John Coburn is regarded as one of Australia’s best-known and most recognisable abstract artists. His work continues to be widely collected and celebrated for its exquisite power and mythological narrative quality.

On the surface, Coburn’s paintings embody a harmony of organic forms, rich colour, and compelling flatness. Looking deeper, they channel a spiritual energy through quasi-religious themes and iconographic stories that are at once human, divine, and earthly.

Coburn’s artistic mission was to create a distinctly Australian abstract visual language—one that brought together Western European culture, Roman Catholicism, Aboriginal spirituality, and the natural world. His international influences included Matisse, Miró, Mondrian, Picasso, and Rothko.

His agnostic contemporaries watched with fascination as Coburn pursued his holy abstractions with conviction. Fellow artist Charles Blackman observed: “John Coburn… strives for the ideal. His commitment to the organic shape of his religious feeling has been unfailing.”

Through this lifelong pursuit, Coburn forged a radiant visual theology—one that continues to illuminate the spiritual dimension of Australian art.

John COBURN (1925 - 2006)
'Study for Katatjuta III ' 2001
gouache on paper on board
Image Size: 37 x 34 cm
Dimensions: 61 x 54 x 4 cm
Signed: Signed lower right Coburn 2001
Comes with Letter of Provenance
Exhibited: John Coburn (1925-2006): Paintings, Works on Paper and Graphics 1959-2003, Eva Breuer Art Dealer, Sydney, 8 - 31 October 2008, cat.40 (illus. exhibition catalogue, p.48)
Condition: Excellent
(c) John Coburn / Copyright Agency