Book Description

Guy Grey-Smith (1916-1981) remains one of the most important Australian artists of his generation. His artwork has been collected by every major public gallery in the country. Based in Western Australia, Grey-Smith exhibited nationally, participated in key international exhibitions, received Queens Honors Awards, and was a spirited contributor and active participant in the national arts scene. Granted access for the first time to Guy Grey-Smith's notebooks, war-time sketches, correspondence, and estate, author Andrew Gaynor draws a fascinating portrait of a country boy whose life was first liberated, then stalled, by the brutality of war. Teaching himself to draw while interned in prisoner of war camps, Grey-Smith went on to create some of the most enduring and powerful images of the Australian landscape, redolent with color, texture, and an unmistakable life force. He studied under the modernist sculptor Henry Moore at the Chelsea School of Art, London. Although primarily a painter, Grey-Smith also produced sculptures, pen and ink drawings, etchings, and wood blocks. This is the first book about this outstanding Australian artist and his remarkable 35-year career.