Summary

This item is one of our 50 Treasures: Celebrating 50 years of James Cook University.

Dr. Anneke Silver answers the question 'Why is this significant?'

Sentinel is an original artist's print. So, what is an original artist's print? This is very different from a machine-made digital print. An artist's print is produced in a complex way. It can be an etching, linocut, lithograph, screen print or a combination of these. They are often produced in a series and are numbered as an edition by way of a fraction (for example, 8/10 – the 8th print out of only 10 made) in the signature line.

This print was produced in collaboration with John Coburn's printmaker wife, Barbara. It is an early work, where some of the characteristics which gave John his later stature emerge in this piece. It starts with a dark foundation working towards light, with a rich variety of marks, from sharp edges to wispy brush textures. It has a golden background – like in a religious icon – and features an emblematic shape, which gives an impression of something watching attentively – a presence.

A profoundly spiritual person, John Coburn developed this ability to evoke a presence more strongly during his career. Born in Ingham, many of his organic shapes evoke tropical vegetation, and the immense presence of the northern landscape. Later, his forms become clearer, more organic and conjure up ideas of the divine, the miracle of creation, or the vastness of the Australian landscape and his respect for the Aboriginal spiritual connection with the land itself. He won numerous art prizes, exhibited widely with his work, which is represented in public and private collections all over the world. James Cook University awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in 1991.

Coburn is perhaps best known for designing the Curtain of the Sun and Curtain of the Moon for the Sydney Opera House. Completed at the French Aubusson tapestry workshops, these massive tapestries show his characteristic evocative flat shapes and burst with daring colour.

Frequent visits to family in Ingham allowed many links with the north to develop. In 1990 Cheryl Stock, Director of Dance North, invited him to design sets and costumes for her contemporary dance creation Desert Magic (1990). It was a wonderfully exciting collaboration. His costumes and sets (realised locally) were spectacular. John commented that it made his paintings come to life. This hugely successful show was filmed by the ABC and toured the world. Excerpts were shown at the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery where John's Living Symbols exhibition was mounted, having been curated by Ross Searle.

John Coburn passed away in 2006. His vast oeuvre has remained fresh and archetypal at the same time.