Flowers are with us in the best and worst of times. They commemorate a milestone, console a loss, betray the changing of seasons and wilt, a harbinger of disease. In his series of flowers, acclaimed Jewish-Australian artist Victor Majzner considers this brevity of symbolism. He reflects that “Flowers play a significant part in every human rite of passage”.

In ‘Dark Sunset’, a European flower opens above the alienesque Australian landscape; a disembodied hand emanating from its core. This is a metaphor for the European colonisation of Aboriginal peoples: “Even the gift of flowers can be treacherous”, says Majzner. There is also a warning here to heed the threat humans pose against the environment.

This work however, is not only an image of warning and loss. Like the flower itself, it gives sweetness with sadness. Majzner is urging the viewer to heal the wounds inflicted by colonisation, to acknowledge the passage of time and choose now. Now, says Majzner, is the time to reconcile “with the Aboriginal people and this ancient land”.

An accomplished artist, Majzner is represented in numerous public collections, including at the National Gallery of Australia, the National of Victoria and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. For collectors of surrealist and socially conscious art, let ‘Dark Sunset’ open your collection’s horizons.
  

Victor MAJZNER (1945 - )
'Dark Sunset' 1991
screenprint on paper
Edition of 40
Image Size: 64 x 47 cm
Dimensions: 76 x 56 cm
Signed: Signed, dated, titled and numbered in pencil in margin below image: 31/40 Dark Sunset V. Majzner 1991
Comes with Letter of Provenance

Condition: Excellent 
© The Artist or Assignee