Painter, printmaker, composer and conservationist Michael Smither is regarded as one of New Zealand's leading realist painters. He is also well-known for his sculpture, murals, silk screenprints, music and environmental work.

During his long, prolific career, Smither found continuing inspiration in his environment, creating a large body of work featuring the Taranaki landscape, his family and children, domestic objects and religious symbols. Using flat, bright colours and a vibrant, plastic realism, his works are synonymous with New Zealand’s cultural landscape.

This screenprint, ‘Wave Invading Rock Pool’ is one of 12 ‘Barry Lett multiples’ published in 1968 by Auckland gallerist Barry Lett. Wellington City Council owns the complete set. Artists are: Don Binney, Colin McCahon, Robert Ellis, Ralph Hotere, Michael Illingworth, Ross Ritchie, Milan Mkusich, Gordon Walters, Toss Woollaston, Patrick Lucas, and Mervyn Williams.

Michael Smither (born 1939, New Plymouth), graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland. He returned to New Plymouth to become a founding member of 'Group 60', with artist and mentor Don Driver, spending most of the 1960s in Taranaki. Smither has exhibited widely in New Zealand and Australia, with his works held in many public collections including Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, as well as in private collections nationally and overseas. Michael Smither was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2004. He lives and works on the Coromandel Peninsula.