With the release of Colin McCahon: Is This the Promised Land? Vol 2 1960-1987, eight months after the first volume, it can now be seen that Peter Simpson has produced the exemplary exploration of the New Zealand painter's creative thought and career. Set in a biographical framework, Simpson's work allows the reader, for the first time, to follow and evaluate McCahon's complete achievement. It is a magnificent portrait of the man as a working artist.
The book is dramatic, plunging from the light into the darkness. It tells the story of a painter at the height of his powers and his fade to black, culminating in the two great "dark" paintings found on his studio-floor after his death. In between are the blazing reds of the "bleeding heart of Jesus" re-entering the skies above Ahipara, the subtle greys of a Muriwai beach walk with godwits; and the deep green weight of the Ureweras and all the history of that contested land.
The two-volume set is a landmark publication. Simpson's account will become standard, illuminating both the continuous development and the mature productions of the premier New Zealand artist. The exploration of McCahon's decisions reveals the considerations behind many well-known canvases, while others must now be seen in a completely new light.
Colin McCahon: There is Only One Direction Vol 1, 1919-1959 was published in late 2019. It ended with a natural break – McCahon's decision to move from his home amid kauri in Titirangi to inner-suburban Grey Lynn. This creatively quiet year was the perfect intermission. McCahon would soon resign from his job at the Auckland Art Gallery to take up a teaching position at Elam School of Fine Arts. Then, in 1971, he would leave Elam to paint full-time, working on some of the largest and most important works of his career.
Volume Two, Colin McCahon: Is This the Promised Land? 1960-1987 raises questions that are not often asked or answered in an era of personal exposé, when the tittle-tattle gossip of a painter's life is frequently given more value than his creative work. It is Simpson's skill as a writer and researcher that McCahon's painterly maturity and his artistic decisions become a suspenseful narrative, which reflects back upon the inner lives of every New Zealander.