Open Collections

Gordon Smith : a study of the artist’s life and career from 1919 to 1955

University of British Columbia

To date, no study in depth of the artist, Gordon Smith (1919 - ), or of his time in Vancouver (since 1944) has been undertaken. This thesis chronicles his life, career and work, from his boyhood in England in the 1920's and early 1930's up to the time in 1955 when he achieved national attention at the First Biennial of Canadian Painting, Ottawa. Chapter 1 deals with the period 1919 - 1939, first in England and after 1934 in Winnipeg. Chapter 2 covers the war years, 1939 - 1944. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 deal with the successive phases in Smith's development as an artist in Vancouver, 1944 - 1946, 1946 - 1951, and 1951 - 1955 respectively. The period, 1944 - 1955, covered by the last three chapters (3 - 5) saw firstly, the maturation of Smith's development as a painter. A secondary theme of this thesis, outlined in these last three chapters is the history of the development of the visual arts in Vancouver and the cultural climate in which Smith was working, both as an artist and a teacher.

Text

2010-02-21

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/20622

Fine Arts

University of British Columbia

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