A new exhibition at Macquarie University Art Gallery reveals unseen works by Eric Smith (1919-2017), a celebrated Australian artist who won three Archibald Prizes and six Blake Prizes before unexpectedly vanishing from public life. Despite his early fame—including a role in launching Australian abstract expressionism with the group show Direction 1—Smith's career stalled after the death of his gallerist Rudy Komon in 1982, leaving him without a connection to the art world. He continued painting prolifically for four more decades, working daily in his studio, but destroyed more than half his output and had no major gallery shows after 1989.
This exhibition matters because it recovers a significant but forgotten chapter of Australian art history, showcasing paintings from the last 40 years of Smith's career that have never been publicly displayed. It challenges the narrative that artistic success is linear and highlights how institutional and market support—or its absence—can shape an artist's legacy. The show also raises questions about how many other major artists may have been lost to obscurity due to circumstances beyond their creative control.