Resolutely figurative,he was a painter of the modern,urban world,not the bush or the mythical past. A typical Smart painting could have been set in Italy (where he lived for more than 40 years) or Australia. His images were cool and oblique,devoid of obvious emotion. The art institutions may have found him old-fashioned and reactionary,but the public has always adored his work.
Jeffrey Smart,which starts this weekend at the National Gallery of Australia,as it is now known,is a show that might have won the artist’s approval. Hung thematically rather than chronologically (which seems to be the case with the entire NGA at present),it’s not a comprehensive retrospective. It is,however,a better,more thoughtful display than the highly successful Smart survey held at the Art Gallery of NSW in 1999. Even allowing for COVID-19 travel restrictions,the NGA should have a hit on its hands.
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Although he may have struggled to impress the curators,Smart has always had dedicated admirers. His work has become part of Australia’s popular culture,partly due to its frequent appearance on book covers. Once seen,his pictures are rarely forgotten,and the chance to view more than 90 of his paintings will provide an excellent reason to visit Canberra over the summer.
The dominant impression one takes away from this show is how amazingly fresh it looks. Eight years after his death,at the age of 93,Smart comes across as an artist who broke free of the relentless succession of schools,fashions and movements that characterise the modern era.
He was,superficially,a realist,but after a few minutes in this exhibition that label seems pitifully inadequate. From the earliest paintings such asThe Salvagers (1946) orRobe(1947),Smart was looking for something different,seeking out a classical beauty in piles of junk and debris. It was a self-conscious repudiation of those picturesque vistas of sheep and gum trees that passed for respectable Australian art. It also signalled an emphasis on composition that would only grow more obsessive over the years.