McCahon exhibition dubbed a fiasco

The much-publicised Colin McCahon exhibition at a leading Amsterdam museum has been called a "financial fiasco" by the city's biggest newspaper Het Parool.

Under the headline "A dead modernist who nobody else wants", journalist Arjan Reinders wrote that the Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art had failed to generate interest from other European museums to show the New Zealand artist's work.

The exhibition, "Colin McCahon; A question of faith", features 77 of his paintings from 1946 to 1982, looking at his exploration of spirituality.

The show cost $600,000, provided by the museum, Auckland arts patron Jenny Gibbs and Australian interests.

Though a big name in New Zealand, McCahon is virtually unknown in Europe.

The Stedelijk, which boasts more than 100,000 artworks and attracts 8000 people a day, had dubbed McCahon "the Van Gogh of Australasia".

But Reinders dismissed this, saying the only thing the artists had in common was their sad existence and a lack of recognition during their lifetimes.

McCahon's later works gave the impression of a tormented artist, he said.

"On the other hand, his existential doubts often have a pubescent depth - Am I/I am - which is somewhat tiring. The exhibition ... overall displays the work of an artist who under normal circumstances would have been forgotten."

He said the museum's director Rudi Fuchs had wrongly thought the exhibition would travel around the world.

The partially state-funded institution would have to spend a considerable amount to freight the works back to New Zealand. It was a "financial fiasco".

McCahon's dealer, Sydney-based Martin Browne, said yesterday that the exhibition was already scheduled to come back here.

It is due to go on show at Wellington's City Gallery from December to March, followed by Auckland Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, through to January 2004.

Mr Browne said the article was more of an attack on Mr Fuchs, who is near the end of his tenure, than on McCahon.

- NZPA