Bernard William Smith (3 October 1916 – 2 September 2011) was an Australian art historian, art critic and academic, considered the founding father of Australian art history, and one of the country's most important thinkers. His book Place, Taste and Tradition: a Study of Australian Art Since 1788 is a key text in Australian art history, and influence on Robert Hughes. Smith was associated with the Communist Party of Australia, and after leaving the party remained a prominent left-wing intellectual and Marxist thinker. Following the death of his wife in 1989, he sold much of their art collection to establish the Kate Challis RAKA, one of the first prizes in the country for Indigenous artists and writers.
Smith was born in Balmain, Sydney of Charles Smith and Rose Anne Tierney on 3 October 1916. An illegitimate child, he was a ward of the state and raised in fostered care. In 1941, he married his first wife, Kate Challis, who died in 1989. Smith married his second wife, Margaret Forster, in 1995 and subsequently separated.
Smith was educated at the University of Sydney. Between 1935 and 1944 he taught in the NSW Department of Education. After that he served as an education officer for the Art Gallery of NSW country art exhibitions programme from 1944. In 1948, he won a scholarship to study at the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, University of London. On his return to Australia in 1951, Smith returned to his position at the Gallery. In 1952, Smith was awarded a research scholarship at the newly established Australian National University, where he completed a PhD. A shorter version of his thesis "European Vision and the South Pacific" was published in 1950,[1] and released as a monograph in 1960 by Oxford University Press.
He was a lecturer and then a senior lecturer in the University of Melbourne's Fine Arts Department (1955–1967). In 1959, he convened a group of seven emerging figurative painters known as the Antipodeans, which organised its only exhibition in August 1959 and with them composed The Antipodean Manifesto. Between 1963 and 1966, he worked as an art critic for The Age newspaper in Melbourne.
In 1967, the Smiths moved to Sydney, where Smith became the founding Professor of Contemporary Art and director of the Power Institute of Fine Arts, University of Sydney, a position he held until his retirement in 1977.[citation needed] During this time, he became involved with the art workshop known as Tin Sheds, but clashed with co-founders Marr Grounds and Donald Brooks about its role. He wanted to rename it the Fine Arts University Workshop.[2]
In 1977, the Smiths returned to Melbourne, and Smith became the president of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, until 1980. Later, he was a professorial fellow in the department of art history at the University of Melbourne.
In 1980 he presented "The Boyer Lectures" on the theme of "The Spectre of Trunganini" which was one of the first public condemnations of the Australian government's policy of removing Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, now known as the Stolen Generations.
Place, Taste and Tradition: A Study of Australian Art Since 1788. Sydney: Ure Smith, 1945 (reprinted Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1979)
A Catalogue of Australian Oil Paintings in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1875–1952. Sydney: The Gallery, 1953
European Vision and the South Pacific, 1768–1850: A Study in the History of Art and Ideas. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960 (reprinted 1985 by Yale University Press and 2022 by Miegunyah Press)
Australian Painting Today: The John Murtagh Macrossan memorial lecture, 1961. St. Lucia, Queensland: Queensland University Press, 1962
Australian Painting, 1788–2000 Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1962. (updated 1971; updated 1991 with Terry Smith; & update 2001 with Christopher Heathcote)
The Architectural Character of Glebe, Sydney (with Kate Smith). Sydney: University Co-operative Bookshop Press, 1973 (reprinted 1985)
Concerning Contemporary Art: the Power lectures, 1968–1973 (ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975
Documents on Art and Taste in Australia: the colonial period, 1770–1914. (ed.) Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1975
The Antipodean Manifesto: Essays in Art and History. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1975
Art as Information: Reflections on the Art from Captain Cook's Voyages. Sydney: Sydney University Press, 1979
The Spectre of Truganini. Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1980
The Boy Adeodatus—The Portrait of a Lucky Young Bastard. Ringwood, Victoria: Allen Lane, 1984 (reprinted 1985, 1994)
The Art of Captain Cook's Voyages (with Rüdiger Joppien). Melbourne: Oxford University Press, three volumes, 1985–1987
The Death of the Artist as Hero: Essays in History and Culture. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1988
The Art of the First Fleet and Other Early Australian Drawings (eds Bernard Smith and Alwyne Wheeler). Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1988
Baudin in Australian Waters: The Artwork of the French Voyage of Discovery to the Southern Lands 1800–1804 (eds J. Bonnemains, E. Forsyth and B. Smith). Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1988
Terra Australis—The Furthest Shore (eds. W. Eisler and B. Smith). Sydney: International Cultural Corporation of Australia, 1988
The Critic as Advocate: selected essays 1941–1988. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Australia, 1989
