Provenance: Hunter Wade Collection, Auckland Acquired directly from artist, 1969

Illustrated p 25 Michael Smither Painter, Trish Gribben, Ron Sang Publications, 2004

There is Kirby Wright's car backing out of our drive. The lights illuminating the flowering cherry tree and my mother stands to say goodbye in the doorway of 48 Doralto Road. The moon is up as usual and we're on our way down town to drink weak coffee at Stellas, whose walls are covered in prints of dark ladies by Tretyakov. (Tretchikoff). The ceiling is blue and has stars and we drink there as a group of young men nearly every night.

Text: Michael Smither p 24 Michael Smither Painter, Trish Gribben, Ron Sang Publications, 2004