Guy Edward Grey-Smith (Australian, 1916-1981), "Rocks", 1962, oil on masonite, signed and dated lower right, "Vincent Price Collection, Sears, Roebuck and Co." labels with title, artist and "NO 52522" on backing paper, handwritten labels with title and artist and inscribed en verso, 24 in. x 36 in., framed, overall 28 7/8 in. x 40 1/2 in. x 1 1/4 in. Note: Born in 1916 in the western Australian wheatbelt, Guy Edward Grey-Smith joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1936. Shortly after getting married in 1939, he was stationed in France during the onset of World War II when his plane was shot down, and he was captured as a prisoner of war. His wife Helen Grey-Smith, a designer and textile artist, sent him art materials while he was in captivity.During this time his interest in art sparked, and after developing his creative voice through art therapy treatment during post-war rehabilitation, he enrolled in Chelsea School of Art in 1945 where he studied painting and pottery until he returned with Helen to Australia in early 1948. Following their homecoming, the couple had two children while Guy honed his focus on getting his and Helen’s art careers off the ground. They organized exhibitions and garnered enthusiastic supporters of his work throughout the 1950s. Meanwhile he developed a passion for artist labor rights, leading him to organize similarly disaffected Australian artists and eventually found the Western Australian branch of the Contemporary Art Society in 1966. It was also around this time that Grey-Smith discovered the work of Nicolas de Stael, the influence of which is apparent in the lot on offer here entitled “Rocks” with its thick, confident slabs of complimentary colors. Its near complete abstraction of the terrain provides a view into the shift from figurative art to Abstract Expressionism. This piece was originally part of The Vincent Price Collection, founded by famed actor and art collector Vincent Price in collaboration with Sears. Starting in 1962, Price was given “carte blanche” by Sears to source all the artwork being offered in the collection. The program’s aim was to make owning original artwork financially accessible to everyday Americans, and Price’s search lead him to find contemporary artist such as Grey-Smith who were relatively unknown to American audiences. Price evidently saw the skill in his body of work as several of his paintings were included in this collection.Ref.: Davis, Annette. Guy Grey-Smith: Guy Grey-Smith’s Landscapes of Western Australia. Perth: Edith Cowan University, 1996.

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