A Judge in the Garden of Innocence (1992) – SOLD
Detail photos for this Artwork
This intriguing oil “A Judge in the Garden of Innocence” painted by David Boyd in 1992, highlights enduring themes in many of Boyd’s works – that of celebrating innocence and rallying against social injustice and inhumanity. Several of Boyd’s works feature judges and lawyers as a means to express his opinions on justice and the law.
Gregarious and intelligent, David Boyd was a passionate humanitarian and pacifist who saw part of his duty as an artist to respond to all forms of injustice. His works convey mythical and universal themes, picturing the dualities of life – good and evil, destruction and creation, and legal and natural justice.
A stint as a clerk in a solicitor’s office, a great-great-grandfather who was the first Chief Justice of Victoria, and a grandmother involved in penal reform and women’s rights, provided him with an early insight into the legal system.
Boyd’s interest in social justice and the law emerged early in his paintings. In the 1950’s he expressed outrage at the injustice suffered by indigenous Australians, and his powerful and controversial “Trial” paintings from 1960-1963 explored law & justice as they related to inhumanity, racism and capital punishment. In these works, Boyd highlighted his philosophy that the legal system was “… not a court of justice but of law which has been made to suit those with economic and political power.”
Later, in 1992 the Macquarie University in Sydney held a retrospective exhibition of David Boyd’s work, spanning from 1957 to 1992. Boyd donated one of his “Trial” series paintings to the Law School and was then invited to become an artist in residence, which was believed to be the first artist-in-residency program established at an Australian law school.
As part his residency from 1993 to 1996, a large collection of Boyd’s paintings were on display in the university library and law school, and Boyd was invited to discuss his paintings at a seminar of students in the Criminal Law & Procedure course, prompting a very spirited debate!
