Gift Wrap
- Artist: Richard Smith
- Date: 1963
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: object: 2019 x 5290 x 800 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is “Gift Wrap” by Richard Smith, an oil‑painted canvas that stretches over five metres long and looks like a billboard. The work was made in 1963 when Smith lived between the United States and Britain, a period that shaped his fascination with product packaging and advertising.
Smith took a Philip Morris cigarette pack as a source image – the bright red oval motif with a cut‑out that marks the brand. He exploded that tiny packet into two massive three‑dimensional boxes bolted to the canvas, giving the surface a sculptural quality while it still hangs on the wall. The composition blends abstract colour fields with Pop Art references; the bright artificial hues echo a commercial palette.
The painting is not only flat; the wooden panels protrude from the canvas and cast shadows that play against the gallery light, blurring the line between picture and object. It captures Smith’s attempt to turn everyday advertising into monumental visual reality, making the viewer feel as though the cigarette box itself has leapt onto the wall.
See it in person
Gift Wrap is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
