Gordon Smith Dies At 100

Gordon Smith alongside Queen Elizabeth II. Image: Gordon Smith Gallery.

West Vancouver painter Gordon Smith died January 18, 2020 at the age of 100. His passing was announced in a statement by Equinox Gallery, in which they described him as “one of Canada’s most beloved artists and philanthropists.”

Smith was born in East Brighton, England in 1919 and came to Winnipeg, Canada in 1933. He enrolled at the Winnipeg School of Art and had his first professional exhibition in 1938. Smith joined the Faculty of Education at UBC in 1956. He remained there until his retirement in 1982, when he received the title of Professor Emeritus and turned his focus to painting full-time. 

Smith's artistic career included two major retrospectives at the Vancouver Art Gallery, over 25 solo exhibitions at Equinox Gallery, 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 Washington, DC and London, UK.

Smith's many 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 has been collected in public and private collections around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa), the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London). 

A memorial gathering in Smith’s honour will be announced at a future date.