Imagining the Pacific in the Wake of the Cook Voyages. Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Press at the Miegunyah Press, 1992
Noel Counihan—Artist and Revolutionary . Melbourne; New York: Oxford University Press, 1993
Modernism's History: A Study in Twentieth-century Art and Ideas. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998
A Pavane for Another Time Sydney. Macmillan, 2002
The Formalesque: A Guide to Modern Art and Its History. Melbourne: Macmillan, 2007
Selected essays and articles
"European Vision and the South Pacific", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 8, no. 1/2 (1950): 65–100
"Coleridge's Ancient Mariner and Cook's second voyage", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 19, no. (1956) 117–152
(PDF). Proceedings of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. 12 (1982–83): 44–73. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
(PDF). Proceedings of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. 17 (1992): 46–49. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
"Modernism and post-modernism: neo-colonial viewpoint—concerning the sources of modernism and post-modernism in the visual arts", Thesis Eleven 38 (1994) 104–117
"Modernism, post-modernism and the formalesque", Editions 20 (1994) 9–11
Sources
Peter Beilharz, Imagining the Antipodes: Culture, Theory and the Visual in the Work of Bernard Smith, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
International Who's Who, London: Europa Publications, 2000
The Writings of Bernard Smith: Bibliography 1938–1998 (ed. John Spencer and Peter Wright), Sydney: Power Publications, 2000
The Legacies of Bernard Smith. Essays on Australian Art, History and Cultural Politics (ed. Jaynie Anderson, Christopher Marshall and Andrew Yip), Sydney: Power Publications, 2016
Sheridan Palmer, Hegel's Owl: The Life of Bernard Smith, Sydney: Power Publications, 2017
Antipodean Perspective: Selected Writings of Bernard Smith, (ed. Rex Butler and Sheridan Palmer), Melbourne: Monash University Press, 2018
References
^Bernard Smith. “European Vision and the South Pacific.” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 13, no. 1/2 (1950): 65–100. https://doi.org/10.2307/750143.
^Grounds, Marr (30 March 2015). "Interview with Marr Grounds" (transcript) (Interview). Art Gallery of New South Wales Archive: Balnaves Foundation Australian Sculpture Archive Project. Interviewed by Edwards, Deborah. Balnaves Foundation. Art Gallery of NSW. This is an edited transcript of a recorded interview.
^"Kate Challis RAKA Award". Scholarships. 9 April 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
February 21, 2023
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This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations September 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Bernard William Smith 3 October 1916 2 September 2011 was an Australian art historian art critic and academic considered the founding father of Australian art history and one of the country s most important thinkers His book Place Taste and Tradition a Study of Australian Art Since 1788 is a key text in Australian art history and influence on Robert Hughes Smith was associated with the Communist Party of Australia and after leaving the party remained a prominent left wing intellectual and Marxist thinker Following the death of his wife in 1989 he sold much of their art collection to establish the Kate Challis RAKA one of the first prizes in the country for Indigenous artists and writers Bernard Smith 1948 Contents 1 Biography 2 Books 3 Selected essays and articles 4 Sources 5 ReferencesBiography EditSmith was born in Balmain Sydney of Charles Smith and Rose Anne Tierney on 3 October 1916 An illegitimate child he was a ward of the state and raised in fostered care In 1941 he married his first wife Kate Challis who died in 1989 Smith married his second wife Margaret Forster in 1995 and subsequently separated Smith was educated at the University of Sydney Between 1935 and 1944 he taught in the NSW Department of Education After that he served as an education officer for the Art Gallery of NSW country art exhibitions programme from 1944 In 1948 he won a scholarship to study at the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes University of London On his return to Australia in 1951 Smith returned to his position at the Gallery In 1952 Smith was awarded a research scholarship at the newly established Australian National University where he completed a PhD A shorter version of his thesis European Vision and the South Pacific was published in 1950 1 and released as a monograph in 1960 by Oxford University Press He was a lecturer and then a senior lecturer in the University of Melbourne s Fine Arts Department 1955 1967 In 1959 he convened a group of seven emerging figurative painters known as the Antipodeans which organised its only exhibition in August 1959 and with them composed The Antipodean Manifesto Between 1963 and 1966 he worked as an art critic for The Age newspaper in Melbourne In 1967 the Smiths moved to Sydney where Smith became the founding Professor of Contemporary Art and director of the Power Institute of Fine Arts University of Sydney a position he held until his retirement in 1977 citation needed During this time he became involved with the art workshop known as Tin Sheds but clashed with co founders Marr Grounds and Donald Brooks about its role He wanted to rename it the Fine Arts University Workshop 2 In 1977 the Smiths returned to Melbourne and Smith became the president