Topic: Joshua Smith

Joshua Smith (1905-1995) 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.