Alfred H Cook Thomas Januarius Smith, president Board Fire Commissioners of NSW

The subject of this portrait is Labor politician Thomas Januarius (TJ) Smith (1890–1975). Irish-born Smith arrived in Australia in 1912 and first entered state parliament in 1917, aged just 27, as a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly. He then served as a member of the NSW Legislative Council from 1921 to 1934. He was appointed president of the Board of Fire Commissioners in 1925, a position he would hold for three decades.

New Zealand-born artist Alfred Herbert Cook was primarily a landscape painter. This was the only portrait he exhibited in the Archibald Prize.