NZ & International Fine Art Wednesday, 22 March 2023 - 6:00 PM start
Ralph Hotere (1931 - 2013) - Untitled Diptych
Lot Details
Ralph Hotere (1931 - 2013) Untitled Diptych oil on two glass window panes signed & dated 1973 on underside of frame 90 x 102cm o/a Widely regarded as one of New Zealand's most important artists Ralph Hotere's work is identifiable by its formal constructive abstractionism and his hard-hitting political statements. Untitled Diptych is believed by many to be Ralph Hotere's homage to Colin McCahon. In his book Hotere, Out of the Black Window, Gregory O'Brien (Godwit Publishing, 1977 pg.43) discusses the similarities betweeen Hotere and McCahon in particular the intensity and political anger evident in both artist's treatment of the pictorial surface. The use of Māori culture and Catholic iconography by both artist's mark the relationship between the land and its inhabitants. For this reason the window is a particularly significant framing device as it represents the passive involvement of the viewer on the landscape. While the paint applied directly to the glass obscures this view, Hotere's visible brush marks excite the surface while still allowing light to permeate. The arch motif is reminiscent of a cathedral's stained glass windows and was originally displayed next to another work from 1973, a memoriam to Hotere's mother, Ana Maria Hotere, who died in 1972. The works were created while Hotere was undertaking his residency at Otago University on the Frances Hodgkin's Fellowship and were on display in his Dunedin Flat.
