Provenance: Private Collection, Wellington

Exhbited:

Binney: Forty Years On, Dowse Gallery, Lower Hutt 2003 - 2004

Illustrated:

p. 60 Don Binney: Nga Manu/Nga Motu - Birds/Islands, Damian Skinner, Auckland University Press 2003 Don Binney: Seven Paintings - A video recording directed by Roger Taberner, Auckland Art Gallery 2004

Painted after Binney's early 1990's sabbatical in Hawaii, A Cape for Father Damien II features the volcanic landform of Molokai with a depiction of Father Damien on the beach wearing his wide-brimmed hat. In the sky above is a stylised image of a traditional feather cloak worn by Hawaiian chiefs.

Father Damien or Saint Damien of Molokai (1840 -1889) was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium who ministered for sixteen years to lepers quarantined on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. In 2009 he was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

The work features as a full colour plate in Damian Skinner's Don Binney: Nga Manu/Nga Motu - Birds/Islands, Auckland University Press 2003. In Roger Taberner's documentary, Don Binney: Seven Paintings, the artist speaks about his seven favourite works. Binney stands alongside A Cape for Father Damien II speaking passionately of the work. A DVD (included with lot) of this talk will screen periodically during auction viewing.