JOHN FIRTH-SMITH

John-Firth Smith – Sydney Waterways, Gallery A, Sydney, 17 November 1966, cat. 12, as 'The things I see in the wake'
The Qantas Collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 14-26 November 1995

Things I see in the wake of a speedboat and Pittwater through the smoke from my pipe were two of the largest works in John Firth-Smith's first solo exhibition at Gallery A in 1966 when he was aged only twenty-three. This exhibition consisted of both figurative and abstract works based on Sydney Harbour and its waterways, completed while the artist was living on the Lane Cove River by the edge of the mangrove swamp. The artist comments that the figurative works were based on views of the harbour, whereas the more abstract works were closer to the event as if you were in the water or surrounded by the water. 'Firth-Smith was intrigued by the sudden appearence of speedboats and skiers shattering the riverine stillness. When the tumultous activity passed, the waterway regained its equilibrium with all evidence of speedboats and skiers erased'.¹

We would like to thank John Firth-Smith for his assistance in  cataloguing this work.

1. Wilson, G., John Firth-Smith: A Voyage That Never Ends,  Craftsman House, Sydney, 2000, pp. 54-56.