John Firth-Smith Australia, 1943-.
Past Sales
Sales by Medium
Where to buy or sell art works by John Firth-Smith
Auction Houses
About John Firth-Smith
Born in Melbourne in 1943, he moved to Auckland, New Zealand with his parents shortly after and grew up having a love for the sea, sailing and Maori iconography. It is these influences which played on his decision to become an artist. Returnig to Australia, Firth-Smith studied at the National Art School, Sydney in 1961. He became one of the best known of contemporary artists, and by the late 1960s his work had becme increasingly abstract. He exhibited widely in in the 1960s and 70s as well as teaching at various schools and institutions. In 1981 he completed a commission of 32 panels for the reception area of the ANZ Bank in Collins Place, Melbourne.
John Firth-Smith is one of the most prolific of the artists listed in our database, with the number of works offered for sale by auction since 1974 of 521, of which 341 (65%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $84,000 for Waterfront 1998 sold by Deutscher~Menzies in March 2006. No works have been offered for sale this year, and the last sale we have recorded for the artist was in 2023. Works by John Firth-Smith are held by the Art Gallery of NSW, National Gallery of Victoria and a further seven major public national galleries (see list below).
John Firth-Smith is listed in the following standard biographical references:
- McCulloch, Alan McCulloch, Susan McCulloch, Emily McCulloch-Childs. The New McCulloch's Encyclopedia of Australian Art. 4th Edition, Aus Art Melbourne & The Miegunyah Press, 2006. Page 425
- Germaine, Max. Artists and Galleries of Australia, Volumes 1 & 2, Third Edition. Craftsman Press, Sydney, 1990. Page 217
- The Find New Zealand Artists web site: a database of artist names that directs researchers to the rich resources found in New Zealand's libraries, art society exhibition histories and published sources.
- Australian Prints + Printmaking, a database listing printmaking artists from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region based on the print collection of the National Gallery of Australia.
Artists' Resale Royalty
Could the second and subsequent works by this artist sold after June 9, 2010 for over $1,000 be liable for the Artists' Resale Royalty? More info…
Yes, eligible, subject to the artist satisfying the residency test. The artist is alive or has been deceased for less than 70 years. Contact the Copyright Agency for information on the residency test.
The Australian Art Sales Digest is a database of over 610,000 works by more than 12,000 artists who are listed as having either lived or worked in Australia or New Zealand, and an additional 36,000 foreign and other artists, offered for sale by auction in Australia and New Zealand from the early 1970s to the present day.
Access to the database is available on either a monthly or annual subscription. During the subscription period you have unlimited access to the site. If you would like to subscribe, please proceed to our Subscription Form.