Story: Thompson, Pauline Adele

'Guy Fawkes Night II' (1982)

An oil painting, showing a river flowing from the centre of the picture to fill most of the lower border, under a rich blue night sky. A cruciform building mounted with a transmitter stands on the shore in the middle distance. Two fireworks with long tales cross paths in the air and there are three stars on the right side of the police station. There is a toe toe bush on the left-hand side of the frame.

Pauline Thompson exhibited ‘Guy Fawkes Night II’ (1982) in her series, ‘Auckland View: Central Police Station, Guy Fawkes Night’. The hulking modern police building looms ominously over a toe toe-lined river which had long been obliterated by urban development by the 1980s. ‘Guy Fawkes Night II’ reflects her growing interest in incorporating real landscapes and narrative into her dreamlike, allegorical paintings. 

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Using this item

Auckland Art Gallery – Toi o Tāmaki
Reference: 1982/41
by Pauline Thompson

Permission of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

How to cite this page:

Emma-Jean Kelly. 'Thompson, Pauline Adele', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2023. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/6t15/thompson-pauline-adele (accessed 20 May 2024)