Inspired by... Jeffrey Smart

I remember seeing a retrospective of Jeffrey Smart's paintings in Adelaide in 2012 and being mesmerized by his use of colour and unique kind of beauty in his depiction of our urban landscape. In many of his works he uses a single figure with an abstract feel. A number of paintings by JS have figures leaning against walls or structures, notably "The road dividers" 1988-89 and "Spring landscape" 1970. This image certainly has the Jeffrey Smart "air" about it with the figure leaning on the straight wall with a crack in the wall almost dripping out of the wrist. The drink bottle and straw complete the image perfectly as does the metal pipe and shadow....Congrats

If I had viewed this image in another competition, I would have immediately thought of Jeffrey Smart. It shows a strong use of bold colour which JS used incredibly in his huge painting "Container train in landscape." It also makes me want to wander around that industrial yard myself. So congrats on capturing a vibrant interpretation.

The grass alone in this image captures the feeling of a Jeffrey Smart painting. The yellow, green and reds in the photo almost match the grass painted by JS in a number of his works, notably "The directors," "The Dome," and "The listeners." The bold colours of the bathing sheds add vibrancy to a very appealing image.

I love this image for its creativity and the brooding quality that it depicts. Little boxes all made out of ticky tacky and all looking the same. I am sure Jeffrey Smart's paintings were documentations of how he saw the world during his lifetime, sometimes disturbing, playful & intriguing. This image is very intriguing.......Smart's last work was called "Labyrinth" and this photo also has that maze-like quality.

This image has a real Australian sensibility. I am not sure whether it is as I wanted to judge from thumbnail images (no photographers' names mentioned)....but it does have that feel of country Australia which Smart enjoyed painting in his earlier works. The small boy leads one's eye to the various letters & numbers which JS used frequently in his paintings. A well thought out image.

Jeffrey Smart produced an amazing (well I think so) painting called "Housing project no. 84" which depicted a numerous amount of windows each with their own individual curtains and balconies. But this image certainly has the "feel" of an earlier 1950 work called "The argument, Naples." Both paintings are very different, but this image is a well composed interpretation of both those paintings. Well done.

Quote from Jeffrey Smart:...... "The reason I paint is simply because I love painting. The more I paint, the harder it gets, because I know more and I am harder on myself. But I love painting more than anything else and I love painting things I consider beautiful."

Firstly thank you to everyone who submitted images to this contest. Many of the interpretations were "spot on" and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. For many references I used my own copy of "Jeffrey Smart retrospective" published by the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

This submission fits the Jeffery Smart brief perfectly with the use of grass, the road signs pointing the way towards the straight horizon, sky, the single dominant tree (so well depicted in the JS painting called "The Dome") and a grassy path leading one's eye into the distance. You have no doubt composed this for the contest, but never the less I thank you for your striking interpretation. Congrats

This is a very effective interpretation using the red and white striped poles which Jeffrey Smart painted uniquely in his work "The Dome".... The image is wonderfully composed with a perfectly straight horizon, interesting cloud-scape and billowing ribbons which add a sense of playfulness....great shot

I kept being drawn back to this image which has included so many elements of a Jeffrey Smart work, the hard edged building with numerous windows, the dome, the large words on the railway sheds and the textures on the wharf. Thank you for submitting a very interesting and subtle (colour-wise) interpretation which is almost like an overview/collage of all his paintings.

I think you (the photographer) loved creating your own Jefferey Smart world and interpreting it in your own way. A very clever image & a fitting homage to an important artist of our time.

Thank you for submitting this image. It is a very interesting interpretation of the painting by JS called "Holiday." It would have been wonderful to have seen some people standing or sitting or even peering over those very abstract balconies, but I am glad you included that tiny patch of blue sky and congrats on capturing the brief so well.

I was drawn to this image because of the use of geometric shapes, balanced so well with the lone figure and his suitcase....it tells a story.....has he just arrived or is he about to depart? The one strong use of colour on the far wall leads the eye through the image and the reflections on the floor tiles bring to mind a Jeffrey Smart painting called "Reflected Arrows."

So many of Jeffrey Smart's paintings were visions of our world on the outside, but one painting that comes to mind of an interior is a 1985 work called "Art Gallery in shopping arcade." As with this image he used rectangular shapes and some bold colours. so thank you for submitting this very interesting interpretation.

I consider this an obvious choice for my top 10. The horizontal lines at the bottom of the photo draw the eye along the image and the yellow parallel lines draw my eye into the containers which dominate the seated figure surveying the scene of bold colours and geometric shapes so prevalent in Jeffrey Smart's paintings.