1960 was a pivotal year for Pat Hanly (1932 – 2004), with the émigré artist producing what would be his first cohesive series, Fire on Earth. Painted in London, three works from the series (including Fire Above the City) were featured in a group exhibition. It was held at the pioneering Gallery One in London’s Soho, a new exhibition space for emerging artists with radical ideas and practices.
Having moved to the UK in 1957, Hanly and his wife Gil were thrust into the midst of the insidious terror created by the Cold War. With titles reflecting the constant and growing threat of nuclear warfare, we can see the paintings as a personal response to the political climate, and they received great critical acclaim.

Yet, despite their apocalyptic subject matter, the paintings are serene; beautiful in their lyrical rhythm and composition and uplifting in their expressionist use of colour. The Fire on Earth paintings anticipated Hanly’s commitment to an exuberant palette. Warm reds, oranges, yellows, were often juxtaposed with richly oceanic blues and greens, and he would further explore this on his return to Aotearoa just two years later. In Fire Above the City, we see the beginning of what was to come in the artist’s lifelong dedication to the development of key motifs, colours, and his unswerving political conscience.