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• Auction House:
  Webb's
• Sale Name:
  Vision Series
• Sale Date:
  24 Nov 2015 ~ 6.30pm (NZ time)
• Lot #:
  11
• Lot Description:
  Michael Smither
  Dunedin Headlands Cross
  oil on hardboard
  455mm x 455mm
  title inscribed, signed and dated 1970 - 71 verso
• Notes:
  In Dunedin in 1970, Michael Smither took up the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship, established in 1966 by noted scholars Charles Brasch and his cousins Mary, Dora and Esmond de Beer. During this tenure, Smither kept a studio in Castle Street alongside Ralph Hotere and a young Jeffrey Harris. This oil on board piece contrasts cubist-influenced curved lines and subtle tonal graduations with the sharp angular shape of the canvas. The cross shaped canvas board echoes Smither’s Catholic upbringing and the same shape would be replicated again in subsequent works in 1970, which were tributes to the recently deceased Rita Angus, who had a strong influence on Smither. Smither wrote, “I decided to take the Otago landscape as Rita Angus and I [sic] both enjoyed and introduce it into the cruciform shape as a memorial to her. I made many drawings and at an early stage decided to extend the idea into a series of 12, relating to the Catholic tradition of the Stations of the Cross”. CAOLÁN MCALEER
• Estimate:
  NZ$15,000 - 20,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.