[1] At the age of 17 Smith undertook the study of Commercial Art and Painting at the Brunswick Technical School and joined the Victorian Artists Society.

Whilst in London in 1963, Smith gained further international recognition after winning the Helena Rubenstein Art Award.

In 1975 John Bloomfield's winning entry was disqualified due to his portraiture of Tim Burstall being painted from a photograph.

[5] Bloomfield asserted that Smith's portraiture of Komon resembled a photograph taken of the subject in 1974 and hence was in breach of the competition rules.

[5] In 1982 Smith won the Archibald for the second year in a row and his third time with a portrait of Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe.