Joshua Smith (12 March 190522 July 1995) was an Australian artist who won the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor ...

in 1944 with his portrait of Hon

Sol Rosevear John Solomon "Sol" Rosevear (4 January 189221 March 1953) was an Australian politician, and was Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives from 1943 to 1949. Early life Rosevear was born on 4 January 1892 in Pyrmont, Sydney, New South ...

, MP,

Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Parliament of Australia. The counterpart in the upper house is the President of the Senate. The office of Speaker was ...

, but is better known as the subject of the previous year's controversial Archibald Prize win, '' Mr Joshua Smith'' by artist

William Dobell Sir William Dobell (24 September 189913 May 1970) was an Australian portrait and landscape artist of the 20th century. Dobell won the Archibald Prize, Australia's premier award for portrait artists on three occasions. The Dobell Prize is named ...

. Although the portrait of him was very popular, with more than 154,000 visitors, a court case relating to the portrait in 1943 damaged his career, as well as Dobell's.

Garfield Barwick Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick, (22 June 190313 July 1997) was an Australian judge who was the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1964 to 1981. He had earlier been a Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Part ...

appeared for the plaintiff and, although the claim was dismissed, it made Barwick's reputation as a rising star of the legal fraternity. In an interview in 1991 Smith called the portrait a "curse, a phantom that haunts me. It has torn at me every day of my life. I've tried to bury it inside me in the hope it would die, but it never does". The portrait of him by Dobell had become more famous than his own work, which caused him considerable consternation.

References

External links

Biography on Australia Online
*The Best Australian Profiles, ed. Matthew Ricketson
Trove
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Joshua 1905 births 1995 deaths Australian portrait painters Archibald Prize winners Artists from Sydney National Art School alumni 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Julian Ashton Art School alumni Australian male painters