item details
NameOuter space
ProductionNatalia Goncharova; artist; 1957-1958
Classificationoil paintings
Materialsoil paint, canvas
Materials Summaryoil on canvas
DimensionsImage: 660mm (width), 990mm (height)
Registration Number1983-0023-4
Credit lineGift of Mary Chamot, London, 1983
Overview
Russian avant-garde artist Natalia Goncharova found a renewed creative energy in the final years of her life. Inspired by the 1957 launch of the Soviet Union’s Sputnik satellite, she created an innovative series of abstract paintings. The works imagine the vast cosmos of space – a final frontier to navigate after a life of artistic exploration.
This work was one of four by Goncharova that were gifted to Te Papa by Mary Chamot – the London representative for New Zealand’s National Art Gallery (now Te Papa) in the 1960s and 70s. Chamot also convinced Goncharova’s estate to donate three important paintings.
Te Papa now has the most significant collection of Goncharova’s work in Australasia.