Grace Cossington Smith

A Retrospective Exhibition

Exhibition
4 Mar – 13 Jun 2005
The interior of a bedroom with bookshelves, Window and Bed; painted in choppy strokes of yellow, green, blue and red

Grace Cossington Smith, Interior in yellow, 1962-64, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1965

About

This exhibition is a tribute to Grace Cossington Smith, one of Australia's most important and paradoxical artists; an artist who lived a relatively quiet, circumscribed life who was also the creator of iconic images and one of the most brilliant pioneering modernists of her generation.

This major survey of Cossington Smith's practice from 1910 to 1971 – the full span of her art career – includes paintings and drawings from a wide range of public and private collections and key sketchbooks drawn from the Gallery's holdings.

One of Australia’s most important post-impressionists, Grace Cossington Smith (1892 – 1984) was a brilliant colourist and played a vital role in the development of modernism in Australia. This exhibition looks at Cossington Smith’s contribution to Australian art in fresh ways and explores rich intersections between public and private environments, drawing upon themes and variations that inspired her work: the modern, urban environment; the metropolis; the Sydney Harbour Bridge; the bush and landscape; the war; theatre; ballet; her home Cossington and inner circle of family and friends.

Curator: Dr Deborah Hart, Senior Curator Australian Paintings and Sculpture

Text sourced from: Grace Cossington Smith. Edited by Deborah Hart. Canberra: National Gallery of Australia, 2005.

Touring Dates and Venues

Touring Dates and Venues

The touring exhibition was sponsored by MARSH.

  • Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA | 28 July – 9 October 2005
  • Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW | 29 October 2005– 15 January 2006
  • Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, QLD | 11 February – 1 May 2006

Archived Site

The original website for this exhibition was published in 2017 and has been archived for research purposes.

View Archived Site

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