Peter Purves Smith
Peter Purves Smith | |
---|---|
East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | |
Died | 23 July 1949 Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia | (aged 37)
Nationality | Australian |
Known for | Painting |
Notable work | Kangaroo Hunt The Nazis, Nuremberg The Diplomats |
Peter Purves Smith (26 March 1912 – 23 July 1949), born Charles Roderick Purves Smith, was an Australian painter. Born in Melbourne, Purves Smith studied at the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in London and under progressive art teacher George Bell in Melbourne.
In his student years, Purves Smith emerged as a uniquely confident artist. He was the first
Early life and education
Peter Purves Smith was born on 26 March 1912 in
Following his father's suicide, Peter travelled extensively throughout Europe. In England, 1934, Purves Smith's sister Jocelyn noticed his hobby of drawing, and suggested he attend an art school. He studied under
Student works
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French Café, 1936, Art Gallery of South Australia
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New York, 1936, Art Gallery of New South Wales
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Lucile, 1937, Queensland Art Gallery
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Nude, 1937, Heide Museum of Modern Art
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Blue Head, 1937, Art Gallery of South Australia
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Ricketts Point, 1937, Art Gallery of South Australia
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Topee, 1937, National Gallery of Australia
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Burke and Wills (The Perish), 1937,Benalla Art Gallery
Work and travel
Throughout the late 1930s, Purves Smith painted in London and Paris, which critic
World War II
Germany
Purves Smith's first role in the army was to transport petrol and military supplies across the south of England. Life in the training camps was mentally numbing, and before each academic exam Purves Smith feared being given the
In 1944, he was one of
Return to Melbourne
In May 1946, he returned to Australia and also to painting with a far more abstract approach. Significant works from this period are The Pleading Butcher and Woman Eating Duck, both painted in 1948 and now held at the National Gallery of Australia.[14][15] Purves Smith's final oil painting was a landscape painted from the perspective of his home in Sassafras, in the Dandenong Ranges. It was an attempt to "paint like the old boys", a reference to early Australian colonial artists such as John Glover.[16]
Later works
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The Pleading Butcher, 1948, National Gallery of Australia
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Woman Eating Duck, 1948, National Gallery of Australia
Death and recognition
Peter Purves Smith was hospitalised in 1948, and later drafted to the
George Bell wrote an obituary for him in The Sun,[20] saying Purves Smith
... was and would have remained unique in Australian art. None other has combined such a wealth of qualities, alertness of imagination always revealing something unexpected, an adult point of view and technical ability, all infused by a warm humanity and seasoned by a puckish humour which was his alone.
— George Bell
Following the death of Russell Drysdale's wife in 1963, Drysdale married Maisie Purves Smith in 1964.
Peter Purves Smith's 1938 painting The Pond was the subject of an ekphrastic poem by scholar Peter Steele in the 2006 book The Whispering Gallery: Art into Poetry.[23] In 2008, several of Purves Smith's works were included in the exhibition Australian Surrealism: the Agapitos/Wilson Collection, held at the National Gallery of Australia,[24] and his major student work New York was shown in the 2008 Powerhouse Museum exhibition Modern Times.[25] Purves Smith is also represented in the National Gallery of Victoria's Joseph Brown Collection, a survey of Australian art from its colonial beginnings to contemporary times. Of the collection, former Christie's director of art sales Jon Dwyer said "There are many iconic pictures, including von Guerards, some great Streetons and McCubbins - and arguably the best work Peter Purves Smith ever painted, which is my favourite."[26] Lucile, Purves Smith's 1937 portrait of Melbourne socialite Lucile Stephens (daughter of Henry Douglas Stephens), was acquired in 2011 by the Queensland Art Gallery through its Foundation Appeal,[27] and is deemed by the gallery to be a collection highlight.[28]
Gallery
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Surrealist Landscape, 1938, National Gallery of Victoria
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The Pond, 1938,Ian Potter Centre
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The Diplomats, 1939, National Gallery of Australia
Notes
- ^ Turnbull, Clive. "Americans See Our Art". The Herald. November 1941.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-550372-4.
- ^ a b c Niagara Galleries (2008). Blue Chip X Exhibition: List of Works and Catalogue Notes. pg. 16. Retrieved on 15 February 2011.
- ISBN 0-14-020935-2.
- ^ a b c d Gilchrist, Maureen. "The retrospective "Homage to Peter Purves Smith" at the Joseph Browns Gallery (5 Collins Street, City) exhumes a nearly forgotten but important World War II Australian painter". The Age. 14 July 1976.
- ISBN 0-642-10748-3.
- ^ a b Russell Drysdale 1912–1950: Essay 1, abc.net.au. Retrieved on 19 January 2011.
- ]
- ^ Eagle, p. 134
- ^ Eagle, p. 137
- ^ Eagle, p. 143
- ^ Eagle, p. 141
- ^ Collection Online > Peter Purves Smith - West Africa, ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved on 29 October 2011.
- ^ The Pleading Butcher, nga.gov.au. Retrieved on 19 January 2011.
- ^ Woman Eating Duck, nga.gov.au. Retrieved on 19 January 2011.
- ^ a b Eagle, p. 177
- ^ Moore, p. 122
- ^ Joseph Brown Gallery (1976). Homage to Peter Purves Smith, 1912–1949: 12–28 July, 1976, Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne.
- ^ James, Bruce (20 March 2001). Interview with Mary Eagle, author of Peter Purves Smith: a Painter in Peace and War. Arts Today, Radio National, ABC. Retrieved on 31 October 2011.
- ^ Bell, George. "Peter Purves Smith". The Sun. 12 April 1950.
- ISBN 0-8248-1688-9, p. 586
- ^ Cornford, Philip. "Drysdale painting stolen". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 March 2000.
- ISBN 1-876832-85-1, p. 40
- ^ Australian Surrealism, nga.gov.au. Retrieved on 9 February 2011.
- ISBN 0-522-85551-2, p. 174
- ^ Maslen, Geoff (7 May 2004). "Dealer's gift a national treasure". The Age. Retrieved on 11 February 2011.
- ^ Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Appeal 2011 Archived 13 August 2011 at archive.today, qag.qld.gov.au. Retrieved on 24 August 2011.
- ^ Collection Highlights: Peter Purves Smith: Lucile 1937 Archived 16 July 2012 at archive.today, qag.qld.gov.au. Retrieved on 24 August 2011.
References
- Eagle, Mary; Minchin, Jan. The George Bell School: Students, Friends, Influences. Deutscher Art, 1981. ISBN 0-908180-05-5.
- Eagle, Mary. Peter Purves Smith: a Painter in Peace and War. Beagle Press, 2000. ISBN 0-947349-32-4.
- Moore, Felicity St. John. Classical Modernism: the George Bell Circle. National Gallery of Victoria, 1992. ISBN 0-7241-0155-1.