Michael Smither

Michael Duncan Smither (born 29 October 1939) is a New Zealand painter and composer.

Smither was born in New Plymouth and was educated at New Plymouth Boys' High School and Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland.

While studying he worked part-time in a car spray-paint shop, an occupation which introduced Smither to the use of lacquer-based paints.

In 1959, Smither returned to New Plymouth, working part-time in arts-related jobs.

In the 1960s Michael Smither worked with his father Bill Smither producing many different screenprints.

Screenprinting was not considered an "art" at this stage.

His first solo exhibition was in 1961.

His first solo exhibition was in 1961.

In 1963 he married Elizabeth Harrington, who is better known as New Zealand Poet Elizabeth Smither.

The two have three children, Sarah, Thomas and Joseph.

Smither separated from Elizabeth and eventually divorced.

For a few years he was married to Rachel McAlpine, a writer.

Smither now lives at Otama beach on the Coromandel Peninsula.

Smither was also influenced by Rita Angus and Lois White as he was studying.

He turned to them for inspiration.

1965

1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1977 1978 1980

Michael Smither set the record for the most expensive painting sold that was painted by a living New Zealand artist when his 1967 painting entitled Sea Wall and Kingfisher sold for $342,000 in October 2019.

This was eclipsed in December 2022, when his painting entitled Two Rock Pools sold under the hammer for $516,000.

Smither notes that he sold the Family in the Van for $300 after deducting commission in the early 1970s.

1981 1984

After the death of his father in 1985, Michael Smither did not produce any screenprints for several years.

Mount Taranaki is a frequent image in his screenprints.

Michael Smither continues to produce modestly priced screen prints alongside his paintings which continue to fetch high prices in art auctions.

Smither's paintings are characterized as being of a representational, hard-edged style.

His approach has changed over the years, with his more recent works having more attention spent on the details of objects, people and places.

He is the patron of community art gallery "Real Tart" in New Plymouth.

He had a comprehensive survey exhibition developed by the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth and toured through New Zealand in 1986 and a major exhibition in 2005 curated by the Auckland Art Gallery entitled The Wonder Years that also toured the country.

His paintings appear in the collections of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi O Tamaki, Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington and the Waikato Museum amongst others

1992 2005

It then sold in 2012 for $200,000.

Despite experiencing a minor stroke in 2014 and suffering from shingles, Michael Smither continues to paint and has no plans to stop anytime soon.

"I would rather die with my brush in my hand or boots on of whatever you like to call it. There's no attraction to me in the idea of retiring and going on long holidays overseas and stuff like that. To me, I've always had to have a quotient of art involved in whatever it is I am doing. It's either music or painting or sculpture or environmental efforts."

He used to trade his artwork for boxes of groceries to keep his family feed.

Smither works in a variety of media - notably oils, acrylics, and screenprint - and on a variety of subjects.

Domestic life is a major theme of many of his works, these scenes depicted with a rigorous yet idiosyncratic realism.

A similar style is brought to his landscapes, many of which depict the Taranaki landscape around which he grew up.

At least two of his paintings, The Family in the Van and Rocks with Mountain have attained the status of iconic paintings in New Zealand.

Rocks with Mountain is held by the Auckland Art Gallery.

In 2019, Smither's painting of Saint Francis and the Wolf sold at auction for $240,000.