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• Auction House:
  Mossgreen-Webb's
• Sale Name:
  Important Paintings and Contemporary Art
• Sale Date:
  07 Aug 2017 ~ 6.30pm (NZST)
• Lot #:
  30
• Lot Description:
  Michael Smither
  Blue Bottle Jellyfish at Back Beach
  oil on hardboard, 1977
  1480mm x 1100mm
  signed MDS and dated '77 in brushpoint lower right
• Provenance:
  From The Collection of Kevin and Levanah Croon, Australia, previously Lower Hutt. Purchased from Peter McLeavey Gallery, 1977.
• Notes:
  This is the largest of the four paintings in the Kevin and Levanah Croon collection and is in a mode that Smither made especially his: the marine world of water, beaches, sand, pebbles, boulders, driftwood, swimmers, sunbathers, dolphins, waves, ripples, rock pools and marine vegetation - he's painted it all. And, this time, he's painted a blue bottle, also known as a Portuguese man-o'-war; it's beautiful but poisonous and can deliver a nasty sting. Apart from the blue bottle, all that's in the painting is black sand, water, and the surface pattern of drops and ripples. The circles on the water are odd. Presumably, they signify droplets but they look almost artificial, like floating beads; he has 'defamiliarised' them. The movement in the water is strongly indicated with increasing rhythmic intensity as we raise our eyes from the bottom upwards. Black engulfs blue right at the point where the blue bottle appears, floating in an inky lake of darkness. There's something disturbing about the creature's shape. It looks like a bird but not like a bird; it looks organic but resembles nothing but itself. It's like an alien. Is Smither engaging in a bit of gothic melodrama here, deliberately giving us the shivers? It's definitely not a 'nice' painting though it looks seductively beautiful when you first see it. However, alternatively, if you should choose to see the painting as a straightforward celebration of a piece of nature - a 'Lo, these are parts of his ways' kind of thing - it probably works at that level, too. Once again, it reveals Smither's huge competence as an artist who works superbly well in so many different modes and genres. PETER SIMPSON
• Estimate:
  NZ$45,000 - 65,000
• 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.