2007 Winner
Gordon Smith CM
2007 Audain Prize for the Visual Arts
Born in England in 1919 and immigrated to Canada in 1933, Gordon Smith is a formidable figure in Canadian art. A distinguished painter, printmaker, sculptor and educator, he is best known for his contributions to modernism.
Growing up in Brighton, England, Gordon Smith often accompanied his father, William George Smith, to the National Gallery London. After his parents separated, he moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba with his mother Daisy and his brother Douglas.
While on vacation in Vancouver, Gordon Smith met Marion Flemming and the two were married in 1941. During the Second World War, Gordon Smith served with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. He later became an intelligence officer deployed to Europe. After sustaining severe injuries in Sicily in 1944, he returned to Canada and settled in Vancouver with his wife Marion. That same year, Gordon Smith had his first solo show at the Vancouver Art Gallery for the work he produced while he was overseas.
In 1951, Gordon Smith travelled to San Francisco to attend the California School of Fine Arts. His time studying with Elmer Bischoff marked his move towards Modernism. In 1956, he joined the Canadian Group of Painters and by 1957 he was appointed the president.
Gordon Smith is a proponent of education in the arts. He taught graphics and commercial art at the Vancouver School of Art (now the Emily Carr University for Art and Design) and the University of British Columbia. In addition, he and his wife created the Smith Foundation, which actively works to engage and educate youth about Canadian Art.
In 1996 Gordon Smith was awarded the Order of Canada, the Order of British Columbia in 2000, and the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts in 2007. In 2009 he presented with the Governor General’s Award in the Visual and Media Arts.
Gordon Smith currently lives in West Vancouver, British Columbia, where he continues to paint. His works are in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., the Gordon and Marion Smith Gallery in Vancouver and the Vancouver Art Gallery.