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Noel COUNIHAN, The new order REDUCE 1/1


ON DISPLAY in
AUSTRALIAN ART
EXPRESSIONISM & SOCIAL REALISM
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Noel COUNIHAN

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 1913 – Canterbury, Victoria, Australia 1986

  • Movements: Aotearoa New Zealand 1939-40
  • England, Europe 1949-52


The new order 1942
oil on composition board 61.7 h x 80.1 w cm
Purchased 1971
Accession No: NGA 71.200

Noel Counihan believed that art should have a social mission and that it could be used as a tool to expose political corruption, the hypocrisy of the church and the inequalities in society. The Nazi soldiers are shown from behind — faceless, as anonymous symbols of oppression. They are symbols for all military oppressors. The victims, an elderly bearded peasant who has been shot and a decapitated woman, are symbolic of the civilian human sacrifice throughout the ages. Counihan drew on a particular historical circumstance to make a comment which has a timeless and universal significance.


Text © National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 2010
From: Anne Gray (ed), Australian art in the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2002