Author(s): Marja Bloem; Martin Browne

Art

Colin McCahon is the first new Zealand painter of major international importance, and his stature in the arts of Australasia is unique. This has been recognised by the Stedelijk Museum of Art in the Netherlands which opened a major exhibition of his most important paintings in August 2002, which travels to New Zealand and Australia in 2002-2003. Co-published with the Stedelijk, Colin McCahon: A Question of Faith is the book that has been prepared to accompany this exhibition. It will be the most significant book to be published on McCahon for many years. At its core are reproductions of the exhibition's 78 major paintings, with supporting chapters by Marja Bloem - the curator of the exhibition, New Zealand art historian Francis Pound, Australian writer Murray Bail, and the painter's son, William McCahon. In addition, the book has an extremely detailed Chronology of McCahon's life and career, and the most comprehensive Bibliography ever put together on the artist. This is a landmark book on New Zealand's greatest artist, a 'must-have' for anyone with an interest in this country's art and culture.