JOHN COBURN (AUSTRALIAN 1925-2006)
THE SECOND DAY: GOD SEPARATED THE LIGHT FROM THE DARK (FROM 'THE SEVEN DAYS OF CREATION' SERIES), 1969-70
woven signature Coburn (lower right), wool Aubusson tapestry, number 1 from the edition of 3
188cm x 227cm (74in x 89 3/8in)
Sir Jack and Lady Zunz, London and thence by family descent
Exhibited:Bonython Galleries, Sydney, Aubusson Tapestries, 21 April - 13 May 1970, and touring to Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth.Literature:Rozen, Alan. The Art of John Coburn, Ure Smith, Sydney, 1979, p. 62, pl. 28 (illustrated another example);Klepac, Lou. John Coburn: The Spirit of Colour, The Beagle Press, Sydney, 2003, p.99, pl. 67(illustrated another example).John Coburn is one of Australia’s most important abstract artists of the second half of the 20th century, best-known in his homeland for the curtains he designed for Jørn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House. These curtains were created at the Aubusson workshops in France, where at the same time Coburn conceived and created his monumental textile suite, The Seven Days of Creation. Fittingly, the present work – day two of the seven – was formerly in the collection of the civil engineer, Sir Jack Zunz, who ran the team that designed the Opera House's iconic roof with Utzon in the early days and who ensured the vision was completed following Utzon’s resignation from the project in 1966.