Abstract:
Colin McCahon has been a major research interest of mine for more than twenty years. This has resulted in several books and curated exhibitions, including Answering Hark, 1999-2001 (both exhibition and book), James K. Baxter and Colin McCahon: Candles in a Dark Room (exhibition and book, 1996), and numerous articles and conference papers (some listed below). In the case of Colin McCahon: The Titirangi Years 1953-1959, the exhibition (at Lopdell House, Titirangi) came first and the book came after. Both book and exhibition documented Colin McCahon’s first years in Auckland, a period in which he was coming to terms with a new environment (warmer, wetter, more multi-cultural, different vegetation), and also exploring a range of international influences, firstly cubism (especially Braque, Gris and Picasso), and later (after his 1958 visit to America), abstract expressionism (Pollock, Motherwell, Diebenkorn) and geometrical abstraction (Mondrian, Malevich). The book draws extensively on McCahon’s private correspondence with friends such as John Caselberg, Charles Brasch, and Ron O’Reilly.