Grace Cossington Smith

(Australia 1892–20 Dec 1984)

Title

Centre of a city

Year

(circa 1925)

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on canvas on hardboard

Dimensions

82.3 x 70.0cm board; 98.9 x 86.6 x 5.7cm frame

Signature & date

Signed and dated l.l. "G.Cossington Smith 35 (sic)".

Credit

Purchased with funds provided by Susan Rothwell 2002

Accession number

299.2002

Copyright

Location

Not on display

Further information

I suddenly liked the subject – the Centre of the City! I liked the going downhill of Moore Street [now Martin Place], the feeling that the Post Office at the bottom was the centre of the city, the people hurrying about. (Then I was interested in outside things, what people did and what was happening ...)

Grace Cossington Smith, 1971

'Centre of a city' was a groundbreaking painting by Grace Cossington Smith, both in terms of its subject and her approach to it. It was painted at a time when Cossington Smith was commuting regularly to art classes in the city from her home at Turramurra on the North Shore. The radiant blue sky and rosy glow of buildings signal her increasing affection for the city, which reached its climax in her paintings of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the late 1920s.

Bibliography (23)

Jenny McFarlane (Australia) (Author), Concerning the Spiritual: The influence of the Theosophical Society on Australian Artists 1890-1934, North Melbourne, 2012, 82 (colour illus.), 148. Note: colour plate pages in between pg. 82-83 are unnumbered.

'Market profile: Grace Cossington Smith' by Roger Dedman, pg. 295., Art and Australia (Vol. 43, No. 2) Dec 2005-Feb 2006, Dec 2005-Feb 2006, 295 (colour illus.).

'Amazing Grace: Thoughts inspired by the Grace Cossington Smith exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra' by Virginia Spate, pg. 22-30., Art Monthly Australia Aug 2005, Aug 2005, 25.

Deborah Hart (South Africa; United Kingdom; Australia, b.1959) (Editor), Grace Cossington Smith, Canberra, 2005, 20-24, 114, 126 (colour illus.), 127-129, 175.

John Slater (England) (Author), Through artists' eyes: Australian suburbs and their cities 1919-1945, Melbourne, 2004, xii, 88 (colour illus.). illus.no. 71

'Grace Cossington Smith's "Centre of a city" c1925' by Barry Pearce., Foundation Newsletter #2 May 2003, May 2003.

'Luminous light: a painting that will speak to future generations' by Annabel Pegus, pg. 18., Look Mar 2003, Mar 2003, 18 (colour illus.).

Art Gallery of New South Wales Annual Report 2003 2003, 2003, 9, 14.

Sotheby's Australia (Australia), The Fairfax Corporate Collection of Australian paintings, Armadale, 17 Nov 2002, 12, 13 (colour illus.). lot no. 7

'Shedding Light, photographs by the great Harold Cazneaux are seen in a new light alongside paintings of the time' by Natasha Bullock, pg.13, Look Aug 2001, Aug 2001, 13.

Peter Emmett (Author), Sydney: metropolis, suburb, harbour, Glebe, 2000, 41, 42 (colour illus.).

Lou Klepac (Australia; Croatia, b.1936) (Author), Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Bruce James (Australia) (Author), John McDonald (Australia, b.1961) (Author), Peter Pinson (Australia, b.1943) (Author), Gavin Fry (Author), Sasha Grishin AM (Australia) (Author), Deborah Hart (South Africa; United Kingdom; Australia, b.1959) (Author), Australian painters of the twentieth century, Roseville, 2000, 43, 44 (colour illus.).

Deborah Edwards (Australia) (Author), Vivienne Webb (Australia) (Author), Australian Collection Focus: Grace Cossington Smith The Lacquer Room 1935-36, Sydney, 1999, (colour illus.).

Drusilla Modjeska (Author), Stravinsky's lunch, Sydney, 1999, 258-259, 296-297, between pages 304 and 305 (colour illus.). plate no. 24

Metropolis 1999, 1999, (colour illus.). Exhibition guide, brochure format.

Grace Cossington Smith: a painter ahead of her time 1993, 1993, 18. Book for primary school students.

Grace Cossington Smith: a life. From drawings in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia 1993, 1993, 23-24.

Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Grace Cossington Smith, Sydney, 1990, 58, 59 (colour illus.), 60. plate no. 20

Macquarie Galleries (Australia, estab. 1925, closed 1993), Grace Cossington-Smith [sic] (1976), Sydney, 1976. cat.no. 1; titled 'Centre of a city'; dated c.1925; price: $2,750

Daniel Thomas (Author), Grace Cossington Smith, Sydney, 1973, 10, 24 (illus.). cat.no. 17

'In the galleries' by Christopher Dawson., The Sydney Morning Herald 22 Jun 1972, 22 Jun 1972.

Macquarie Galleries (Australia, estab. 1925, closed 1993), Grace Cossington Smith (1972), Sydney, 1972. cat.no. 10; titled 'Centre of a city'; dated 1935; price: $2,000

Royal Art Society of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1880), Royal Art Society of New South Wales 46th Annual Exhibition (1925), Sydney, 1925. cat.no. 161; titled 'Centre of a City'; priced 12 guineas; not paginated

Exhibition history (17)

Forty-sixth Annual Exhibition of the Royal Art Society of New South Wales (1925), Exhibition Gallery Department of Public Instruction, Aug 1925 -.

Grace Cossington Smith (1972), Macquarie Galleries, 21 Jun 1972–10 Jul 1972.

Grace Cossington Smith (1973-74), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 15 Jun 1973–15 Jul 1973.

Grace Cossington Smith (1973-74), Queensland Art Gallery, 06 Sep 1973–04 Oct 1973.

Grace Cossington Smith (1973-74), Western Australian Art Gallery, 06 Dec 1973–02 Jan 1974.

Grace Cossington Smith (1973-74), Art Gallery of South Australia, 11 Jan 1974–10 Feb 1974.

Grace Cossington Smith (1973-74), National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], 26 Mar 1974–28 Apr 1974.

Grace Cossington Smith (1976), Macquarie Galleries, 03 Mar 1976–15 Mar 1976.

Metropolis, Museum of Sydney, 18 Dec 1999–02 Apr 2000.

The Fairfax Corporate Collection of Australian paintings, Sotheby's Gallery Sydney, 14 Nov 2002–17 Nov 2002.

Sydney studios, S.H. Ervin Gallery, 14 Aug 2004–26 Sep 2004.

Grace Cossington Smith: a retrospective exhibition (2005), National Gallery of Australia, 04 Mar 2005–13 Jun 2005.

Grace Cossington Smith: a retrospective exhibition (2005), Art Gallery of South Australia, 29 Jul 2005–09 Oct 2005.

Grace Cossington Smith: a retrospective exhibition (2005), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 29 Oct 2005–15 Jan 2006.

Grace Cossington Smith: a retrospective exhibition (2005), Queensland Art Gallery, 11 Feb 2006–30 Apr 2006.

Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, 05 Oct 2011–27 Nov 2011.

Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, 10 Dec 2011–04 Mar 2012.