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Jeffrey Smart Analysis

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Jeffrey Smart was an artist with exemplary vision and intense productivity throughout his career. Smart was a master of painting urban landscapes and industrial wastelands with “precise attention to clean lines, composition and geometry” (Pearce, 2012). The development of his visual bloodstream can be attributed to significant architectural and cultural influences in his hometown Adelaide, Australia, as well as Sydney, Rome and Tuscany. SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXTS Born in 1921, young Smart observed the grids, straight edges and vanishing points of Adelaide’s inner suburbs, a foundational interest for his artistic endeavours. Like many Australian cities in the 20th century, the staid and isolated appearance of Adelaide was seen …show more content…

Smart described the painting as a product of influence by realists Brian Dunlop (1938-2009) and William Delafield-Cook (1936-2015). The most renowned artwork of his time in Sydney, it’s style is “realism coloured with surrealism; the pop element in his constant flirtation with abstraction” (Allen, 2013). The painting depicts a bald, rotund man standing under Sydney’s Cahill Expressway, alone amidst a desolate landscape. Above him, a cloudy sky hangs over the streetscape. “The Cahill Expressway” (1962) demonstrates Smart’s transition from impasto to eggshell finish, contrast of tone and notorious use of the Golden Mean. Smart clarified that this work, similar to his others, merely employs figures to indicate scale, “a bald man makes a lovely volume and gives me a highlight”(Hauser, 2013). Such a claim is evident in Smart’s focus on manipulating the contrast of urban features. The use of geometric shapes dominates the landscape and provides a contrast with the significantly smaller, organic areas of the man and sky. The artwork depicts a variety of urban subject matter, including both rounded and quadrilateral shapes. As one of his earlier pieces, the artwork consists of muted tones that allow shape and size to create contrast, rather than striking hues. The underpass of the foreground is emphasized through the used of the Golden Mean, coupled with illumination from the light source. Additionally, the curved shape and solid, smooth application of light yellow hues contrasts with the more intricate details of the darker background buildings. Whilst the ambiguity and tonal emphasis on the foreground figure inspires a multitude of interpretations, the juxtaposition of varying architecture and manipulation of composition indicates Smart’s intention to master the art of architectural

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