Colin McCahon (1919-1987)

 Early Life
o Grew up in Dunedin, New Zealand
o Attended Otago Boys’ High School, which he called “the most unforgettable
horror of my youth”
o Inspired to be an artist by grandfather, who was a photographer and a
painter
o Attended King Edward Technical College Art School
 Career
o Numerous exhibitions throughout New Zealand
o Deputy director of Auckland City Art Gallery
o Lecturer at University of Auckland
 Style and themes
o Modernist
o Often abstract
o Prolific landscape painter
 Exclusively New Zealand landscapes, paintings stripped landscape to
its geological basis.
o Themes of Christianity and pacifism
 He himself never belonged to a church
 Despite his pacifism, he attempted to enlist for military service.
 Influences
o Landscape style was influenced by NZ geologist Sir Charles A. Cotton.
o Visit to the United States influenced his painting significantly.
 Newman, Malevich, Pollock, Rothko, Mondrian, de Koonig
 Death
o Life-long alcoholic
o Suffered from dementia

Legacy: What was the breakthrough they made in making us more civilized in our
understanding of humanity?

McCahon is regarded as New Zealand’s most influential artist. He was pretty much the first
internationally recognized New Zealand artist. At art school, his paintings were considered
extremely radical, in fact several of his early paintings were rejected for exhibitions for this
reason. McCahon’s most significant contribution to art is most likely his introduction of the
modernist art movement to New Zealand.

What do you appreciate about the painter’s way of looking at things?

McCahon’s style of landscape painting is extremely beautiful. He removes all or most of the
foliage, man-made objects, and obstacles, only painting the land itself. It’s interesting
comparing McCahon to other, more famous, non-NZ artists. Reading McCahon’s biography,
it’s clear how much his art was influenced and perhaps improved by his trips to Australia
and the United States, during which he visited galleries and met other artists. European or
American artists on the other hand had the advantage that they lived in an environment
constantly immersed in these influences. So, in some ways, especially with communication
without the internet between NZ and the rest of the world being much more limited during
McCahon’s lifetime, McCahon’s art, and NZ art in general, developed separately to the art of
the rest of the world.

https://www.mccahon.co.nz/

“A Land of Granite,” likely McCahon’s most famous work