of the Australian Academy of the Humanities until 1980 Later he was a professorial fellow in the department of art history at the University of Melbourne In 1980 he presented The Boyer Lectures on the theme of The Spectre of Trunganini which was one of the first public condemnations of the Australian government s policy of removing Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families now known as the Stolen Generations Smith was a recipient Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres He founded the annual Kate Challis RAKA Award worth A 20 000 in honour of his first wife 3 Books EditPlace Taste and Tradition A Study of Australian Art Since 1788 Sydney Ure Smith 1945 reprinted Melbourne Oxford University Press 1979 A Catalogue of Australian Oil Paintings in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1875 1952 Sydney The Gallery 1953 European Vision and the South Pacific 1768 1850 A Study in the History of Art and Ideas Oxford Clarendon Press 1960 reprinted 1985 by Yale University Press and 2022 by Miegunyah Press Australian Painting Today The John Murtagh Macrossan memorial lecture 1961 St Lucia Queensland Queensland University Press 1962 Australian Painting 1788 2000 Melbourne Oxford University Press 1962 updated 1971 updated 1991 with Terry Smith amp update 2001 with Christopher Heathcote The Architectural Character of Glebe Sydney with Kate Smith Sydney University Co operative Bookshop Press 1973 reprinted 1985 Concerning Contemporary Art the Power lectures 1968 1973 ed Oxford Clarendon Press 1975 Documents on Art and Taste in Australia the colonial period 1770 1914 ed Melbourne Oxford University Press 1975 The Antipodean Manifesto Essays in Art and History Melbourne Oxford University Press 1975 Art as Information Reflections on the Art from Captain Cook s Voyages Sydney Sydney University Press 1979 The Spectre of Truganini Sydney Australian Broadcasting Commission 1980 The Boy Adeodatus The Portrait of a Lucky Young Bastard Ringwood Victoria Allen Lane 1984 reprinted 1985 1994 The Art of Captain Cook s Voyages with Rudiger Joppien Melbourne Oxford University Press three volumes 1985 1987 The Death of the Artist as Hero Essays in History and Culture Melbourne Oxford University Press 1988 The Art of the First Fleet and Other Early Australian Drawings eds Bernard Smith and Alwyne Wheeler Melbourne Oxford University Press 1988 Baudin in Australian Waters The Artwork of the French Voyage of Discovery to the Southern Lands 1800 1804 eds J Bonnemains E Forsyth and B Smith Melbourne Oxford University Press 1988 Terra Australis The Furthest Shore eds W Eisler and B Smith Sydney International Cultural Corporation of Australia 1988 The Critic as Advocate selected essays 1941 1988 Melbourne Oxford University Press Australia 1989 Imagining the Pacific in the Wake of the Cook Voyages Carlton Victoria Melbourne University Press at the Miegunyah Press 1992 Noel Counihan Artist and Revolutionary Melbourne New York Oxford University Press 1993 Poems 1938 1993 Carlton Victoria Meanjin 1996 Modernism s History A Study in Twentieth century Art and Ideas New Haven Yale University Press 1998 A Pavane for Another Time Sydney Macmillan 2002 The Formalesque A Guide to Modern Art and Its History Melbourne Macmillan 2007Selected essays and articles Edit European Vision and the South Pacific Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 8 no 1 2 1950 65 100 Coleridge s Ancient Mariner and Cook s second voyage Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 19 no 1956 117 152 Art Historical Studies in Australia with Comments on Research and Publication since 1974 PDF Proceedings of the Australian Academy of the Humanities 12 1982 83 44 73 Archived from the original PDF on 15 September 2009 Retrieved 18 February 2009 Sir Joseph Burke 1913 1992 PDF Proceedings of the Australian Academy of the Humanities 17 1992 46 49 Archived from the original PDF on 15 September 2009 Retrieved 19 February 2009 Modernism and post modernism neo colonial viewpoint concerning the sources of modernism and post modernism in the visual arts Thesis Eleven 38 1994 104 117 Modernism post modernism and the formalesque Editions 20 1994 9 11Sources EditPeter Beilharz Imagining the Antipodes Culture Theory and the Visual in the Work of Bernard Smith Melbourne Cambridge University Press 1997 International Who s Who London Europa Publications 2000 The Writings of Bernard Smith Bibliography 1938 1998 ed John Spencer and Peter Wright Sydney Power Publications 2000 The Legacies of Bernard Smith Essays on Australian Art History and Cultural Politics ed Jaynie Anderson Christopher Marshall and Andrew Yip Sydney Power Publications 2016 Sheridan Palmer Hegel s Owl The Life of Bernard Smith Sydney Power Publications 2017 Antipodean Perspective Selected Writings of Bernard Smith ed Rex Butler and Sheridan Palmer Melbourne Monash University Press 2018References Edit Bernard Smith European Vision and the South Pacific Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 13 no 1 2 1950 65 100 https doi org 10 2307 750143 Grounds Marr 30 March 2015 Interview with Marr Grounds transcript Interview Art Gallery of New South Wales Archive Balnaves Foundation Australian Sculpture Archive Project Interviewed by Edwards Deborah Balnaves Foundation Art Gallery of NSW This is an edited transcript of a recorded interview Kate Challis RAKA Award Scholarships 9 April 2020 Retrieved 14 April 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bernard Smith art historian amp oldid 1136654457, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
