We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of NSW stands.

Joshua Smith Gallery attendant McSweeney

oil on board

95.7 x 71 cm

The subject of this portrait by Joshua Smith is Frederick McSweeney (1900-1970), who was an attendant at the Art Gallery of NSW from the end of the Second World War (in which he served) until his retirement, aged 65, in 1965. Smith knew his sitter from McSweeney’s work at the Gallery. It is thought that the portrait sittings may have taken place during the attendant’s lunchbreak as McSweeney is depicted in his Gallery uniform.