Grace Cossington Smith - National Gallery of Australia

RELIGION
Grace Cossington Smith
Church interior c. 1941–42
oil with pencil on pulpboard
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Purchased 2001 with funds raised through
Grace Cossington Smith Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Appeal
Grace Cossington Smith was born into a devoutly Anglican family. Both of her parents were born
in England and the Smiths had many relatives living there. In 1890 Ernest Smith, a solicitor, married
the beautiful and musical Grace Fisher, whose father was a clergyman. The family was relatively
affl uent. The Smith children’s early education was conducted at home by governesses and private
tutors, an accepted practice for their social standing. Ernest Smith played a distant role in the
rearing of the family, supervising prayers in the evening and reading stories. He oversaw the spiritual
instruction of the children with priestly authority. His was a non-dogmatic faith, but steadfast and
unchallenged, and was to be a determining factor not only in the artist’s life but in her art.
Church interior was painted during World War II. It depicts St James’ Anglican Church in Turramurra,
a signifi cant place for the Smith family, as they had worshipped there regularly since 1913. This
particular church had been rebuilt during 1941 and Cossington Smith’s painting would have been
one of the fi rst images of the new interior. The stained-glass window depicted in Church interior was
designed by Cossington Smith’s good friend Ethel Anderson. By positioning herself at the back of
the church the artist became both an observer and a worshipper. Missing in this painting are the
young men who have gone to war, and many of the women are wearing black, lending a somber
feel to the painting. The enclosing shape of the church roof, the calmly ordered pews and choir,
and diagonal blue carpet leading to the cross beneath the glowing window convey a safe-haven
at this time of war and sacrifi ce.
Visual analysis
The sense of order in Church interior is created by careful geometric drawing. The female fi gure in
the pink coat is centered in the foreground and it seems that through her eyes we see the altar as
the focal point of all the diagonal lines in the composition.
Discussion point
•How does this painting reveal the artist’s religious background and her feelings about World War II?