Leo Bensemann
Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1912, d.1986
Rain in the Paradise Garden, Takaka
- 1979
- Oil on hardboard
- Collection Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchased with assistance from a group of Canterbury artists, 1991
- 741 x 603mm
- 91/45
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Location: Ravenscar Gallery
Tags: clouds, landscapes (representations), mountains, natural landscapes, rock, trees
In this companion painting to The Dolomite Madonna, the same marble fragment is placed in a mountain range, high above the mists below with scrubby bush and intimidatingly massive mountains beyond. Reminiscent of the bare rock tops of the nearby Arthur Range, elements of mountains surrounding Mohua Golden Bay have been brought together to represent Bensemann’s idea of a paradise garden.
Leo Bensemann: Paradise Garden (14 September 2024 – 9 February 2025)
Details of the rock (which survives) in this painting, how it was found and how it was used in this painting and in other drawings, appear on pages 168-170 of the book 'Fantastica: the world of Leo Bensemann' by Peter Simpson (Auckland University Press, 2011).
Exhibition History
Related
Collection
Leo Bensemann The Dolomite Madonna, Takaka
“One marvellous summer’s evening Mary and I (with my cousin and his wife and a friend) were up on top of Mount Burnett. The undergrowth was everywhere littered with dangerous pieces of rock and it was there the Madonna appeared and was picked up.“We stayed much too late so it was dark when we came down through the bush past glow worms lighting up and switching off their deceptive paths on the bank of the track. But we got down safely and back at last to Collingwood which seemed brilliantly lit up after the bush and then drove quietly back to Ligar Bay. It certainly was a great night and was to prove so later…” —Leo Bensemann to Peter Simpson, 1984
Leo Bensemann: Paradise Garden (14 September 2024 – 9 February 2025)
Details of the rock (which survives) in this drawing, how it was found and how it was used in this drawing and in other paintings, appear on pages 168-170 of the book 'Fantastica: the world of Leo Bensemann' by Peter Simpson (Auckland University Press, 2011).