The Song of the Shining Cuckoo, 1974

Record number
cm001609
Title

The Song of the Shining Cuckoo

Date
1974
Medium
synthetic polymer paint
Support
5 unstretched canvases
Dimensions
1: 1752 x 901 mm
2: 1770 x 902 mm
3: 1740 x 905 mm
4: 1757 x 900 mm
5: 1758 x 903 mm
Inscriptions

1: 1 (brushpoint, b.l.); TUIA TUI (brushpoint, b.c.)
2: 2 (brushpoint, b.l.)
3: TAU MAI (brushpoint, b.c.)
4: 4 TAU MAI (brushpoint, b.l.-b.c.)
5: 5 TAU MAI (brushpoint, b.l.); C McC. OCT. '74 (brushpoint, b.r.)

Credit line
Given by Colin McCahon, Auckland, 1977
Accession number
77/20 a-e
Exhibition history

1974 Colin McCahon: Recent Paintings
Peter McLeavey Gallery
Wellington
5/11/1974 - 22/11/1974

1977 McCahon's "Necessary Protection"
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
New Plymouth
1/9/1977 - 25/9/1977

1984 I will need words: Colin McCahon's Word and Number Paintings
Power Gallery of Contemporary Art, University of Sydney
Sydney
11/4/1984 - 17/6/1984

1987 A Tribute to Colin McCahon, 1919-87
Dunedin Public Art Gallery & Hocken Library
Dunedin
22/8/1987 - 20/9/1987

1988 Colin McCahon: Gates and Journeys
Auckland City Art Gallery
Auckland
11/11/1988 - 26/2/1989

1996 The World Over. Art in the Age of Globalisation. Under Capricorn.
City Gallery Wellington
Wellington
6/6/1996 - 18/8/1996

1997 Magie der Zahl in der Kunst des 20
Staatsgalerie
Stuttgart
1/2/1997 - 19/5/1997

2002 Colin McCahon: A Question of Faith
Stedelijk Museum
Amsterdam
30/8/2002 - 10/11/2002

Notes

McCahon wrote the following translation of Tangirau Hotere's poem in his workbook:
Te Tangi o te / Pipiwhararua / Tuia Tui / Tahia Tahia / Kotahi Te Manu I Tau / Ki Te Tahuna / Tau Mai / Tau Mai / Tau Mai
The Song of (Grief of) / The Shining Cuckoo / Glow Glow & tell us / Te Tui: pierce us and / Join us together / Bird: alight on / the beach / alight, my friend / alight, my friend / alight and rest