© Smith Estate. Used with permission via CAL.
I’ve just added a new painting to the Gallery: Fencing.
It comes from Gray’s first solo exhibition at the Contemporary Art Gallery, right around the time it was changing its name to the Museum of Modern Art Australia.
This gallery was John Reed’s baby. He modelled it on New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and he wanted it to play a similar role here in Australia.
The photo of Fencing was sent to me by someone I met in Canberra when I gave my talk at the ANU Drill Hall Gallery. Thanks again for sharing it. These kinds of leads make a huge difference.
You can see Fencing sits in the same visual world as The Tank. That’s the painting John Reed sent to MoMA to help mark the opening of his new museum.
If you own a Gray Smith work, I’d love to hear from you. Even a quick phone photo is helpful. Send it through and I’ll add it to the Gallery, which is slowly growing.
