Justin Paton & McCahon 100

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3 April 2020

May His Light Shine (Tau Cross) by Colin McCahon (1978-1979), Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 1980

The recently published book, McCahon Country, by Justin Paton, Penguin Books, Auckland Art Gallery, 2019, features a number of McCahon’s works from the Chartwell Collection.

In the book, curator and writer Justin Paton discusses the Chartwell work, May His light shine (Tau Cross). Known as a ‘kumera god’ painting, the 1978-9 work, Paton describes this work as having the jubilant energy of gospel song. In fact, Paton refers to McCahon’s own writing when he commented to a friend about the painting - “It glows like a Tintoretto.”

More writing on McCahon’s work can be found on the website McCahon 100, in which a wide range of writers have been commissioned to make commentary on McCahon’s work from a contemporary perspective.