Lot 103

The Estate of the Artist

McKenzie, J., Noel Counihan, Kangaroo Press, Sydney, 1986, p. 45 (illus.)
After suffering a cardiac arrest and stroke in 1981, Counihan feared the end of his creative practice. In 1983, he painted Confrontation - "not intended as a self portrait but as a generalised portrait of a man, stressing his vulnerability and his mortality". (p. 44)
In the painting, he modifies the traditional death figure from a scythe-carrying figure to a long-haired feminine figure in the Greek tradition where she would carry off the wounded and dying to the gods. In the centre of the work, the bouquet of flowers is a symbol of life and mortality. After perservering through his illness and completing this painting, Counihan noted: "There is a celebration in this picture because this is where I really say to myself 'It's not over yet!'".