Joshua Smith (1905 – 22 July 1995) was an Australian artist who won the Archibald Prize in 1944 with his portrait of Hon Sol Rosevear, MHR, Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, but is more well known as being the subject of the previous years controversial Archibald Prize win, by artist William Dobell.
Although the portrait of him was very popular, with more than 154,000 visitors, a courtcase relating to the portrait in 1943 caused damage to his career, as well as that of Dobell's. At an interview in 1991 he called the portrait a curse, a phantom that haunts me. It has torn at me every day of my life. I've tried to bury it inside me in the hope it would die, but it never does. The portrait of him by Dobell had become more famous than his own work, which caused him considerable consternation.
Famous quotes containing the words joshua and/or smith:
“Behold the walls of Jericho. Maybe not as thick as the ones that Joshua blew down with his trumpet, but a lot safer. See, I have no trumpet. Now just to show you my heart’s in the right place, I’ll give you my best pair of pajamas. Do you mind joining the Israelites?”
—Robert Riskin (1897–1955)
“This Englishwoman is so refined
She has no bosom and no behind.”
—Stevie Smith (1902–1971)