item details
NameThe Valley of Dry Bones
ProductionColin McCahon; artist; 1947; Nelson
Classificationpaintings
Materialsoil paint, canvas
Materials Summaryoil on canvas
Techniquespainting
DimensionsImage: 868mm (width), 885mm (height)
Registration Number1983-0049-1
Credit lineGift of the artist, 1983
Overview
The figure in The valley of dry bones quotes the prophet Ezekiel, from the Old Testament. His words, and the bones strewn across the New Zealand landscape, are a plea for the revival of spirituality in a country broken by war.
Colin McCahon was not directly involved in World War II, but the conflict left him with a keen social conscience and a sense of mission. In response, he created a series of religious paintings in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This work clearly expresses McCahon‘s message of faith and tolerance.