Ian Fairweather’s Gethsemane 1958, Epiphany 1962 and Palm Sunday 1951 are part of an important series of works that represent a turning point in his oeuvre. Fairweather’s biblical images were not intended to emphasise a particular religious message by the artist, but to convey an aesthetic experience of the subject and the event. The works evoke the great European tradition of religious painting. Strongly influenced by Cubism and Chinese calligraphy, ‘Gethsemane’ is one of the most powerful of his religious paintings.
