item details
NameGoblet: Uccello series
ProductionMelvin Day; artist; 1969; Wellington
Classificationoil paintings, works of art
Materialsoil paint, canvas
Materials Summaryoil on canvas
DimensionsImage: 1525mm (height), 1525mm (length)
Registration Number1969-0016-1
Credit linePurchased 1969 from Wellington City Council Picture Purchase Fund
Overview
In Goblet: Uccello series, Melvin Day draws upon the work of Renaissance artist Paolo Uccello to explore shapes and space in a modern, abstract painting. He incorporates Uccello’s geometric studies of a chalice on the left.
Day is a senior New Zealand artist and art historian. He began working on this series while studying at London’s Courtauld Institute in the 1960s. In 1968, he returned to New Zealand to become the Director of the National Art Gallery.
Day’s embracing of both modern and historical art undoubtedly influenced the development of the modern art collection during his tenure as Director.