Colin McCahon Work Makes Rare Appearance at Auction

Auckland auction house Art+Object will offer Colin McCahon's painting The Testimony of Scripture, No. 2 (1980) at 6pm on 30 May. The work, which carries an estimate of NZ $400,000–600,000, comes from collector Lois Going.

One of Aotearoa New Zealand's most renowned artists, McCahon (1919–1987) referenced biblical texts in much of his work from 1969 onwards. The Testimony of Scripture, No. 2 was painted from 1979 to 1980, a period when McCahon created a cluster of works incorporating texts from 'A Letter to Hebrews', an anonymous letter in the New Testament sometimes attributed to Saint Paul.

In The Testimony of Scripture, No. 2, the artist's characteristic cursive script—except for the word 'GOD'—is a powerful element. A black field in the lower part of the painting is bisected by a white shape in the form of a Tau-cross, ubiquitous in McCahon's late paintings, which appears to hold the text up like a banner. It is perhaps a reference to McCahon's passion for vernacular sign-writing.

Typical of McCahon's late works, multiple readings between landscape and abstraction are made through ambiguities between figure and ground.

Main image: Colin McCahon, The Testimony of Scripture, No. 2 (1980). Synthetic polymer paint on Steinbach paper laid onto canvas. 730 x 1,100 mm. Courtesy Art+Object.