Shoeburyness, England, Shadbolt came to Canada with his parents in 1912...
at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art and Design) for ten years, then 26 years at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
before retiring in 1982 to paint full time.
Biography
Gordon Smith's father William George Smith, was an amateur watercolourist. He took Gordon and his brother Donald on frequent visits to the National Gallery, LondonNational Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
and to the Tate
Tate
-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...
. They often walked the English countryside for inspiration in their work. The father critiqued the boys' paintings regularly. Great care was taken with their education. The brothers attended the Harrow County School for Boys where Gordon received four years of formal art training and several prizes for his art.
In 1933, Smith's parents separated. His mother Daisy Smith took the boys to live in Winnipeg, Canada. Gordon did not see his father again until he went to England as an intelligence officer during World War II.
Before Smith went overseas for war service he took a vacation in Vancouver. He met and befriended Marion Fleming, newly graduated from the University of British Columbia (UBC). In 1941 they were married and Marion worked as a social worker while Gordon was away in the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry is one of the three regular force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army. The regiment is composed of four battalions including a primary reserve battalion, for a total of 2,000 soldiers...
Regiment. In Sicily, in 1943, Smith was seriously wounded. His shattered leg would require a long recovery period. In 1944 he returned to Vancouver where the Vancouver Art Gallery
Vancouver Art Gallery
The Vancouver Art Gallery is the fifth-largest art gallery in Canada and the largest in Western Canada. It is located at 750 Hornby Street in Vancouver, British Columbia...
had a solo show for the work he produced overseas. In 1953 Gordon and Marion Smith move to the North Shore of Vancouver into their first house designed by renowned Modernist architect Arthur Erickson
Arthur Erickson
Arthur Charles Erickson, was a Canadian architect and urban planner. He studied Asian languages at the University of British Columbia, and later earned a degree in architecture from McGill University.-Biography:...
. The need for a larger studio space prompted them to move to a second new house they commissioned of friend Erickson in 1966. In 2010, after almost 7 decades of marriage the Smiths still live there.
Smith continues to be involved in the contemporary art scene. He has exhibitions regularly at the Equinox Gallery in Vancouver. He still gives a talk on special occasions like the opening of the West Vancouver Community Centre in 2009. He is always forward thinking about his new work and continues to encourage emerging artists. A quiet, modest, yet confident man, Smith has said when praised for his work "I am a hundred artists deep." The focus is taken off himself and onto his influences.
Education
- 1937-1940 Winnipeg School of Art
- 1944 teacher training at Normal School, Vancouver
- 1944 was accepted into 4th year at Vancouver School of Art
- 1951 summer courses at California School of Fine Arts
- 1957 summer art history courses at Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
Teacher/Educator
- 1937-1940 taught children - Winnipeg Art GalleryWinnipeg Art GalleryThe Winnipeg Art Gallery is a public art gallery that was founded in 1912. It is Western Canada's oldest civic gallery and the 6th largest in the country...
- 1944 welcomed by important artist Charles Hepborn Scott to teach night school at Vancouver School of Art
- 1944 started Vancouver School Board teaching summer courses for teachers, emphasizing that teaching is an art form too
- 1946 started teaching graphics, design and commercial art at Vancouver School of Art full time with colleagues, Binning, Shadbolt, Bell and Bruno Bobak
- 1946 started summer teaching at Victoria Normal School art methods to teachers, especially the importance of personal expression in art
- 1956 invited to teach, new faculty of Education Department at UBC to train teachers, exposing them to wide range of influences/experiences to form personal voice in art
- 1958 begins teaching summer workshops, Kelowna, Jasper, Banff and throughout Canada
Selected Influences/Experiences
- 1937-1940 employed part-time as draftsman, Brigden's firm, Winnipeg in design department
- 1939 visit to San Francisco for the Golden Gate International Exposition - exposed to work of European, American and Canadian Modernist artists
- 1941 marries Marion Fleming, his lifelong supporter
- 1942/43 made maps and topographical sketches in England, Scotland and Europe; visited artists, galleries and museums, during WWII
- 1944 employed part-time with the Vancouver Sun, art/design department
- 1944 contacted by painter, educator W.P. Weston (1879–1967) - suggested Smith go into teaching
- 1944 studied under important Canadian Modernists B.C Binning and Jack Shadbolt and became friends with them, as well as becoming part of social group with Alister and Betty Bell, Arthur Erickson, Geoffrey Massey, Jessie Binning, Bess and Lawren HarrisLawren HarrisLawren Stewart Harris, CC was a Canadian painter. He was born in Brantford, Ontario and is best known as a member the Group of Seven who pioneered a distinctly Canadian painting style in the early twentieth century. A. Y. Jackson has been quoted as saying that Harris provided the stimulus for the...
