"Fire in the Orchard of Heaven"
Oil on Canvas
86x91cm
Signed Lower Left, Dated 1971 Lower Right
Prov: Illustrated The Art of David Boyd, Nancy Benko page 173
Private Collection Victoria
$18,000-25,000
Painted in 1971, this work belongs to a significant phase within David Boyd’s practice, where recurring themes of paradise, exile and moral tension are explored through what has come to be known as his Garden of the Wilderness series. Emerging from a deeply personal and symbolic approach to painting, Boyd’s imagery during this period draws on biblical and allegorical sources, often filtered through a distinctly Australian sensibility.
A member of the celebrated Boyd artistic dynasty, David Boyd developed a highly individual visual language, characterised by luminous colour, fluid line and a distinctive use of glazing that lends his surfaces a stained- glass-like intensity. His works from the late 1970s and early 1980s reflect a mature synthesis of these qualities, combining narrative complexity with a refined painterly control.
Fire in the Orchard of Heaven brings together figures of children below with celestial presences above, including an angelic form and a darker, more ambiguous figure, often interpreted as Judas. This vertical arrangement reinforces a sense of moral and spiritual hierarchy, while the presence of fire introduces a dual symbolism, both destructive and purifying. As with much of Boyd’s work, the imagery resists fixed interpretation, instead inviting a more open reading shaped by myth, religion and personal reflection.
