Gordon Smith (photo by Martin Tessler, courtesy Equinox Gallery)
Gordon Appelbe Smith, one of Canada's much-loved artists, died Saturday, Jan. 18, says Vancouver's Equinox Gallery.
"A key figure in Canadian art, Smith lived his life with a generosity and grace that was a gift to the world," the gallery said in a statement released Sunday.
He celebrated his last birthday – his 100th – on June 18.
Smith was born in East Brighton, England, in 1919 and came to Winnipeg in 1933. He enrolled at the Winnipeg School of Art and had his first professional exhibition in 1938.
In 1941, prior to going overseas with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, Smith married Marion Fleming, the start of a remarkable partnership of nearly 70 years.
Together, they founded the Gordon and Marion Smith Foundation for Young Artists, which continues to support art education in Vancouver.
Smith joined the education faculty at UBC in 1956 and taught there until his retirement in 1982, when he received the title of professor emeritus.
Smith's exceptional career included two major retrospectives at the Vancouver Art Gallery, more than 25 solo exhibitions at Equinox Gallery and participation in biennial exhibitions in Canada and Brazil, as well as significant commissions, including the design of the Canadian Pavilion for Expo '70 in Osaka in collaboration with Arthur Erickson, and major works for public buildings in London and Washington, D.C.
Smith's major awards include the Order of Canada (1996), the Order of British Columbia (2000), the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts (2009) and the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts (2007).
His work is in public and private collections around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
A memorial gathering is his honour will be announced at a future date.
Source: Equinox Gallery