, Nan Chaney, and the Andrew family - 1944 first one man show at the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG)
- 1947 second one man show at VAG
- 1947 visits Alert Bay, location known to Emily CarrEmily CarrEmily Carr was a Canadian artist and writer heavily inspired by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the first painters in Canada to adopt a post-impressionist painting style, Carr did not receive widespread recognition for her work until later in her life...
and other important B.C. artists - 1949 involved with Design for Living show with Binning at VAG about the importance of design and art in daily life
- 1951 in San Francisco sees Abstract Expressionist art of Elmer BischoffElmer BischoffElmer Nelson Bischoff was a visual artist in the San Francisco Bay Area.Bischoff, along with Richard Diebenkorn and David Park, was part of the post-World War II generation of artists who started as abstract painters and found their way back to figurative art.-Biography:Elmer Bischoff, second...
, Clyfford StillClyfford StillClyfford Still was an American painter, and one of the leading figures of Abstract Expressionism.-Biography:...
, Richard DiebenkornRichard DiebenkornRichard Diebenkorn was a well-known 20th century American painter. His early work is associated with Abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. His later work were instrumental to his achievement of worldwide acclaim.-Biography:Richard Clifford Diebenkorn Jr...
etc., starts to focus on the paint as subject in his work - 1956 invited to join and show with The Canadian Group of PaintersCanadian Group of PaintersThe Canadian Group of Painters was a collective of 28 painters from across Canada which came together as group in 1933. They succeeded the disbanded Group of Seven, whose paintings of the Canadian wilderness had been a strong influence on Canadian art....
- 1957 influenced by visits to galleries in New York
- 1960 highly experimental work chosen to represent Canada at the São Paulo Bienal
- 1960 visited galleries in Montreal, Europe, revisited the Tate in London, especially revisiting the freedom of technique in the work of J.M.W. Turner
- 1961 taught summer workshops Banff CentreBanff CentreThe Banff Centre, formerly known as The Banff Centre for Continuing Education, is an arts, cultural, and educational institution and conference complex located in Banff, Alberta...
School of Fine Arts - 1964 asked to design two murals for new Simon Fraser UniversitySimon Fraser UniversitySimon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
, Arthur Erickson architect - 1970 with Erickson, commission Expo Candadian pavilion, Osaka, Japan
- 1970 first of 3 visits to Egypt, influences his use of colour
- 1976 major retrospective of his work at VAG, work evokes memory of life, place
- 1979 visits and paints in New Brunswick, horizontal light colourful landscapes
- 1982 retires from UBC to concentrate on painting
- 1984 second visit to Queen Charlotte Islands, returns to more sombre colours, frees up painterly markmaking, more abstraction
- 1987 major commission requested by Erickson for the new Canadian Chancery building in Washington, D.C
- 1990 second studio built to work on grand scale paintings
- 1995 visit to Claude MonetClaude MonetClaude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
's home GivernyGivernyGiverny is a commune in the Eure department in north-western France. It is best known as the location of Claude Monet's garden and home.-Location:Giverny sits on the "right bank" of the River Seine where the river Epte meets the Seine...
start of "Pond" series
Selected Awards
An accomplished internationally recognized artist, Smith won the "Structure with Red Sun Award" in 1995. He was named a member of the Order of CanadaOrder of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
in 1996. He is an Education Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
Emeritus at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
(UBC). In 2007 he received the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts. In March 2009 at The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, he was named a laureate and presented with the Governor General's Award in the Visual and Media Arts.
Selected Collections
His works are in the collections of the National Gallery of ArtNational Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
in Ottawa, the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in Washington D.C. and in the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
in London, England, as well as the Vancouver Art Gallery. He continues to have regular exhibitions of his large works at the Equinox Gallery in Vanouver. As a well-respected contemporary painter his works fill many corporate and private collections. In 2009 his massive wall sculpture http://westvancouver.ca/Level3.aspx?id=24558 "Beach Tangle" was installed in the lobby of the West Vancouver Community Centre, one of the venues for celebration during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.