User:Clawsyclaw/sandbox

Subject
Harbour Cone at Peggy's Hill is one of McCahon's earliest explorations of the Otago region. It depicts an elevated stance from the mountain tops, looking down towards Harbour Cone in the Otago Peninsula. This work is one of his more realistic creations - showing a clear landscape theme.

In addition to this exoteric representation, Harbour Cone at Peggy's Hill also contains more esoteric meanings. McCahon wanted this artwork to express "the concept of nature as a spiritual and redeeming force." In a letter to his friend Toss Woollaston he explained:

"I imagined people looking at it then looking at the landscape and for once really seeing it & being happier for it & believing in God & then the brotherhood of men & the futility of war."

- Colin McCahon to Toss Woollaston (1939)

Because of comments such as these, the painting has been read as a evangelical statement designed to connect together God, peace, and the landscape.

McCahon makes a very overt connection between spiritual belief and peace. He felt that “[o]ne person with real faith could stop the war.”196 The dichotomy between violence and destruction versus nature and peace is fundamental to McCahon’s oeuvre. He believed, “the force of painting as propaganda for social reform is immense if properly wielded.”197

Early Controversy
 Harbour Cone from Peggy's Hill  was behind one of the earliest controversies in McCahon's long career. It was excluded from the 1939 Otago Art Society exhibition, despite the fact that each member (including McCahon) was entitled to display one work. Linda Tyler believes that this rejection was due to the absence of support "from an interested and informed public."