John Firth-Smith Australian, b. 1943-

John Firth-Smith is a Sydney abstract painter. In the early 1960's he was highly awarded for producing many artworks of yachts on Sydney Harbour. However, by 1968 his style changed considerably, becoming more abstract and featuring large blocks of opaque colour.


Through the sixties, seventies and eighties, as a day job, he worked at a variety of different schools and institutions while managing to exhibit his work simultaneously. He endured a big break in 1974, when he was the subject of a twenty minute documentary on the ABC's Target programme. Because of this his works were soon acquired by a range of corporate collections.


Another significant work was made in 1981, when he completed an enormous commissioned project of 32 panels for the reception area of the ANZ bank in Collins Place, Melbourne.


He still remains a working artist and his works are represented in most major Australian public galleries.