Big McCahon: harbinger of art globalisation

In a substantial feature, ‘Spreading the word’, in international art world standard, ArtForum, Thomas Crow talks to Stedelijk Museum curator Marja Bloem about the growing international reputation of Colin McCahon. Crow urges globalisation in art to extend to the edge. “Globalization, our mantra of the moment, only carries so far where art is concerned. A case in point: A major contemporary of Rothko, Newman, Pollock, Twombly, and Johns – an artist fully at their level of achievement – is in the midst of his first major touring retrospective. Most of you reading this will be in no position to see it. The artist is Colin McCahon, and, yes, he is that good.” Crow ends with the powerful prophecy: “That leads to the question: Might McCahon be better or more usefully understood outside of his own time? Beyond New Zealand and Australia, at any rate, he’s a new artist. Might it be the case that his day for Europe and for America has only just arrived?” Above: North Otago Landscape 8 (1967)