Michael Smither b. 1939

MICHAEL SMITHER (CNZM)

(b. 1939

Michael Smither was born in Tarakani, New Plymouth, in 1939.  He attended Elam School of

Fine Art, Auckland University, from 1959 – 60. He was taught by  Lois White, Robert Ellis and 

John Weeks. Throughout his prolific career Smither has explored diverse creative avenues, 

such as painting, printmaking, sculpture and music.

Michael Smither is one of New Zealand’s leading contemporary artists – and since the 

sixties, his name and images have appeared in every major NZ art publication. He is acknowledged as one of several pivotal painters who emerged in the 1960s, to lead contemporary New Zealand art in new directions. 

Smither made his name with his intimate observations of his local environments, family and 

friends, and objects of the everyday, transforming them into works of art that have come to sit 

alongside our notion of identity as New Zealanders.  

Smither’s paintings are held in the permanent collections of: Auckland City Art Gallery, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, McDougal Art Gallery Christchurch and Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in 

New Plymouth.

Over the past five decades Smither has constantly explored new ideas and themes connected with 

his own life.  He is also a talented musician and composer and during the 1970s and 1980s became fascinated by the link with art and music.  Smither developed his own ‘Harmonic Chart’ in 1982 and continued to use this as a reference for his paintings and sculptures - many works can be played as a musical score - translating colour into sound. A selection of Smither’s works relating to his Harmonic Series (from the 1980s through until the end of 2015) was presented at ARTIS Gallery as a solo exhibition, titled SONG, in 2024.

In 2004 Smither was awarded the CNZM (Companion to the New Zealand Order of Merit) for Services to Art.

Smither has been represented at ARTIS Gallery since 2008.