Good Friday (1966)
Photo: from RE photo album      
© Royal Academy of Arts

Good Friday

1966

I would love to see this picture, which thrills me even as a small b/w photograph. I remember sitting with Dad following the score of Bach’s St John Passion when it was on the radio once. He pointed out the dramatic moment when the Temple Curtain was rent as Christ gave up his ghost. I can’t help feeling there is something of that portentous happening reflected in this painting. The fence wire is broken and a man wields a sledge hammer to repair a post. Three birds flap about, a horse is startled and water is surging…. The unexplained puzzle …

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I would love to see this picture, which thrills me even as a small b/w photograph. I remember sitting with Dad following the score of Bach’s St John Passion when it was on the radio once. He pointed out the dramatic moment when the Temple Curtain was rent as Christ gave up his ghost. I can’t help feeling there is something of that portentous happening reflected in this painting. The fence wire is broken and a man wields a sledge hammer to repair a post. Three birds flap about, a horse is startled and water is surging…. The unexplained puzzle to me represents the extraordinary within the ordinary.

Provenance

EXHIBITED | 12th to 28th Oct 1966

"New English Art Club 119th Exhibition (Winter)" - [venue unknown], London

Cat 203; priced at £105

EXHIBITED | 4th May to 4th Aug 1968

"Summer Exhibition 1968" - Royal Academy of Arts, London

Cat 348

ACQUIRED | 1968

bought by private collector from the RA show for £160

IN COLLECTION | 2019

Private Collection, UK

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Provenance:

  • ACQUIRED - 1968 - bought by private collector from the RA show for £160
  • IN COLLECTION - 2019 - Private Collection, UK

Exhibitions:

  • 12th to 28th Oct 1966 - "New English Art Club 119th Exhibition (Winter)", [venue unknown], London
    Cat 203; priced at £105
  • 4th May to 4th Aug 1968 - "Summer Exhibition 1968", Royal Academy of Arts, London
    Cat 348

Notes:

  • None recorded.

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