Eric Smith (artist)

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Eric Smith (1919 - Present) is an award winning Australian artist. Smith has won many of Australia's major art prizes multiple times including the Archibald Prize for portraiture three times; the Wynne Prize twice; the Sulman Prize three times; and the Blake Prize for Religious Art six times.

Smith was born in Melbourne in 1919. He served in the Australian Army during the Second World War before returning to Sydney Australia and pursuing a career as an artist. In 1956 Smith had his work shown in the Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, during the "Direction" exhibition. The success of this exhibition led to Smith's work being included in the 1963 exhibition of Australian art shown at the Tate Gallery in London. Whilst in London in 1963, Smith gained further international recognition after winning the Helena Rubenstein Art Award.

Smith's winning 1981 portraiture of the Archibald Prize caused a controversy amongst the art world where it was claimed the picture was identical to a photograph. The competition requires an artist to do a portraiture from real life rather than a photograph. A similar controversy had surrounded the 1975 winning entry of John Bloomfield which led Bloomfield's prize being withdrawn and awarded too Kevin Connor (artist). Unlike Bloomfield, Smith survived the controversy and retained the award.^{http://www.recirca.com/artnews/280.shtml}

[edit] Awards

Archibald Prize for portraiture

Year	Name of Painting
1970	Gruzman - Architect
1981	Rudy Komon
1982	Peter Sculthorpe

Wynne Prize

Year	Name of Painting
1972	Falling Bark
1974	Redfern Landscape

Sulman Prize

Year	Name of Painting
1953	Convicts Berrima 1839, Mural at Old Court House, Berrima
1973	The Painter Transmogrified and Mrs. Smith (subject painting)
2003	Reflection

Blake Prize for Religious Art

Year	Name of Painting
1956	The Scourged Christ
1958	The Moment Christ Died
1959	Christ is Risen
1962	Eucharistic Landscape
1969	The Apostles Creed
1970	Christ's Flesh: Living, Suffering and Resurrected

Other accolades include the Royal Art Society of New South Wales award in 1962 and 1969 and the "Helena Rubenstein Art Award" in 1963.