May His light shine (Tau Cross)
TAU CROSS AS A KUMARA GOD. C. McC. NOV. '78. SEPT. 79. (brushpoint, b.l.); MINE THOU LORD OF LIFE SEND MY ROOTS RAIN. (brushpoint, b.r.)
HE'S / THE / ONE
MAY HIS / light / Shine / ON THE / Kumara / PATCH
1980 Colin McCahon New Works
Peter Webb Gallery
Auckland
18/2/1980 - 7/3/1980
1991 Cross Currents: Contemporary New Zealand and Australian Art from the Chartwell Collection
Waikato Museum of Art and History
Hamilton
14/7/1991 - 25/8/1991
1998 Dream Collectors: One Hundred Years of Art in New Zealand
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Wellington
14/2/1998 - 7/1998
1999 Colin McCahon: A View from Urewera
City Gallery Wellington
Wellington
6/11/1999 - 13/1/2000
2002 Colin McCahon: A Question of Faith
Stedelijk Museum
Amsterdam
30/8/2002 - 10/11/2002
2011 Toi Aotearoa: Colin McCahon - Texts and Gates
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Auckland
3/9/2011 - 28/1/2013
2019 A Place to Paint: Colin McCahon in Auckland
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Auckland
10/8/2019 - 27/1/2020
This painting and its companion, May His light shine (Cornwall Park), refer to the Kumara God, a Maori carved fertility figure.
The inscription 'Mine thou Lord of Life send my roots rain' is derived from Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem 'Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord'.