Grace Cossington Smith Grace Cossington Smith (1892–1984) was an Australian artist and pioneer of modernist painting in Australia, instrumental in introducing Post-Impressionism to her home country. Her work captivated audiences and cemented her place as one of the most celebrated figures in twentieth-century Australian art history. Born Grace Smith on April 20, 1892, in Neutral Bay, Sydney, she descended from a family steeped in intellectual pursuits—her father, Ernest Smith, was a solicitor specializing in international law, and her mother, Grace Fisher, was the daughter of a rector at Cos…