Christopher Perkins

Frozen Flames

Frozen Flames by Christopher Perkins

Artwork Detail

This painting has become a symbol of nationalist subject matter, and it had an immediate effect on many local artists when it was first shown at Wellington and Christchurch.

The ‘skeleton’ of an indigenous tree, perhaps a burnt totara, is silhouetted against a backcountry landscape with a threatening pall of smoke placed in the distance.

Dr E.H. McCormick noted in his 1957 inaugural Friend’s lecture: ‘In my childhood charred trees strewed the paddocks beyond the town or reared in grotesques shapes on the skyline.’ (Golden, 2004)

Title
Frozen Flames
Artist/creator
Christopher Perkins
Production date
1931
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
678 x 596 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Friends of the Auckland Art Gallery, 1962
Accession no
1962/33
Other ID
1962/57 Old Accession Number
Copyright
No known copyright restrictions
Department
New Zealand Art
Display status
Not on display

To find out which artworks are available for print requests and reproduction please enquire here. This service only applies to select artworks in the Gallery's collection.

Explore Further