Rocks at French Bay by Colin McCahon

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Rocks at French Bay

Rocks at French Bay

Artist

Colin McCahon
Production Date

1959
Medium

ink and oil on unstretched canvas
Size

1960 x 1925 mm
Credit

Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 1987
Accession Number

C1994/1/210
Accession Date

Apr 1987
Department

New Zealand Art
Classification

Painting
Collection

Chartwell
Subjects

bays (bodies of water), rock, abstraction
Description

The period from November 1958 to the end of 1959 was a hugely inventive time in Colin McCahon's career as a painter. He painted more, and exhibited more, than he had ever done before, and was much encouraged by his experience of visiting the United States of America (from April to July 1958).

The sensations of distant and close headlands, of rocks at a foreshore, of seawater being near a warm atmosphere, of light's texture, and of balancing rocks, are all coalesced in this powerful scroll-like painting. (Colin McCahon's Titirangi, 2002)