Campbell Smith: The Printmaker and the Playwright

Teach me to see not with my eyes, but with my heart, and to paint not with my hands but with my soul. - Campbell Smith

Campbell Smith was an intuitive thinker. He was widely known as a printmaker and curator but there are many under celebrated facets to him as one of the most influential figures in the Waikato arts scene. As an artist, he was a soul who sought to understand the complexities of daily life, nature and history.

This exhibition is a rare glimpse of Campbell as a multi-skilled artist and writer. He was respected as a curator, artist, playwright and poet. His networks were extensive: works by his friends and peers have been included to allow us to see his broad circle of influence and his importance in New Zealand art history. It is a succinct retrospective that will draw a better picture of his life’s work. We will meet Campbell Smith through each of his disciplines as a lover, a parent, a painter, a poet, a printmaker and a playwright.  

Schools: Find out about our art education programme here. 

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Image: Halley’s Comet Remembered, Campbell Smith, MNZM, wood engraving on Japanese Bizen paper, 1990. Gift of the Friends of Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato.