Artwork Information

In 1958, McCahon studied Piet Mondrian’s paintings in America. He later commented:

'Mondrian, it seemed to me, came up in this century as a great barrier – the painting to END all painting. As a painter, how do you get around either a Michelangelo or a Mondrian? It seems that the only way is not more "masking tape" but more involvement in the human situation.' To the spatial expansion found in Mondrian’s painting, McCahon adds his own ‘Gate’ symbolism, which he once described as a "way through". The painting is focused on the tension between three geometrical elements – diagonals, triangles and rectangles – which seem to be in constant motion.