Artwork Information

Walters described his aims at the time he created 'Genealogy 5' as follows: ‘My work is an investigation of positive/negative relationships within a deliberately limited range of forms; the forms I use have no descriptive value in themselves and are used solely to demonstrate relations. I believe that dynamic relations are most clearly expressed by the repetition of a few simple elements.’

'Genealogy 5' is a key painting from the moment when Gordon Walters was establishing his full-time art practice in Auckland. The 'Genealogy' series is considered one of his outstanding achievements as a painter.