Genesis

Artist Pat Semple (Kintyre, Scotland, 1939 - 2021)

Object Namepainting

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsFrame Size: 136 × 136cm

AcquisitionPresented by The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour in 2023.

LocationOn Display - Gallery 19

Object numberABDMS095748

Keywords

About MeThis painting explores the poetic and allegorical narrative of Genesis. The word ‘Genesis’ means ‘the origin or coming into being of something.’ It can also mean ‘generation or creation’ as in the title of the first book of the Old Testament.

In the Genesis narrative, God created the heavens and the earth before mankind. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Genesis 1. 1-2)

Semple used these first two lines from the Old Testament as the main source of inspiration for her composition. The flying figure with a bunch of flowers that takes up the centre of the composition represents the Spirit of God while small marine animals represent the earliest forms of life evolved such as seaweed, shellfish or primitive fish with backbones.

Exhibitions

Gallery 19 - New Acquisitions